Loneliness is best conceived as an unmet social need, which humans are fundamentally driven to correct through relationships.
These were, of course, completely ordinary rocks that could be plucked from anyone’s backyard. But pet rocks flew off the shelves. In 1975, over 1.5 million rocks were sold, which made their"inventor," Gary Dahl, a millionaire almost overnight.Source: Photo by Owner of Pet Rock Net, via Wikipedia Creative Commons
In 1975, the pet rock was a fun fad but today they could be taken to mean something else entirely: a cure for loneliness. More and more often, we humans are turning to inanimate objects to fill our unmet social needs. If we can so easily see a rock as “human-like,” just wait for what artificially intelligent algorithms and anthropomorphic robotics can do. As we’ll see, modern technology is galvanizing the loneliness economy.
mattjohnsonisme How long should ANYone wait between SEXUAL encounters ?