The Social Despair Pandemic

"It's ironic how in today's world of seemingly limitless connectivity at the tip of our fingers, we are less connected than ever," I told a good friend of mine this past Saturday afternoon as we were catching up and talking about some of the dilemmas we have come across in the world and the younger generations.

The friend I was having these conversations with is the founder of a start-up that has been built on the blockchain and is creating an ecosystem of value creation for all its members. Safe to say, this man is pretty smart. He was fortunate enough to work in Silicon Valley during the .com era. We started talking about this specific topic when he told me about how the world has changed in a social sense. Back in the mid to late 1900s and before that, every social interaction we humans had was physical. It doesn't matter if we were doing a business deal, going to dinner, or even just wanting to send our neighbor a quick message. We always had to make an effort to be physically present. Fast forward to a new generation, most of these small social interactions don't exist, or at least not on the same level. Business is done virtually, If we need to inform our neighbor of something, we send them a message. Yes, we still go out together for breakfast, lunch, or dinner from time to time, but even then, are we truly connected? How much time during these meals do we spend being present vs. on our phones? Don't get me wrong. The benefits that arose from the invention of technology far outweigh the downsides. However, with great power comes great responsibility.

Over the past 20 years during the rise and adoption of technology and digitization and the ease of access that came along with it. Human connection and physical touch have become less and less popular simply due to no longer needing to be physically involved in everything. This is especially true over the past decade since the creation and rapid popularization of social media. Again, there are a lot of benefits to social media. People have done incredibly well with it, but in this case, unlike with the invention of technology, you could argue it has done more harm than good. Social media - in most cases, creates a negative feedback loop, on 2 ends. The first is the obvious one where you scroll the home feed for hours watching people project their "perfect lives" onto you. I placed those quotations there because these "perfect lives" are as imperfect as they come. Life is messy and life is hard. The very reason people feel the need to post about their lives is to seek external validation from others. The last sentence leads perfectly into the second negative feedback loop which is posting about your life to seek external validation. The harsh truth of the world is that no one cares about what you are doing. Liking a post has become more of a habit nowadays than the act of liking a post because you resonate with the message. Yes, I won't deny the fact that social media is entertaining. There is no problem with entertainment once in a while, I mean we are only human after all. The issue with this form of entertainment is the ease of access and the never-ending feed. Before the days of social media and digitization, even entertainment required effort. You would dress up, travel to, and then be physically present - with other people, at the location of the entertainment.

Call me primal or old school but we are unfortunately dealing with a real issue here. Thousands of teenagers and even younger have committed suicide because of this social deprivation problem. There is a coined term for it and much research has been done on this topic. The dilemma is known as "Social Despair." I am fully aware that social media isn't the only cause of this problem we struggle with but it's a massive benefactor. The sad thing is, the majority of this isn't our fault. We are fighting individual battles as lone soldiers against an army of geniuses backed by billions of dollars whose sole purpose is to keep us addicted to their platforms. Again not saying this is a bad thing. We are a competitive species so the moment something is invented there will be copycats and everyone involved will fight for a share of the pie. The only thing we can do is educate ourselves more and make a change where we can.

Last year towards the end of the year I read an article that claimed Tel Aviv in Israel was rated as one of the happiest cities on the planet. My initial reaction was one of shock. If anyone has lived or visited Isreal, they will tell you that Israelis seem very stuck up and miserable. Pair that with tremendously high living costs and low wages relative to the living costs. Israelis are also workaholics, chain smokers and in many cases overweight. In any normal nation, these factors would all lead to incredibly miserable lives. Yet, it's the polar opposite. Why is this? I just couldn't make sense of this, how was it possible? For months (on and off), I would briefly just wonder about this and how it was possible.

The realization of why the nation of Israel is so happy despite all of the above factors and having mortal enemies on all of their borders, came to me when my mate was talking about the social despair issue and how it has become a devastating challenge of late. The Israeli people value connection and connectivity above all else. Every Friday night and Saturday during the day we have what is known as the Sabbath, this is the Jewish day of rest according to the Torah. During these 24 hours, the biggest priority is reconnecting with loved ones. In Israel, a nation of workaholics, the moment Friday night comes, everything mostly shuts down and people spend invaluable time with their loved ones, eating good food and being merry. There is also a second element to this Israeli happiness equation but I want to stick to the first one for just another moment. Imagine if just for one day a week humanity as a whole prioritizes family and connection with loved ones above all else. This small act of connection often underappreciated and overlooked is the biggest component of what is lacking in today's world. If you want to be at peace in life then prioritizing human connection should be a foundational pillar in your life.

I did mention there was a second factor to the "Israeli Happiness" equation, and this is that they are working towards one common goal. I keep saying they but I should probably say us as I am also Israeli. Israel has become a safe haven for Jews around the world. To keep it this way, Israel's leaders realized they needed to become a dominating force in today's technologically driven world. I am tempted to write about what it takes to build and maintain a dominant empire, but that's a post for another time. Everyone, from the street sweeper to the Unicorn CEO deeply resonates with Zionism and identifying as an Israeli. This second factor in the equation is just as important to happiness and peace as the first.

The real pandemic - Social Despair, was born through the slow progression of losing touch with the things that make us human and substituted with devices and apps that provide a constant feed of instant gratification and dopamine through negative feedback loops.

I know I am not the only one who has written about this topic. It has become a very popular topic because of how devastating the issue has become. I will say this though, we must take action and educate the youth on the importance of human connectivity and working towards something bigger than themselves. If we don't make this a priority then the future generations will grow up in a world filled with misery. Men of action are the ones who end up changing the world, so let's act and be the change that is so desperately needed.