I almost did not bother reading this book because the title did not appeal to me at first. However, I decided to give it a try and I was pleasantly surprised that how relevant it is to explain how and why people are behaving the way we are in the 21st Century.
Summary
(From Blinkist) The Lonely Century explores the loneliness that characterises the 21st century. Drawing on a decade of research, it reveals how neoliberal policies, new technologies, and mass migration to cities have contributed to us becoming so lonely – and what shifts need to occur for us to reconnect.
My takeaways
I think that The Lonely Century has a lot of interesting points about how neoliberal capitalism (yes…there’s such a thing…which I originally would’ve called it merely ‘capitalism’) could be the fuel to loneliness and I do wonder whether it’s a correlation rather than a causation.
Nonetheless, it does make a very convincing argument about how we are growing more and more lonely despite technologies (such as social media) that are supposed to help us connect with each other. Ironic, isn’t it? But I guess what we social beings really crave for is real human interaction and real communities coming together and helping each other out. Very much like how it was like a mere 40 years ago where neighbours would meet each other at the corridor or void deck and chit chat.
And I can’t help but wonder…perhaps it is this era where we really need to put in more effort to not hide behind our screens but to step out and keep in contact with our families and friends. Yes…even during COVID.
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