Human loneliness in the modern world

“We are born alone, we live alone and we die alone” (Osho)

The problem of loneliness is one of the important problems of philosophy and cultural studies. In modern society, all people are essentially the same, as they obey the same desires. And, perhaps, every modern person is faced in one way or another with a feeling of loneliness. The problem of loneliness has sharply manifested itself in recent decades, and every year it is becoming more and more aggravated. It's no secret that most residents of megacities feel lonely.

What is loneliness: trouble or happiness, norm or pathology? Various philosophical currents and psychological schools consider loneliness either as the only possible basis for human existence, or as an unnatural state for a person, a pathology and a manifestation of a person’s weak adaptability, or as a social problem, a consequence of the development of modern social forces.

Loneliness begins with the ejection of a person into the world of things. Previously, in a small community, everyone felt comfortable, but now the individual is one on one with the Universe. "I" in the world, is influenced, but at the same time belongs not only to the world. But also to himself.

The most acute problem of loneliness is expressed in the most acute form in adolescence, when there is a search for one's own identity and connections with the outside world. The feeling of the meaninglessness of one's existence actualizes the experience of loneliness, helplessness, fear. If a teenager does not find support and understanding in relationships with adults, then he turns to the same peers who are “not understood” by others. In adolescence, the idea of ​​the content of such concepts as "loneliness" and "solitude" changes. Children usually interpret them as some kind of physical condition (“there is no one around”), while adolescents fill these words with psychological meaning, attributing to them not only a negative, but also a positive value. The need to communicate with peers, who cannot be replaced by parents, occurs in children very early and increases with age. Already among preschoolers, the absence of peer society has a negative effect on the development of communication skills and self-awareness. The behavior of adolescents, by its very essence, is collective-group. problem loneliness creativity value

The next stage of loneliness in life is the result of incorrectly built relationships with others, more deeply - the result of an incorrect worldview. Often, loneliness arises after disappointment in some kind of relationship (between parents-children, friends, lovers). Disappointment is followed by a fear of resuming such a relationship, a fear of the mental pain that they can cause again. Outwardly strong people, after such an experience, consciously withdraw into themselves. Outwardly, such people are quite active, immersed in work with their heads in order to earn more. But only externally, internally, she remained, gradually lowering her personality to depression.

Another manifestation of loneliness in the creative activity of a person. A creative person, like most people, experiences such a state as loneliness throughout his life. In this case, we can talk about both scientific creativity, and religious, and artistic. The fact is that, on the one hand, a creative person reflects interest in the problem posed by those around him, on the other hand, he splashes out subjective experiences that affect his personality. It cannot be argued that the creators are looking for loneliness. On the contrary, they run away from him. But since most often these people are quite extraordinary and difficult to communicate, often unbalanced, sometimes mentally unhealthy, loneliness, as usual, is a companion of their life. Thus, the formation of creative teams, attempts to get as close as possible, at least at the level of professional activity, is one of the forms of escape for talented (and sometimes brilliant) people from their own loneliness. It should be noted that the loneliness of a creative person is aggravated not only by personal qualities, but also by social conditions. Many creative people prefer solitude, as they consider this state to be the most fruitful, when the best ideas and ways to implement them are born in the head.

Well, the last stage of the manifestation of loneliness in a person's life is the loneliness of the elderly. In old age, the reality of aging brings with it many causes of loneliness. Old friends die, and although they can be replaced by new acquaintances, the thought that you continue to exist is not comfort enough. Loneliness can arise from anguish associated with the inability to independently organize their time. With old age comes fear and loneliness, caused by poor health and fear of death.

Positive aspects of human loneliness in the modern world:

• 1. as an argument "for" is the freedom of action and choice.
• 2. no fear of being deceived and rejected.
• 3. Often a person finds himself alone, by analyzing his previous life, his views, feelings.

Negative points:

• 1. A person who does not play any social roles begins to consider himself worthless, useless for society.
• 2. Distrust of people develops. The natural protective reaction of the body is triggered and the person seeks solitude.
• 3. Loneliness brings with it only sadness, sadness, emptiness, despair, melancholy and disappointment.

The problem of loneliness is one of the urgent problems in the social and spiritual life of modern society, but little is known about the nature of loneliness, its essence and causes in modern society. However, in reality, the problem of loneliness is real. At present, an increasing number of people are experiencing this feeling due to the influence of the crisis of modern Russian culture. People suffering from loneliness eventually lose their positive human qualities and spiritual values ​​to a certain extent. Their loneliness can turn into a chronic condition, which leads to mental disorders, degradation of the individual and, consequently, degradation of society. Loneliness is something that is often scary to admit even to oneself, which is awkward, and sometimes indecent, to tell someone else.

