You make a good point about some level of extroversion being required, but one of the things I enjoy about bars - as an introvert - is the ability to have low-cost conversations with strangers. Sometimes I make friends; sometimes I just talk to someone without having to worry about forming a long-term relationship (friendship) with someone.
Sometimes it's nice just to talk to someone you don't have to meet again.
> With some qualifications. I would put the _differences_ between various types of psychotherapy at very close to zero percent... It turns out that treatment is just as effective without the particular ingredient. ...As long as what they’re doing is believable, accepted, is given by a therapist who’s skilled and believes in the treatment as well, the treatment tends to go well.
It's quite another thing not to have any friends.
Most of the people in the coffee shops around here have their noses buried in their laptops or books, and when they talk to people they mostly talk to friends who they went to the coffee shop with. Very few people are actually meeting new people and making new friends with random people at coffee shops.
Bars are geared towards hanging out with people you already know, or hitting on strangers. I'm not sure how many people are making new friends there, unless they're relatively extroverted.
Therapy these days is kind of weird. Because insurance companies don't want to pay much, it's geared towards short-term, behavior-oriented therapy. That might help with certain conditions like phobias, but I'm not sure how much it can help with deeper issues. There are other types of therapies, but because insurance mostly doesn't cover them, they're not really practical for most people (not to mention that they're out of fashion these days, as most therapists want to practice CBT because that's what the insurance covers and that's what they're taught in school as being "scientific", "modern", and "evidence-based" -- even when there's evidence it doesn't actually help).
I do think the modern world, especially for people who spend a lot of time online or consuming a lot of media like TV, movies, and games, can be pretty lonely, or at least devoid of deep human contact. I'm not sure what the solution is, apart from unplugging and spending a lot of time and effort in making connections. But being psychologically ready to do that in the first place is an achievement in itself.