When we talk about “solving loneliness” it’s tempting to look at it as a monolith, where everyone’s loneliness is the same.
But loneliness comes in all different flavors.
An elderly person experiences a different flavor of loneliness than a teenager.
A new mother experiences a different flavor than a mother of five.
A white person experiences a different flavor than a black person who experiences a different flavor than an indigenous person.
Women experience a different flavor than men.
CEOs experience a different flavor than middle managers.
Urbanites experience a different flavor than those in a rural community.
Solving someone’s loneliness requires attention to the unique elements of that individual’s environment, wants, needs, identity, history, stage of life, and culture.
Startups working to “solve loneliness” with a single solution will unfortunately fall short.
If every one of us chose one other person to bring our attention, love, and care to, global loneliness would fade overnight.
That’s the only true scalable solution.
This is a short post, or what I’m calling a “Seed”. Seeds are simple ideas and reflections that may grow into essays, models, and books. I’ll be publishing seeds fairly frequently, as often as they sprout.
You can update your subscription here if you prefer not to receive Seeds, but still want to receive my long-form Essays.
I once had a parts journey that showed me how loneliness itself connects me to everyone. We all feel loneliness. Can we learn to love the lack? (I’m still wrapping my mind/heart around this.)
I'd be very curious to learn what you think are the main ingredients that go into the formula of effectively tackling the loneliness challenge today. Maybe coming in a future post? 😁