Rogova E.E.

Department of Organizational and Applied Psychology of the Pedagogical Institute of the Southern Federal University (Russia, Rostov-on-Don)

Actual problems of studying loneliness in modern science

At the present stage of development of science, the phenomenon of "loneliness" is widely studied not only by psychologists, sociologists, teachers and philosophers, but also by physicians. In psychology, most often there are studies of loneliness in adolescence, youth and old age.

I.M. Slobodchikov identifies personality traits (character traits) that “predispose” to the formation (development) of persistent loneliness, external signs indicating a predisposition to loneliness, which a teacher can focus on when working with adolescents: a high level of anxiety; impressionability; romance (romantic sublimity); independence, impulsiveness, emotionality; isolation, unsociableness, closeness, detachment; increased psychological vulnerability; emotional "pricklyness"; timidity, timidity; individuality, meaning "dissimilarity" to peers.

Ways to overcome loneliness in adolescents have their own specifics. Adolescent reactions to loneliness are full of variety. Their boundaries range from excessive activity to depressive apathy, from servile submissiveness to rebellious destructiveness. These reactions can be expressed through emphasizing external signs, for example, clothing, hair, peculiar gestures, or joining groups, cults, ideologies of various kinds. All this variety of reactions can be structurally ordered and the main ways to overcome loneliness can be identified: 1) emphasizing one's social activity; 2) emphasizing one's own appearance; 3) frequent change of partners; 4) convulsive clinging to another; 5) reorientation of goals; 6) turning inward. All of these ways are basically based on the main goal: to try to achieve belonging to a group and avoid loneliness.

Youth and early youth are considered to be especially difficult transitional periods in a person's life. One of the important aspects of the transition to the adult age group is the establishment of adult social relationships. Many students, having started their studies, for the first time live separately from their parents. They lost not only the emotional support of their families, but also a sense of security. It is not surprising, therefore, that loneliness is a serious problem among students, especially in their first year of study. There are two main ways to overcome loneliness: 1) making friends; 2) establishing a romantic relationship. Thus, friendship is a particularly important condition for preventing loneliness among students.

A common stereotype is the assertion that old age, as a life phase associated with a decrease in social activity, a decrease in regenerative abilities and a decline in health, allegedly contributes to the emergence of loneliness in accordance with the expression: old means living alone, and living alone means lonely. Without a doubt, there are examples that confirm this expression. However, empirical evidence suggests otherwise, about the myth of loneliness in old age. Older people often live alone, but this does not mean that they experience an acute sense of loneliness. Within the social group of the elderly, the oldest people are especially prone to loneliness, but only if they are extremely unhealthy or have problems with movement. The onset of loneliness in people of the older age group is associated with a number of reasons, both subjective (satisfaction with living conditions, self-control, comparing one's own past experience with the experience of other people) and objective (number of friends, frequency of contacts, the ability to communicate with children and relatives). etc.). Old men experience loneliness to a greater extent than elderly women, especially if they have been married for a long time and their behavior is determined by the distribution of roles in the family. Empirical studies show that older people are less likely than younger people to report being alone. However, within their own group, some representatives feel it especially strongly. Most older people are more satisfied with their social connections than younger people. Young people have more social opportunities, but at the same time they make excessive demands on social connections. With age, these requirements are transformed in the right direction. Summarizing the facts, it can be argued that the observed trend reflects the different readiness of age groups to perceive loneliness.

An empirical study of life satisfaction in single people of retirement age showed:

1) subjects with a high level of subjective loneliness have: a high need for communication, which is especially pronounced among non-family pensioners, low satisfaction rates in the areas: communication, family, friends, indicate problems in these areas. In this group, more negative experiences dominate, in contrast to those who are not alone. According to indicators of psychological age, the subjects of retirement age see themselves older than their years. The picture of the future looks unpromising, because. the subjects do not see what else can be done in life, in contrast to the picture of the past, which looks quite eventful in terms of events.

2) subjects with a low level of subjective have low levels of satisfaction in the areas: money, health, recreation, the latter indicates the need for free time and the desire to increase the level of satisfaction in the field of hobbies. Emotional experiences in this group are more positive, in contrast to the group of subjects with a high level of subjective loneliness, which can help create a more friendly environment around them, which can favorably affect high performance in communication, unlike the first group.

