
Solitude appears to have an image problem in Japan - pmoriarty
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/11/national/media-national/solitude-appears-image-problem-japan/
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factsaresacred
I adopt Hemingway's attitude:

> _" When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except
> where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and
> if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People
> were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as
> good as spring itself."_

It's not about having company, it's about having company with whom you feel a
togetherness - shared workplaces and shared beds can be surprisingly lonely
places.

Solitude, if voluntary, is a gift and should be embraced - it's the place
where you grow and develop. Involuntary solitude is loneliness and modern
society provides both the cause (atomized lifestyles and little time) and the
cure (meetup/dating apps, airplanes).

~~~
kwhitefoot
Why was this downvoted?

~~~
1996
Because it is original, thought provoking, and goes against the mainstream
discourse.

Many people seem to use downvotes to indicate their disagreement with an idea
than offend their political or moral sensibilities.

~~~
happytoexplain
I agree with your praise of the comment, but I really don't think this sort of
haughty dismissal is constructive. If you find yourself frustrated that people
are taking umbrage with something, explore that - a defense peppered with
insults does harm to the image of the object of your praise.

~~~
1996
dissent is punished, whether carefully argumented, politely constructed to
avoid hurting sensibilities, or blunt.

I have noticed a comnon pattern here that leads to high praises: on the
negative aide: being dismissive of cryogeny, of crypto currency, of China ; on
the positive side: being pro regulations, pro social programs, etc.

My exploration is that the arguments are unsound, and emotionally driven. I
remember someone explaining without shame that their hatred of Huawei was
because of Nortel problems in Canada (!!) It seems very weird to me.

I believe a lot of people here are in technology because it is trendy. They
have limited passion on the subject. They have links to their websites on
their profile, and seem to mostly seek networking, and parroting generally
accepted things to avoid any objections or controversy.

I respect that difference. I am here to read thought provoking innovative
content, and write interesting discussions with interesting people. I do not
wish to lie about my sensitivies, but I take no umbrage to different opinions.
Difference leads to innovation! I find that mostly in the "new" section.

Good enough for me.

------
v64
I recently read a nonfiction book called The Lonely City: Adventures in the
Art of Being Alone [1], which talks about the interplay between solitude,
loneliness, and creativity. The author talks about loneliness and solitude in
her own life and she examines artists for whom these traits played a prominent
role in their lives and their work.

Many artists have written about the necessity of loneliness and solitude for
achieving original work [2]. Neuroscientists [3], psychologists [4], and
philosophers [5] have expressed this as well.

Like everything else, our lives need to have a balance between socialization
and solitude. I think many people suffer anxiety because society tells them
they "need" to be constantly social, surrounded by others. The stigmatization
of solitude is not uncommon. Introverted people encounter this on a regular
basis. However, a healthy amount of solitude in our lives allows us to be
ourselves with ourselves, unconcerned with the demands of others and the
pressures of society. In this setting, we can truly be original and whole.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-City-Adventures-Being-
Alone/dp...](https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-City-Adventures-Being-
Alone/dp/1250118034)

[2] "Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers
palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He
grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work
deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he
must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day." \-- Ernest Hemingway

[3] "Oh comforting solitude, how favorable thou art to original thought!" \--
Santiago Ramón y Cajal

[4] "In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for
constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone." \--
Rollo May

[5] "That is why I go into solitude so as not to drink out of everybody’s
cistern. When I am among the many I live as the many do, and I do not think as
I really think; after a time it always seems as though they want to banish me
from myself and rob me of my soul and I grow angry with everybody and fear
everybody." \-- Friedrich Nietzsche

~~~
JustMatthew
> Like everything else, our lives need to have a balance between socialization
> and solitude.

Beautiful post, and I think that line encapsulates quite perfectly what any
thinking person should keep in mind when it comes to discussions on solitude
and socialization.

The difficulty of achieving that balance is that it differs person to person,
and culture tends to compound the difficulty of achieving the perfect
individual balance.

Imo, self-knowledge and the self-confidence it helps canalize offer the only
navigable route through the overpowering currents of culture towards that
island of balance.

------
sonofblah
Too much "we" and "our" in these things. The author may speak only for himself
(or herself).

The people who "choose" to spend time alone, do so because they have that
choice available to them--it's a kind of "social privilege" or prerogative,
available to those whose time and attention is in most demand.

It's reminiscent of an attitude that doesn't understand why "all those poor
people just don't get normal jobs."

------
Madmallard
No solitude is not healthy. Only our shitty 21st century individualism pushes
from industry and media have shifted things in that direction and almost
nobody is happy doing it.

~~~
kwhitefoot
Solitude and loneliness are not the same thing. Solitude is normally something
you choose while loneliness is a product of circumstance. Some of us aggravate
our loneliness by being difficult but it's still not the same as solitude.

~~~
clanreborn
> Solitude is normally something you choose while loneliness is a product of
> circumstance

Suicide is also something people choose. Being killed is something that
happens to them.

If a person suicides to not be torced and then killed my the enemies. How is
that different from choosing soltitude over loneliness?

~~~
krastanov
You are mangling the word "choice" to fit your argument. Solitude is (for
instance) me deciding to have a day or a week for myself to hike a trail
alone. Loneliness is not having anybody that would do the hike with me if I
invited them.

Or to your more visceral examples: Medically assisted suicide could _barely_
be called a choice (there are hardly any options with less painful outcome),
but a suicide to avoid being hurt by others against your will is definitely
even less of a choice.

~~~
clanreborn
> You are mangling the word "choice" to fit your argument. Solitude is (for
> instance) me deciding to have a day or a week for myself to hike a trail
> alone. Loneliness is not having anybody that would do the hike with me if I
> invited them.

This is not how it works in the real world.

Consumers are blasted with manipulative ad but still they've a _choice_ , it's
no more different than a suicide.

