I genuinely don’t understand why society treats social interaction like it’s one of the most important things in life.
If someone spends a weekend alone, people assume they’re lonely. If someone has no interest in constant messaging, group chats, or hanging out every week, people think something must be wrong.
Meanwhile, a lot of social interaction seems repetitive. The same conversations, the same small talk, the same routines repeated over and over.
People talk about socialising as if it’s automatically meaningful, but for many interactions the main purpose seems to be avoiding boredom or avoiding being alone.
If somebody has no friends it’s often treated like a tragic disaster, but what if that’s actually what they prefer?
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see why being comfortable alone is viewed as strange while constantly needing people around is viewed as normal.
Observation bias: Someone who’s comfortable alone but uncomfortable around others will be seen to be uncomfortable by others; whereas someone uncomfortable alone has no one around to observe their maladjustment.
They are both maladjustments though; someone well-socialized is comfortable both alone and around others.