Widowed and divorced people, as well as those who have separated from their partner, are the next group for which there is empirical evidence for coping with loneliness. The loss of a partner is a tragic event, the consequence of which is a high likelihood of loneliness. Loneliness among widows is pronounced when: the loss of a partner occurred unexpectedly; little time has passed since the death of a partner; connection with a partner or dependence on him was very strong; there is a negative attitude towards one's own widowhood and widowhood in general.

In this regard, four main forms of overcoming loneliness are proposed: 1) permanent employment; 2) creating new relationships and roles; 3) awareness of one's own strengths; 4) contacts with relatives and friends. The use of public institutions: churches, social services, professional psychological assistance, travel agencies is extremely rare. This is due to the fact that for those widows for whom loneliness is the main problem of their lives, these institutions are not so important and do not solve their problem of loneliness. Loneliness and widowhood should never be equated. Many widows have dealt with loneliness in a very constructive way. Loneliness as a consequence of the loss of a partner is experienced whether or not there is social and emotional support of any kind.

In accordance with the understanding of loneliness, a strategy for overcoming it is also selected. If loneliness is understood as a reaction to a lack of social connections, then a strategy is needed that actually eliminates this deficit. If loneliness is understood as a consequence of insufficient own autonomy, then a strategy is required that helps the formation of the individual, her independence from others. Existing empirical evidence for typical recommendations for coping with loneliness tends to be based on self-reports of lonely individuals. The most common reactions to loneliness are: listening to music (61.1%), thinking alone with yourself (65.7%), talking with a friend (54.1%), reading (52.4%), meeting with friends (51%), eating (50.2%). Factor analysis of reactions to loneliness revealed four factors: 1) "sad passivity"; 2) "active solitude"; 3) "social contact"; 4) "a waste of money." In many respects, these data are consistent with the results obtained using behavioral correlates in lonely individuals. Researchers identify seven factors:

1. Sensory-directed reactions: drinking alcohol, taking drugs, sexual debauchery.

2. Religiously oriented responses: prayer, Bible reading.

3. Search reactions: going to the cinema, playing games, dancing, driving a car.

4. Non-social activities: reading, studying, working.

5. Reflective solitude: reflections alone with oneself, lonely walks.

6. Seeking close connections: talking with a friend about your feelings and experiences, going somewhere where you could have true friends, spending time with someone you can trust.

7. Passive reaction: sleep.

Interesting data were obtained in the field of medicine. Dutch scientists have found that the feeling of loneliness is not only explained by shyness or poor social adaptation, but is partly inherited.

The study, conducted by the Free University in Amsterdam, was based on data from more than 4,000 pairs of twins in the Netherlands, followed since 1991.

A group of scientists found that in a pair of identical twins, the problem with experiencing feelings of loneliness most often affects both twins, and in a pair of fraternal twins, only one can suffer. This indicates the genetic conditionality of this trait. Dutch scientists have put forward a hypothesis that in ancient people loneliness could be a survival mechanism.

Also, the feeling of loneliness affects blood pressure. This relationship is as strong as the known relationship between hypertension and obesity, as well as hypertension and lack of physical activity.

The experiment involved 229 men and women aged 50-68 living in the administrative district of Cook, Chicago. The group consisted of whites, blacks, and Hispanic Americans. In lonely patients, systolic, “upper” pressure was 10–30 units higher than normal.

Early research has linked loneliness to depression, stress hormone levels, blood vessel problems, and an increased risk of cardiovascular death. Researchers believe that improving an older person's social connections may help normalize blood pressure.

A new study by American scientists has shown that it is better to play sports in a company. However, many people leading a healthy lifestyle prefer to go for daily runs alone. They believe that this will allow them to enjoy nature and take a break from problems, which means it will add strength and health. A new study by American scientists has cast doubt on this fact. Bruce McEwen, professor of neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York, has shown that the social environment plays an important role in determining the effects of physical activity on the brain.

McEwen and colleagues simulated a state of physical activity by making rats spin a running wheel. Some rats "trained" alone, others - with relatives. During the experiment, "neurogenesis" was evaluated - the appearance of new neurons in the brain. The rats that "trained" in a group were found to have many more new neurons than those that were alone. Rats spinning the wheel in isolation also showed significantly higher levels of the stress hormone corticosterone.

