{"id":54,"date":"2026-04-25T23:33:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anthropora.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2026-04-25T23:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:39:59","slug":"the-great-friendship-collapse-inside-the-anti-social-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anthropora.com\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"The Great Friendship Collapse: Inside The Anti-Social Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The great friendship collapse: Inside The Anti-Social Century | Derek Thompson\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fsaeFYGbK2M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can debate all sorts of things about how the texture of American life has changed. What you can&#8217;t debate is the sheer, objective, existential fact that Americans are more alone than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this video, journalist <em>Derek Thompson<\/em> explores the rise of what he terms the &#8220;Anti-Social Century,&#8221; a phenomenon characterized by a significant decline in in-person social interaction and a surge in time spent alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key takeaways include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Decline of Socializing:<\/strong> Data from the <em>American Time Use Survey<\/em> shows that Americans spend 20% less time socializing in person compared to 20 years ago (0:00-0:55).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Role of Technology:<\/strong> Thompson argues that specific technological leaps have privatized different aspects of life:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Car (1960s):<\/strong> Privatized American lives by enabling suburban living (1:21-1:35).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Television:<\/strong> Privatized leisure by consuming time that might have otherwise been spent on social or creative activities (1:41-2:38).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Smartphone:<\/strong> Privatized attention, allowing individuals to remain isolated even when physically present among others (2:38-3:12).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biochemistry and Solitude:<\/strong> Thompson explains how the constant dopamine hits from social media can leave people feeling drained, making the effort of socializing seem like a burden. This creates an &#8220;antisocial&#8221; cycle where we choose to remain in our comfort zones rather than engaging with others (4:40-6:00).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Emotional Cost:<\/strong> This shift is linked to record-high rates of anxiety and depression among young people (6:43-7:22).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Threat of AI:<\/strong> He expresses concern that we are moving toward a future where emotional relationships with AI companions might replace human connection, as silicon-based interactions may feel more efficient than carbon-based ones (7:22-9:37).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Antidote:<\/strong> Thompson suggests adopting an &#8220;amistic&#8221; sensibility\u2014a filter for technology inspired by the <em>Amish<\/em>\u2014where we accept or reject technology based on whether it serves our core human values, such as family, romance, or provides genuine connections. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cYou can debate all sorts of things about how the texture of American life has changed. What you can&#8217;t debate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psychology-sociology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Great Friendship Collapse: Inside The Anti-Social Century - Anthropora<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"journalist Derek Thompson explores the rise of what he terms the &quot;Anti-Social Century,&quot; a phenomenon characterized by a significant decline in in-person social interaction and a surge in time spent alone.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anthropora.com\/?p=54\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Great Friendship Collapse: Inside The Anti-Social Century - 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