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> People socialize a lot less than they used to,

I don't know if people socialize less, but they socialize differently. I see plenty of people riding buses, trains, or walking around and endlessly messaging someone on their phones. It's easy to find complaints mocking these people as being drones and slaves to their phones, but they're actively socializing everywhere they go. They're just doing it with someone you can't see.

Most people 30 years ago weren't chatting up everyone on the bus during their daily commute. They were merely tolerating people. People today are silently talking the whole ride these days.

Yeah, it's harder to sit down and have dinner with friends and family every week than it used to be, but it's easier than ever to talk to them all day if you want to.

I know my grandparents would have people over for dinner almost daily, but they never left their small town. They knew those people their whole life and never lived more than 20 minutes away. Seeing them was easy, but if those people couldn't visit for dinner, that was it. There was no talking to anyone else for days if nobody randomly dropped by. Now people often move hundreds or thousands of miles from home, yet it's possible to have a conversation all hours of the day if you want to.



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