The level of stress hormones increased in all runners, although it was lower in the rats in the team. But in some strange way, corticosterone did not affect the brains of rats that were in the company of their own kind.

These studies certainly show how social interactions during physical activity are beneficial for health.

Introduction to work

Relevance of the research topic. Loneliness is one of the most urgent problems of modern society. This is not only a complex phenomenon of individual human life, but also the most important social phenomenon that requires deep socio-philosophical reflection. Only with a broad interdisciplinary approach is it possible to accurately understand the phenomenon of loneliness, its transformation in the modern world and predict the impact on the world of the future.

The man of the 21st century feels more and more isolated from his own kind. He feels like an insignificant "cog" in the mechanism of global politics, lonely and abandoned in a world alien to him. In the sphere of global political and economic relations, an individual and his inner world lose their paramount importance in comparison with the interests of the state, region, organization or collective.

The scientific and theoretical relevance of addressing the problem of loneliness in modern society is associated with an ambiguous interpretation of the changes taking place in it, and, consequently, the attitudes that a person should be guided by in his life. The nature of the changes taking place in modern society, for example, in the interpretation of D. Bell, looks like a transition from the production of things to the production of services. The scientist calls such a society a post-industrial society in which the information revolution is unfolding.

Other researchers give it various definitions: "post-capitalist society", "globalizing society", "information society", "network society", "postmodern society", "risk society", "individualized society", and the list goes on. However, the listed characteristics of modern society are not synonymous, they are its individual facets that characterize the manifestation of its specific properties that exist in this society at the same time.

In this regard, the comparison of the phenomena of loneliness and communication in their direct interconnection and interdependence from the positions of social philosophy becomes especially relevant.

The sphere of high technologies and artificial intelligence has fenced off people from each other, communication in a virtual environment often completely replaces real interpersonal communication: often people who are nearby prefer to communicate in a virtual computer environment rather than face to face. This gives rise to the problem of virtual communication as a pseudo-substitute for real communication, which in turn has a very ambiguous effect on the problems of loneliness of a particular individual.

Most of the research on loneliness in modern science is limited to the framework of social psychology and sociology. Therefore, loneliness is traditionally understood as a negative emotional experience in social isolation from other people, as a social phenomenon that spreads with the advent of megacities, an increase in the social mobility of the population, and a crisis in family relations.

Loneliness is a concept whose life meaning seems accessible. However, such clarity is deceptive, and understanding is ordinary, since the phenomenon of loneliness is filled with contradictory philosophical content, which is difficult for rational analysis. The value of the socio-philosophical understanding of loneliness lies in focusing on the significance of this phenomenon for a person and society. The danger of understanding it only as an individual phenomenon lies in the fact that this ignores the situations and causes in which loneliness arises and is felt by a person. Thus, many dynamic factors that are directly related to the essence of loneliness as a social phenomenon are not taken into account.

Social processes, designed to optimize and facilitate a person's life, ultimately lead to the leveling of the value of an individual. Individuals are erased, the possibility of "exchange" as enrichment when communicating with other people is reduced. Accordingly, the value of communication itself decreases, quality is replaced by quantity. This leads to social isolation, anomie, alienation, the causes of which are the fear of loneliness and the desire to avoid it in any way.

On the other hand, excessive attention to the social manifestations of loneliness without taking into account its significance for the inner world of a person can lead to a misunderstanding of the most important personal functions of loneliness.

The research topic is updated by the need to draw attention to the threatening standardization of modern society, to the danger of intellectual degradation. The possibility of overcoming the current situation is seen, among other things, in changing the social attitude towards loneliness. The fight against the negative consequences of loneliness should begin not with the eradication of loneliness as such, but with the formation of a new attitude towards it. Of great importance is the socio-philosophical approach, which makes it possible to identify significant personal and social functions of loneliness, to determine the distinctive features of social modes of loneliness, such as untimeliness, abandonment, misunderstanding. This will allow you to see the true causes of social anomalies and reduce the risk of their occurrence.

The degree of scientific development of the research topic. Loneliness is the most complex social phenomenon that requires interdisciplinary analysis. The study of this phenomenon and aspects of its relationship with antisocial behavior is necessary, but this is the prerogative of psychology and sociology. The relationship between suicidal behavior and loneliness, for example, has its roots in the field of psychopathology. This is a medical problem that is quite serious and has an extensive research base.

