The power of lonely: What we do better without other people around

Re:The power of lonely: What we do better without other peop... by casca on Wednesday July 09, 2014 @03:14PM (#8011658)

Anecdotally, most people I know do better with a mix of social and alone time. Given that it's now possible to almost never be conscious and effectively alone, it will be interesting to see the long term mental health impact.

Also, being alone is clearly so distressing to many people that they would rather shock themselves than be alone - http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2014/07/people-wou...

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Re:The power of lonely: What we do better without other peop... by precisioncoder on Thursday July 10, 2014 @03:38AM (#8014050)

It's an interesting article but I feel like the study draws the completely wrong conclusion. I would draw the conclusion that humans when offered an experiment they have control of that offers a new or interesting experience will participate even if it causes them pain. If I participated in the experiment I would definitely shock myself since I've rarely been shocked in the situation, then I might spend the rest of the time analyzing my behavior and trying to see the influence of evolutionary drives as a motivator and enjoy that even more. It's basically the same thing as putting ANY button in a room with the warning "Do not press this button".

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Re:The power of lonely: What we do better without other peop... by icebraining on Thursday July 10, 2014 @08:42AM (#8014727)

It wasn't new by the time they sat in the room: they had already been shocked and all had said they were willing to pay money to avoid being shocked again.

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