Learn Constantly. Be Future-Proof.

No.78 

The Loneliness Paradox

In the midst of our bi-annual strategic retreat this week, I happened upon an article that stuck with me for days about loneliness. Loneliness and its correlation to burnout; loneliness and long-term health; superficial social connection and chronic FOMO, as the kids say. 

I dug deeper. I started to think about loneliness in the midst of hyper-social situations. What happens when participants show up at a conference, for example, overwhelmed with the possibilities and the people, and freeze? We've all done this. We leave feeling like we haven't made the most of our time. We're disappointed. Ironically, in the midst of so many people, sometimes we can feel even more alone. 

Braindate is a first step toward alleviating the social freeze that can occur at events and inadvertently prevent us from taking full advantage of what's around us. To put the ease in collaboration.  To simplify learning. To remind you that your greatest resource is the sea of human beings that surrounds you, eagerly waiting for the opportunity to help you, or to learn from you to fuel their own journey. Learning can be daunting, isolating, disappointing. Our mission is to make it easy, empowering, and unifying. And less lonely.

Explorations

How to Break the Dangerous Cycle of Loneliness

An interview in the Atlantic's City Lab featuring  John Cacioppo, psychologist at the University of Chicago and author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. He debunks some myths about who gets lonely, and provides four steps for transitioning into a more socially nourished lifestyle.

A neural mechanism kicks in [in certain social situations] to make you a little skeptical or dubious about connecting. If I mistakenly detect someone as a friend when they're a foe, that can cost me my life. Over evolution, we’ve been shaped to have this bias.

From lying out of fear, to the paradox of just trying too hard to impress, to the difficulty in trying out radical transparency: David Foster Wallace's musings on loneliness, fraud and belonging in his short story Good Ol Neon, via The Polymath Project

Honesty — true, genuine and vulnerable honesty — is so rare that, if you do will the courage to be honest, to show your weaknesses, and to admit your failures, people are often attracted to you rather than repelled.
 

To Combat Loneliness, Promote Social Health

In January, the United Kingdom appointed a first-ever Minister of Loneliness to start addressing– and therefore, giving legitimacy to– the growing issue of social health. 

These initiatives mark the beginning of a shift toward seeing health as not only physical or mental, but also social. Elevating relationships in the public health realm through a variety of individual, community and societal efforts holds the potential to significantly improve population health.