The hero of Sartre's Nausea says on page 6 "I live alone, entirely alone. I never speak to anyone, never; I receive nothing, I give nothing...." http://books.google.com/books?id=dbCJ40j7t1sC&printsec=f... That was written in 1938. Probably he was alone by choice (not lonely). Now we are alone (lonely) because technology forces us to be alone?