May 23, 2023·edited May 23, 2023Liked by Jonah Davids
Well-argued. I would add it is likely that loneliness is a system-level outcome of other social phenomena and problems (crime, suburbanization, costly housing, racial and sexual conflict, shrinking family sizes). Eliminating crime, for instance, would increase the utilization of public spaces and reduce loneliness as a byproduct. There are many other channels through which this could occur. If my hypothesis is correct, direct approaches to reductions in loneliness are probably too expensive to make them policy targets.
RE the medicalization of society. My last job was at a healthcare startup where we made VR tests that could measure dementia. Basically an IQ taken in VR; my job was to find a mapping between the test and a dementia score. One of the problems we ran into was product-market fit. We did a very good job scoring dementia, but what to do with the information. People wanted something actionable. But any suggested action does not change with your score. If you have a high score, make sure you get sleep and socialize. If you have a low score, do the same. It was a bit of a downer because at the end of the day all of the very expensive medicalization would spit out very obvious lifestyle advice. Felt like painting a $1,000 billable veneer.
Treating loneliness with the medical system runs into the same problems.
Well-argued. I would add it is likely that loneliness is a system-level outcome of other social phenomena and problems (crime, suburbanization, costly housing, racial and sexual conflict, shrinking family sizes). Eliminating crime, for instance, would increase the utilization of public spaces and reduce loneliness as a byproduct. There are many other channels through which this could occur. If my hypothesis is correct, direct approaches to reductions in loneliness are probably too expensive to make them policy targets.
RE the medicalization of society. My last job was at a healthcare startup where we made VR tests that could measure dementia. Basically an IQ taken in VR; my job was to find a mapping between the test and a dementia score. One of the problems we ran into was product-market fit. We did a very good job scoring dementia, but what to do with the information. People wanted something actionable. But any suggested action does not change with your score. If you have a high score, make sure you get sleep and socialize. If you have a low score, do the same. It was a bit of a downer because at the end of the day all of the very expensive medicalization would spit out very obvious lifestyle advice. Felt like painting a $1,000 billable veneer.
Treating loneliness with the medical system runs into the same problems.