Modern philosophical scientific reference literature does not define loneliness. However, the history of humanitarian thought shows that philosophy has always recognized the value of solitude. The problem is that the definitions that are used are purely psychological in nature and reflect only the negative characteristics of the phenomenon under study. Thus, there is a need for a definition of loneliness that reflects its philosophical content.

In the variety of scientific approaches that form the basis for the formation of modern knowledge about loneliness as an individual and social phenomenon, several groups of sources can be distinguished.

The first group includes the works of those thinkers in the history of philosophy, whose reflections, one way or another, relate to loneliness and reflect the attitude towards this phenomenon. The value of these works is determined by the fact that, despite belonging to different philosophical directions, they include both general features of loneliness inherent in each time, and individual differences due to the life situation and the subjective position of each author.

Reflections of Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Seneca, M. Aurelius, Confucius reflect the understanding of loneliness by ancient thinkers.

The medieval attitude towards loneliness, colored by the author's religious beliefs, is most vividly represented in the works of Augustine Aurelius (Blessed).

The new perception of man by thinkers of the Renaissance is also reflected in the attitude towards loneliness, in the understanding of its purpose. A new meaning of being alone with oneself is found in the works of such thinkers as D. Alighieri, F. Petrarch, C. Salutati, L. Bruni, J. Manetti. The change in views on loneliness in the process of forming an understanding of the new European personality can be traced in the works of N. Machiavelli, M. Montaigne, B. Pascal, in addition, the anthropological worldview orientation of L. Feuerbach was of great importance for understanding the value of loneliness in the process of transition to the New Age.

The Danish theologian and philosopher S. Kierkegaard proclaims the value of an individual person with his responsibility and enormous possibilities of cognition through his own individuality. The existential orientation in the understanding of loneliness is represented in the history of philosophy by the works of A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche, J.P. Sartre, M. Buber, N.A. Berdyaev and others.

The 20th century is characterized by an increase in negative attitudes towards loneliness. This position is reflected in the works of the social philosopher and psychologist E. Fromm. Pathological loneliness was also studied by other representatives of neo-Freudianism.

The next group of sources are works that reflect the transformation of socio-philosophical and cultural thought, which had a significant impact on the development of the theory of loneliness in the perspective of this dissertation research. These include the scientific views set forth in the studies of foreign thinkers (X. Ortega y Gasset, P. Tillich, W. Windelband, X. Hofmeister, E. Levinas, J. Lipovetsky, N. Elias, R. Sennett, G. Lukach), modern domestic social philosophers (A.A. Huseynova, V.V. Bibikhina, K.Kh. Momdzhyan, V.S. Barulina.

The authors of modern generalizing publications on the problem of loneliness are I.S. Kon, Yu.M. Schwalb, O.V. Dancheva, V.I. Lebedev, N.P. Romanova, A.S. Gagarin. A serious contribution to the development of the problem of loneliness was made by modern thinkers: N.V. Khamitov is a representative of psychoanalytic philosophy. Important for understanding the age characteristics of experiencing loneliness are psychological and pedagogical studies.

A great contribution to the study of loneliness through the relationship of this phenomenon with communication was made by M.S. Kagan, E.I. Golovakha, N.V. Panina, E.Ya. Melibruda, L.A. Sitnichenko. The possibilities of psychotherapy of loneliness are presented in the works of I. Yalom and others.

Social philosophers, like sociologists, consider the phenomenon of loneliness through the prism of social processes and mechanisms: through political changes in society as the abandonment of G.D. Levin; through anomie as a consequence of a change in the social structure of Zh.V. Puzanova and V.I. Kurashov.

In modern scientific literature, there are studies that, in the context of studying other socio-philosophical problems, lead to a serious analysis of loneliness.

It should be noted that at the present stage, both domestic and foreign studies of loneliness are presented mainly in scientific articles. Classical foreign approaches to the study of the problem of loneliness are presented in the textbook collection "Labyrinths of Loneliness" edited by N.E. Pokrovsky. This collection has a monographic integrity, since the works of foreign authors are not only united by a single problem, but have a structural and logical unity. The collection presents classical psychological, sociological and socio-psychological theories of loneliness. Within the framework of the listed sciences, the most persistent attempts were made to classify the types of loneliness, to define the concepts of "loneliness", "isolation", "solitude", "anomia". And studies of the psychodynamic direction were reflected in the works of J. Zilburg, G. Sullivan; interactionist direction R.S. Weiss; existential direction of K. Mustakas, Von Witzleben; cognitive direction L. Peplo, D. Perlman, J. Young; system-theoretic models of loneliness by J. Flanders, phenomenological models by K. Rogers, W. Sadler, T. Johnson, intimate V. Derlegi, S. Margulis, as well as sociological concepts of loneliness by K. Bowman, D. Riesman, P. Slater, M. Mid.

