Addictions

Apparently addictions are being blamed for the rise in unhappiness amongst Americans.

There may be 3 things which are related to each other and are relevant in this day and age. One of them is the opioid crisis in America. Another one of them is the fragmentation of the American society, first discussed by Robert Putnam in his classic, “Bowling Alone” and still relevant today. How are these two related to each other? In the famous psychological experiment (go look up “rat park”), addiction is related to not having an active social life. The breakdown of society and addiction are twin scourges that feed on each other.

The third spoke on the triad is related to both the fragmentation of society and addiction. It is “social media”. (quotations because social media ain’t that social). it is related to both addiction and breakdowns in real human relationships. It is related to addiction because it's designed to be addictive. And also in breakdowns in relations because it's a surrogate for real human interaction.