1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff Works. Hey there, 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: brain stuff, Lauren vogelbam here. When British Prime Minister Theresa 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: May proclaimed a new Minister for Loneliness in January, some 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: people were a little incredulous. Stephen Colbert jibed, this is 5 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: so British. They've defined the most ineffable human problem and 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: come up with the most cold, bureaucratic solution. The Bricks 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: already had a loneliness commission. It was the project of 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,479 Speaker 1: Joe Cox, the member of Parliament who was murdered in 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: continuing this loneliness work is a statement in her memory. 10 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: But loneliness has become an increasing object of study as 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: researchers try to quantify what was once simply considered a 12 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: matter of the heart. Many researchers say loneliness is a 13 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: growing problem, but is that true? Are people really more 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: lonely than they used to be? In Britain, one person 15 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: in ten is said to be lonely, and last year 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: a Brigham Young professor laid out the evidence for an 17 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: epidemic of loneliness before the U S Senate Aging Committee. 18 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: Psychologist Lean Holt Lunstead told the group that the average 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: size of American social networks is decreasing, and more than 20 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: eight million older adults are now socially isolated. Behavioral scientist 21 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: Brian Primack with the University of Pittsburgh also gives the 22 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: idea credence. He said, there are a lot of different 23 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: trends in society that make an increase in loneliness more likely. 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: There are fewer and fewer ways to connect with individuals 25 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: in person. Primic is among researchers measuring the connection between 26 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: social media and loneliness. Historically, people lived in smaller spaces 27 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: with larger families, but modern America is an individualistic society. 28 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: He pointed out. Everyone has their own car, their own room, 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: their own TV. There's much less of a sense of sharing. 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: But we are social creatures who over time developed face 31 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: to face ways of interacting using eye contact, gestures and 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: other methods. He said, We're not interacting as much face 33 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: to face anymore. We're using screens and automated menus instead. 34 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: The automation of so many things makes it less likely 35 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: to interact with other humans. According to Primic, those little 36 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: things do add up. A study done by Primic and 37 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: his colleagues showed a strong relation between social media use 38 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: and loneliness. Their survey of one thousand, seven hundred and 39 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: eighty seven young adults showed that those who visited social 40 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: media sites more than fifty eight times a week were 41 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: three times more likely to be lonely than in frequent users. 42 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: Those who used social media two hours a day were 43 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: twice as likely to be lonely. Primic said every amount 44 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: of social media use is associated with an increase, but 45 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: Hector L. Carl recently got a bit huffy in the 46 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: Huffington's post about the subject. He's a researcher in cognitive 47 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: systems and interactive media at the Institute for Bioengineering of 48 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Smartphones are instruments of communication, he wrote, 49 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: not devices that reduce it. People on social media have 50 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: larger social networks and they're connecting in new ways. In 51 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: a recent email with us, he agreed that some uses 52 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: of smartphones or social media can be harmful and that 53 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: some people get addicted, but said it's unfair to simply 54 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: say that social media is ruining as socially because I 55 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: believe that its effects are mostly positive. Primic is quick 56 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: to say that his study only showed tendencies, these results 57 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: can't be applied to everyone. People use social media in 58 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: different ways, from liking cute pictures to badgering strangers over politics. 59 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: Research can point out positive uses versus negative ones. He said, 60 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: But is this just a new take on an old problem. 61 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: Whether loneliness is increasing or not, there seems to be 62 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: a change in the way we discuss it. Appointing a 63 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: Minister of Feelings seems to put the primary approach on 64 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: feelings rather than the social conditions that lead to them. 65 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: And as for research, biologists and neuroscientists are now investigating 66 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: the things that psychologists formerly investigated, and psychologists took over 67 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: from religious leaders who used to lead the discussion on 68 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: matters of the heart and soul. And yet another way 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: to approach the subject is to talk about alienation, as 70 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: Karl Marks did. So are people really lonelier than we 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: used to be? Or is the concern mostly in effort 72 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: to get a handle on a new social structure and 73 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: the impact of new technolog g Regardless, the UK has 74 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: a Minister of Loneliness ready to tackle the problem. And hey, 75 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: bonus back to the day, is it worse to be 76 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: lonely or to smoke? Fifteen cigarettes a day. Researcher Julianne 77 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: Holtland's did in her colleagues say that loneliness has a 78 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: greater negative impact on health than cigarettes. Today's episode is 79 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: written by Stell Simonton and produced by Tristan McNeil. For 80 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other social topics, visit 81 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: our home planet, how stuff works dot com.