Guidelines For Living

It is said, "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."  Yes, and the worse malady mankind struggles with is on the rise.  We are all becoming lonelier and social scientists say, it may be a result of replacing our flesh and blood relationships with the virtual "friendships" of social media.  Replacing face to face relationships with Facebook friends or whatever, interacting with people that we may actually hardly know, real human social interaction has declined. In 1985, only 10 percent of Americans said they had no one with whom to discuss important matters, and 15 percent said they had only one such good friend. By 2004, 25 percent had nobody to talk to, and 20 percent had only one confidant.[1] Our relationships may stretch wider, but they are much more shallow.  We can be reached 24/7 but our hearts are less touchable by another real person than ever before.

[1] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/.  Accessed 5/16/16.