WEBVTT - Are We Getting Lonelier? 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:06.840 Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff Works. Hey there, 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.400 brain stuff, Lauren vogelbam here. When British Prime Minister Theresa 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:14.000 May proclaimed a new Minister for Loneliness in January, some 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:18.000 people were a little incredulous. Stephen Colbert jibed, this is 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.840 so British. They've defined the most ineffable human problem and 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:24.600 come up with the most cold, bureaucratic solution. The Bricks 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:27.840 already had a loneliness commission. It was the project of 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.479 Joe Cox, the member of Parliament who was murdered in 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.760 continuing this loneliness work is a statement in her memory. 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.120 But loneliness has become an increasing object of study as 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.199 researchers try to quantify what was once simply considered a 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.320 matter of the heart. Many researchers say loneliness is a 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:47.600 growing problem, but is that true? Are people really more 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.720 lonely than they used to be? In Britain, one person 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.080 in ten is said to be lonely, and last year 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.520 a Brigham Young professor laid out the evidence for an 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.760 epidemic of loneliness before the U S Senate Aging Committee. 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.640 Psychologist Lean Holt Lunstead told the group that the average 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.959 size of American social networks is decreasing, and more than 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:11.280 eight million older adults are now socially isolated. Behavioral scientist 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.480 Brian Primack with the University of Pittsburgh also gives the 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:17.319 idea credence. He said, there are a lot of different 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.520 trends in society that make an increase in loneliness more likely. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.400 There are fewer and fewer ways to connect with individuals 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.880 in person. Primic is among researchers measuring the connection between 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:32.000 social media and loneliness. Historically, people lived in smaller spaces 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.720 with larger families, but modern America is an individualistic society. 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.760 He pointed out. Everyone has their own car, their own room, 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.520 their own TV. There's much less of a sense of sharing. 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.600 But we are social creatures who over time developed face 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.680 to face ways of interacting using eye contact, gestures and 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.960 other methods. He said, We're not interacting as much face 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.200 to face anymore. We're using screens and automated menus instead. 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.120 The automation of so many things makes it less likely 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.400 to interact with other humans. According to Primic, those little 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.400 things do add up. A study done by Primic and 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.440 his colleagues showed a strong relation between social media use 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:11.040 and loneliness. Their survey of one thousand, seven hundred and 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.760 eighty seven young adults showed that those who visited social 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.160 media sites more than fifty eight times a week were 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.160 three times more likely to be lonely than in frequent users. 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:21.920 Those who used social media two hours a day were 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.480 twice as likely to be lonely. Primic said every amount 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.960 of social media use is associated with an increase, but 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:31.920 Hector L. Carl recently got a bit huffy in the 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.520 Huffington's post about the subject. He's a researcher in cognitive 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.760 systems and interactive media at the Institute for Bioengineering of 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:43.800 Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Smartphones are instruments of communication, he wrote, 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.120 not devices that reduce it. People on social media have 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.800 larger social networks and they're connecting in new ways. In 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.200 a recent email with us, he agreed that some uses 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.799 of smartphones or social media can be harmful and that 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.000 some people get addicted, but said it's unfair to simply 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.120 say that social media is ruining as socially because I 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.240 believe that its effects are mostly positive. Primic is quick 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.320 to say that his study only showed tendencies, these results 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.280 can't be applied to everyone. People use social media in 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.400 different ways, from liking cute pictures to badgering strangers over politics. 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.880 Research can point out positive uses versus negative ones. He said, 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.880 But is this just a new take on an old problem. 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.720 Whether loneliness is increasing or not, there seems to be 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.200 a change in the way we discuss it. Appointing a 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.080 Minister of Feelings seems to put the primary approach on 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.959 feelings rather than the social conditions that lead to them. 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.760 And as for research, biologists and neuroscientists are now investigating 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:42.080 the things that psychologists formerly investigated, and psychologists took over 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.680 from religious leaders who used to lead the discussion on 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.640 matters of the heart and soul. And yet another way 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.080 to approach the subject is to talk about alienation, as 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.840 Karl Marks did. So are people really lonelier than we 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.600 used to be? Or is the concern mostly in effort 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:58.840 to get a handle on a new social structure and 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.280 the impact of new technolog g Regardless, the UK has 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.520 a Minister of Loneliness ready to tackle the problem. And hey, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.840 bonus back to the day, is it worse to be 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.600 lonely or to smoke? Fifteen cigarettes a day. Researcher Julianne 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.280 Holtland's did in her colleagues say that loneliness has a 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:23.240 greater negative impact on health than cigarettes. Today's episode is 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.400 written by Stell Simonton and produced by Tristan McNeil. For 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:28.840 more on this and lots of other social topics, visit 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:42.479 our home planet, how stuff works dot com.