Strongly feeling a need to isolate yourself is not healthy and unnatural.

This varies enormously by where you live.

I live out in the countryside. If I run into someone in the road, I will nod my head, maybe introduce myself, and maybe chat, if the other person is interested. (To be fair, I know about 80% of the people I see in the road.) This is normal behavior. Sometimes, two cars will pass each other and stop to talk.

I have also lived in the city. If a stranger wants to talk to me in the city, either they're looking for directions (happy to help!), or they are deeply confused about appropriate social behavior in crowded spaces. In the latter case, I'm lucky if the stranger-with-no-boundaries merely wants to warn me about the dangers of the lizard people. So I've learned to ignore strangers.

	▲	lelandfe 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> If a stranger wants to talk to me in the city, either they're looking for directions (happy to help!), or they are deeply confused about appropriate social behavior in crowded spaces A neat summary of the article. Talk to the old fogies in said city and they will saddle you with complaints of how people used to say good morning, how are you doing, etc. It didn’t used to be this way. Alas, we probably won’t be talking to the old fogies either.
	▲	asdfsa32 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		You're just taking the Western code of social conduct as "normal". Human interaction is completely normal and natural.

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vitally3643 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Just because you personally disagree with something does not make it a universal wrong.

Thinking so is immature and unwise behavior.

	▲	asdfsa32 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		For a non-solitary species that requires almost 2 decades for self-sufficiency, isolation is not a question of personal opinion, it is fundamental.

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brianleb 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a very un-nuanced and combative take on a lot of people's lives. It reminds me of it being socially acceptable for the extrovert to say to the introvert, "Why don't you talk more?" while it is not acceptable for the introvert to say to the extrovert, "Why don't you talk less?"

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Gareth321 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As they explain, living in such close proximity to thousands of strangers is also not how we evolved. The earphones are an adaptive strategy. Like masks on public transport during pandemics. We don't have to adapt to modern society, but we can make it more pleasant in various ways, depending on our preferences.

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Cthulhu_ 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'd agree in general terms, but I don't think city life or existing in busy and noisy spaces is either. Isolating as described (by putting on noise-canceling earphones) is a way to manage and reduce sensory input to something within your own control.

Some people are comfortable with that, some people (say they) are used to it, but a lot of people find that blocking it out works better for them.

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kashunstva 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> …not healthy and unnatural

I don’t think you can say this categorically without taking context and a myriad of facets of one’s socio-emotional situation into consideration.

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tokai 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Writing comments on HN is also completely unnatural.