S.
Welcome back to another blog post folks, to preface this, this blog is going to be a long one, so um leave now if you don't like that. Also, if anyone is here just to see what topic it is for this week... uhm, don't. Because I chose to do a free topic here and did my literature essay in my literature book. So yeah, let's begin.
Welcome back to another blog post folks, to preface this, this blog is going to be a long one, so um leave now if you don't like that. Also, if anyone is here just to see what topic it is for this week... uhm, don't. Because I chose to do a free topic here and did my literature essay in my literature book. So yeah, let's begin.
Homo Sapiens. The only species from the genus Homo still exists. Of course, we have half-Neanderthals living around the world, but for the sake of this blog post, let's just say that we only have Homo Sapiens around, okay?
Once upon a time on Earth, there are several species from the genus Homo, 15, in fact, so far. Yet, as of today, 2019, we only know of one that successfully persisted through several wars and famine, disasters and conflicts, the Homo Sapiens. We built civilization from the ground up, stemming from rivers of the world, then conquering the world itself.
As much as I would like to talk about Homo Sapiens and our absurd power level, that is over 9000, I would much rather talk about the one aspect that helped humans achieve today's accomplishments. Social interactions between us humans. What makes us a complex society. Sure, there are examples of these interactions out in nature; a lion's pride, a murder of crows, beehives, and an ant colony. These too have similar interactions to humans, but, we are the more unique in our own ways. I'll elaborate on this in a future free topic if we ever get one.
Now, onto this week's topic, Social Isolation.
Us humans are social creatures. We're not designed to be solitary 24/7, even those that call themselves introverted have a close friend or two which they could hang out with. Long periods of social isolation and silence kills. Psychological studies show that long periods of social isolation can damage our mental and physical health, not being able to cope well with stressful situations, more likely to feel depressed, may have problems processing information, more susceptible to illnesses, increase in anxiety and panic attacks, increased level of paranoia and the list goes on. Needless to say, loneliness is a terrible feeling for anyone.
Occasionally, one may feel lonely due to the lack of purpose or simply do not fit in into the local social group because of different ideas and thoughts. This is also known as anomie.
Anomie is a social (individual/group) condition in instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values or from a lack of purpose or ideals. Do keep in mind that I'm a young lad and don't have any degrees in sociology, so most ideas from here are going to come from various certified source materials.
The term "anomie" or "anomy" first came from one French sociologist, named Emile Durkheim in his study of suicide. Yes, a cheery topic, hooray. Though in his study of suicide, he found out that in most cases of anomic suicide resulted from the breakdown of social standards in regulating behaviour, in other words, common values/behaviours/meanings are no longer acceptable or understood by everyone, while new values/behaviours/meanings are not developed. It creates a sense of futility, the inability to fit into daily social life, and the lack of purpose. There is no accepted definition of what is desirable, and thus an individual commits anomic suicide.
Thus, when someone feels unable to fit in, aka feeling anomie, they can feel an intense sense of loneliness, making them feel useless and deprived of social interactions. This results in the negative effects I listed in the previous statement, and in the end, leads to the undesirable anomic suicide. Anomie is generally a condition you don't want to have. The lack of purpose makes a person goalless, no motivation to work towards anything, and thus won't have the energy to get out of bed in the morning.
Otherwise, there is also FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out.
Of course, some people don't really get this, but due to the increased use of social media today, most people will have faced FOMO once in a while. Ever scroll through your social media feed, whether on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace, whatever unless its anonymous like Reddit or 4chan, and feel so lonely when you see the pictures of your friends hanging out together? That feeling you're feeling? Envy. Envious of the lives of the other friends, and how much fun you could've had if you were there, or wondering why you weren't invited to whatever event that is and wondering why your own life is not as awesome or fun as theirs. Well, my friend, that's the fear of missing out for you.
When combined, intense feeling of isolation and The Fear of Missing Out can turn into a much bigger foe for our grey matter - Depression. Once this happens, it'll only spiral down from this point due to a cognitive bias, none other than... *drum roll* The Negativity Bias.
Thing is, it's not that terrible being alone once in a while. Just like everything else, in moderation, it's great. It's great having some alone time, enjoying the music you personally like or having fun in a single-player game, i.e. you gotta have some me-time occasionally.
