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Comment by ttjjtt | Hacker News Reader

“Sunshine causes sunburn that’s why I stay inside 24/7. simples.”

No social life is really really bad for your long term health outcomes. It’s net negative for you however you spin it. Please reconsider this way of living. Best wishes.

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> No social life is really really bad for your long term health outcomes.

Fyi, this pop-psych wisdom was never meant to be universal. For hardcore introverts, little to no social life can be the healthy optimum (assuming you're functioning in society and not counting your coworkers as part of your social life, etc).

They just don't say that because it doesn't apply to most people. Hardcore introverts are relatively rare, and it risks misinterpretation by normal people to not fix their social lives wondering if they're one of those.

As someone with strong introvert bias it’s not impossible for me to imagine how basic social life might be almost unbearable for a hardcore introvert. But I would classify that as a rare disability, to be honest. There’s a danger in more average spectrum people over-identifying as isolationist and then leaning into isolation as a solution to discomfort, in terms of self -damage. we agree.

>“Sunshine causes sunburn that’s why I stay inside 24/7. simples.”

Unlike blabbering about nonsense during coffee breaks, sun exposure causes the production of vitamin D, and therefore has a positive effect on health. It's a comparison of a very different things. Of course, too much of everything can cause negative effects and so does the same sunshine.

>No social life is really really bad for your long term health outcomes.

No, it's a fake problem.

So to all the articles and papers that will come up if you search for terms like “health outcomes social isolation”… do I understand right that you dismiss that all as fake?

Not really, but I think that it's a problem that is caused by belief that it's a problem. Therefore, such people tend to think that something is wrong with them, and that as a result causes stress, anxiety and whatnot, which in return causes health problems. In other words, people BELIEVE they NEED friends / social life / whatever to live "normally", and see it as a problem if they have none of that, with which I disagree, and that is why I don't see it as a real issue that requires fixing.

Thanks for explaining, I am considering this. But I’m still very far from convinced. There are specific benefits to strong trusting long term intimate social relationships that I don’t see as replaceable and I see them as vital to positive well-being. I think one can get along okay without them but they’d be damaging their outcomes, measured by higher stress, lower positive emotional states, and higher risk of mental health disease. I think the latter, the risk of spiralling into unhealthy beliefs and behaviours without social fabric to co-regulate those things, that is particularly concerning and something I personally gave seen happen to loved ones and acquaintances, as have probably most people.

In any case, good luck out there & thanks

edit: I’m talking about close friends and family. I think acquaintances offer very little in comparison. I feel I could also live without them. Except once in a while they turn into a close friend, and I suppose I wouldn’t have close friends, or perhaps even my own family, without them.

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