How do people live with no friends?

[Gamdwelf]

I was looking at the how many friends thread, and was very surprised by how many people responded by saying they have zero friends.

So I am making this thread asking how do people with no friends even get along in life? Who do you go to if you have a problem or need help?

Who's there for you through the worst of times and the best of times?

[Symphonic]

I think social interaction is important. In this day and age, it's possible to have social interactions without being "real life friends" and hanging out with them. When I was growing up, it was important to go outside and play. Now it's too dangerous (or at least we think it is) for things like that - which is really sad.

So, I think I agree, it's nice to have a friend you can talk to and hang out with, but it's not implausible for me to believe a lot of people don't have friends due to the age of technology we live in and the hermits we have become.

[xinjun]

Is self-sufficiency really that hard to comprehend?

Who do you go to if you have a problem or need help?

Google or internet forums?

Who's there for you through the worst of times and the best of times?

In what way is someone being "there" required? More clarification may be in order. The fact of their existence (my translation of "there") doesn't change much of anything.

[Gamdwelf]

Is self-sufficiency really that hard to comprehend?

It doesn't seem that hard to comprehend, it just seems very inconvenient and much more expensive.

[xinjun]

It doesn't seem that hard to comprehend, it just seems very inconvenient and much more expensive.

Truth. Still, though, that answers your question.

It can be inconvenient and expensive. But for those of us who prefer to live that way, the extra cost is a price we are willing to pay. Whereas the idea of keeping friends around to have someone to help out when you need it is tedious and not worth it.

[Speaknoevil]

There was a span of time in my adolescence when I had no friends, my life is much better with the many I have today.
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[breadisfunny]

i have no need of friends.

[Deleted]

Friends are too much stress. I much prefer a life of solitude than a life conforming to one of the media's false ideologies. Having said that, I used to have a best friend but he 'changed' and started taking drugs. He become one of 'THOSE' people. Now I enjoy living by myself and doing things I want to do, not what others tell me I should do. I don't have a girlfriend either, nor do I want one. They too are a flesh bag of worry and troubles.

If you do what other people want you to do so often it gets annoying that is on you, not them.

[Wildtree]

i have no need of friends.

Everone has that need...





You might just deny the truth for convenience reasons.

[Deleted]

If you're shit out of luck and need a place to sleep, friends to help you move, loved ones to aid you when ill, people to play games or watch movies with, people to speed up the process of finding a partner and so on and so forth, acquaintances come in handy. That and the fact that the more friends you have the more likely you are to succeed in life. Relations are key when job hunting.

You might be perfectly content being all alone, and that's fine, I don't really have any reason to care about how you live your life, but don't act like it isn't or could never be tremendously helpful to have friends in a number of situations.

[Issalice]

I don't know how someone can go without having a single friend, but I can absolutely see the appeal of not having the social responsibilities that come with friendship. I find myself turning my phone off on the weekends occasionally just to not be bothered with making up an excuse why I can't go out for a drink, or why I don't want to go to so and so's party.

[Tastyfish]

Whelp, didn't Tupac say people with less friends are more real? lol

[Biomega]

It doesn't seem that hard to comprehend, it just seems very inconvenient and much more expensive.

I don't think that having no friends is more expensive in the long run. On the contrary, I think that having no or less friends makes you more likely to forego spending money on social activities etc. You may be overestimating the monetary savings you get from having friends for support, as the vast majority of that is emotional and not monetary.

It's difficult to put this into exact values as the situations people find themselves in with or without friends vary enormously from case to case and culture to culture.

Personally, I am one of the people that has no friends, and hasn't had any for over a decade. I don't miss them in the least, but that doesn't mean my case can be applied at will to other people. It is in the end a personal decision, and I at least know that I have thought things through in great detail. For me it was an active choice, but for many people it's not - they just find themselves in the situation, and it's often easier to rationalize it as a decision rather than life circumstances.

I also believe that the importance of friends has been exaggerated in many cultures. This often comes hand in hand with a dilution of the term in general, i.e. anyone you've seen twice is basically a friend. Facebook etc. only help to exacerbate this perception, and the "friendship threshold" if you so will seems to be lowering. This however does not seem to correspond to an actual simultaneous increase in the willingness to "be a friend" to someone in a more traditional sense, i.e. offer intimate moral and emotional support, etc. "Friends", it seems, become more numerous but also more shallow.

That's from a very Western-centric viewpoint of course. Things vary greatly if you look to other cultures, and there are very different trends and developments there than you would find here, as well as very different historic bases of what defines friendship, and what sort of behavior and expectations are associated with it.

[Deleted]

Friends are too much stress. I much prefer a life of solitude than a life conforming to one of the media's false ideologies. Having said that, I used to have a best friend but he 'changed' and started taking drugs. He become one of 'THOSE' people. Now I enjoy living by myself and doing things I want to do, not what others tell me I should do. I don't have a girlfriend either, nor do I want one. They too are a flesh bag of worry and troubles.

This nigger serious? You just haven't met the right people. I refuse to believe that not a single person on the planet would be able to cheer you up. I'm a total asshole at times and have difficulty finding good relations, but sometimes there's that special person who you can really hit it off with. I'm positive you really, really have to be truly fucked up to not be able to find a single person that could make you happier than you are alone.

Infracted

[vindicatorx]

Is self-sufficiency really that hard to comprehend?

Man is a social creature by nature it's not self sufficiency to reject social interactions. You can try and sound as independent of social activity as you like, to want to be alone all the time is not normal.

[xinjun]

but don't act like it isn't or could never be tremendously helpful to have friends in a number of situations.

Who said that? I freely admit that having people willing to help you is very useful in certain situations. That doesn't necessarily mean it's worth it to me, though.

- - - Updated - - -

You can try and sound as independent of social activity as you like, to want to be alone all the time is not normal.

So? /10char

[Tastyfish]

This nigger serious? You just haven't met the right people.

And clearly you are not one.. Wowzers.

[vindicatorx]

This nigger serious?

really?

I'm a total asshole at times and have difficulty finding good relations,

after your intro I have no doubt in believing this.

[Vermicious]

I think this also depends on your definition of 'friend'.

Is a friend just someone you know more than casually, or just a facebook friend?

Currently I have no one I would consider a close friend, but plenty of casual friends, and co-workers I'm friendly with. I'd like to find a close friend or two, but those types are tough to come by nowadays.

Being an introvert by nature, this works for me, I don't mind being alone (not lonely) most of the time.

[belfpala]

I find myself turning my phone off on the weekends occasionally just to not be bothered with making up an excuse why I can't go out for a drink, or why I don't want to go to so and so's party.

A real friend would just accept, "Meh, I don't feel like going out tonight." No need for made up excuses.

I personally only keep a small number of close friends--people I feel like I can share anything with. The current count is two: a friend I've known for over 20 years, and a significant other. I have a large number of acquaintances beyond that, of course. The distinction, I guess, is emotional investment.