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Are Americans Becoming Too Antisocial?
Too close for comfort is spreading everywhere
I was listening to CBS Mornings the other day, and the guest was Derek Thompson, who explored the Anti-Social Century we are all living in. He spoke a bit on CBS, but there is a whole article on his idea that Americans are living in solitude without considering the health implications it can cause.
“…all of this time alone, at home, on the phone, is not just affecting us as individuals,” Thompson writes. “It’s making society weaker, meaner, and more delusional.” While home-based, phone-based culture has arguably solidified our closest and most distant connections — the inner ring of family and best friends (bound by blood and intimacy), and the outer ring of tribe (linked by shared affinities) — it’s wreaking havoc on the middle ring of “familiar but not intimate” relationships with the village of people” ~ From The Atlantic
According to Derek Thompson, antisocial behavior has been prevalent since the invention of television and cars. In fact, the design of most apartments prioritizes television space. Thompson also asserts that technology, such as smartphones, has further widened the divide between people. We are active on social apps but have ceased to be truly “social.”