As for the fear of missing out, you have to realize that other people have their own lives, and being a human, like many others, most having the same thoughts and ways of thinking. The human psychology works in clockwork, having certain patterns to it. Henceforth, when you post a picture of you and your friends enjoying yourself, most likely there are going to be someone who's feeling the fear of missing out. Though, there are some ways to reduce the fear, like reducing the use of social media (i.e. seeing less of your friends' pictures), or be satisfied in your own life, happy in your own body and love yourself. When you feel that your own life is perfect, the less envious you will become of others' lives. Realize that everyone has a different life. Cheer up, pal!
Anyways, I think that's enough for this week's blog post. What a long one right? See you next week, friends.
Cheers,
Chua.
Now, onto this week's topic, Social Isolation.
Us humans are social creatures. We're not designed to be solitary 24/7, even those that call themselves introverted have a close friend or two which they could hang out with. Long periods of social isolation and silence kills. Psychological studies show that long periods of social isolation can damage our mental and physical health, not being able to cope well with stressful situations, more likely to feel depressed, may have problems processing information, more susceptible to illnesses, increase in anxiety and panic attacks, increased level of paranoia and the list goes on. Needless to say, loneliness is a terrible feeling for anyone.
Occasionally, one may feel lonely due to the lack of purpose or simply do not fit in into the local social group because of different ideas and thoughts. This is also known as anomie.
Anomie is a social (individual/group) condition in instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values or from a lack of purpose or ideals. Do keep in mind that I'm a young lad and don't have any degrees in sociology, so most ideas from here are going to come from various certified source materials.
The term "anomie" or "anomy" first came from one French sociologist, named Emile Durkheim in his study of suicide. Yes, a cheery topic, hooray. Though in his study of suicide, he found out that in most cases of anomic suicide resulted from the breakdown of social standards in regulating behaviour, in other words, common values/behaviours/meanings are no longer acceptable or understood by everyone, while new values/behaviours/meanings are not developed. It creates a sense of futility, the inability to fit into daily social life, and the lack of purpose. There is no accepted definition of what is desirable, and thus an individual commits anomic suicide.
Thus, when someone feels unable to fit in, aka feeling anomie, they can feel an intense sense of loneliness, making them feel useless and deprived of social interactions. This results in the negative effects I listed in the previous statement, and in the end, leads to the undesirable anomic suicide. Anomie is generally a condition you don't want to have. The lack of purpose makes a person goalless, no motivation to work towards anything, and thus won't have the energy to get out of bed in the morning.
Otherwise, there is also FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out.
Of course, some people don't really get this, but due to the increased use of social media today, most people will have faced FOMO once in a while. Ever scroll through your social media feed, whether on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace, whatever unless its anonymous like Reddit or 4chan, and feel so lonely when you see the pictures of your friends hanging out together? That feeling you're feeling? Envy. Envious of the lives of the other friends, and how much fun you could've had if you were there, or wondering why you weren't invited to whatever event that is and wondering why your own life is not as awesome or fun as theirs. Well, my friend, that's the fear of missing out for you.
When combined, intense feeling of isolation and The Fear of Missing Out can turn into a much bigger foe for our grey matter - Depression. Once this happens, it'll only spiral down from this point due to a cognitive bias, none other than... *drum roll* The Negativity Bias.
Thing is, it's not that terrible being alone once in a while. Just like everything else, in moderation, it's great. It's great having some alone time, enjoying the music you personally like or having fun in a single-player game, i.e. you gotta have some me-time occasionally.
As for the fear of missing out, you have to realize that other people have their own lives, and being a human, like many others, most having the same thoughts and ways of thinking. The human psychology works in clockwork, having certain patterns to it. Henceforth, when you post a picture of you and your friends enjoying yourself, most likely there are going to be someone who's feeling the fear of missing out. Though, there are some ways to reduce the fear, like reducing the use of social media (i.e. seeing less of your friends' pictures), or be satisfied in your own life, happy in your own body and love yourself. When you feel that your own life is perfect, the less envious you will become of others' lives. Realize that everyone has a different life. Cheer up, pal!
Anyways, I think that's enough for this week's blog post. What a long one right? See you next week, friends.
Cheers,
Chua.
Yes, relatable but not the positive ones
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