Modern social reality is different in that a person's ability to find himself and his inner world is constrained by the tyranny of the public, anonymity, facelessness of relationships, propaganda of the danger of loneliness. Thus, “modern society has abducted and is abducting us from ourselves,” V.A. Kuvakin, arguing his own humanistic view of the world and man.

Although the study of the processes associated with the transformation of modern society began relatively recently, it can be noted that certain aspects of the life of an individual, including her loneliness, have already been reflected in the studies of Z. Bauman, W. Beck, A. Bruce, A.D. Elyakova, V.L. Inozemtseva, N.V. Korytnikova, F.V. Lazareva, I.A. Malkovskaya, D.A. Silachev, E. Toffler, N. Elias, E. Fromm, etc. From these works, we can conclude that the most important aspects of modern society are the rapid change of social structures and the mismatch between the characteristics of institutional structures and personal situations. The result of living in such a society is growing loneliness.

In addition, in these works, the strengthening of the role of forces and tendencies uncontrolled by a person is noted, which leads to an increase in uncertainty, uncertainty and becomes a serious obstacle to personal creativity in conditions of social chaos, which is a consequence of the processes of individualization of society. This aspect also requires further study.

Based on the analysis of the content of the degree of development of the research topic, we can conclude that there is a fairly large layer of diverse (sociological, psychological and socio-philosophical) literature that provides certain theoretical ideas and a large factual base about the transformations of modern society and specifically about the phenomenon of loneliness in such a society. . However, this information in its current form is fragmentary and incommensurable in a number of parameters.

From the foregoing, it follows that the problem of socio-philosophical analysis of loneliness in the context of the social transformation of modern society, although it is in the field of view of domestic and foreign scientists, is still far from being completed, which suggests the presence of an extensive research gap. These considerations determine our appeal to this topic.

The purpose of the dissertation research lies in the implementation of a systematic socio-philosophical analysis of loneliness in the transforming social conditions of modern society.

The work puts the following tasks:

- identify the problem area of ​​loneliness in modern society;

– to conceptualize the socio-philosophical categorical apparatus of the theory of loneliness;

- to clarify the types of loneliness and the social conditions for their formation in modern society;

- to show the destruction of traditional social formats in the context of globalization;

- describe social individualization as a factor in the formation of loneliness;

– to systematize the methodology of the socio-philosophical study of loneliness in the conditions of the social transformation of modern society;

– to analyze the social factors of loneliness in the modern world;

– to study the transformation of personal facts of loneliness in a modern transforming society;

- to show the synthesis of social and personal factors in the formation of loneliness in modern society;

– explore loneliness in the context of postmodern transformations and networkization of modern society;

- describe the informatization of society as a condition affecting the state of loneliness;

– to analyze the global Internet as a tool to overcome loneliness in modern conditions.

Object of study is a phenomenon of loneliness in a modern transforming society.

Subject of research are a socio-philosophical analysis of the formation and overcoming of loneliness in conditions of social transformation.

Theoretical and methodological foundations of the study. The problem of loneliness with its versatility and complexity of manifestations in the modern world has set the task of its holistic study as a phenomenon of individual and social life.

The methodological basis of the dissertation is a set of socio-philosophical approaches to the study of the phenomenon of loneliness, its social and personal functions. As a methodological base, the principle of dialectical interconnection and interdependence of loneliness as an individual phenomenon and a social phenomenon is used. The systematic approach used in the work as an understanding of a person in relationship with other people and society made it possible to consider loneliness as a social phenomenon.

In addition, the study used the method of comparative analysis of various points of view and approaches, which makes it possible to trace the contextual load of the concept of "loneliness" and a specific historical approach, which made it possible to study the understanding of the phenomenon under study depending on the transformation of social and cultural factors in modern society.

Features of the subject of study determined the interdisciplinary nature of this dissertation research. It was based on systematic and logical approaches. When studying any phenomenon of social reality, an interdisciplinary approach is of particular importance, since any social phenomenon is multifaceted.

The information base of the study was formed by the provisions and conclusions presented in philosophical, sociological and socio-psychological thought, which made it possible to consider the phenomenon under study in the relationship of its individual and social manifestations.

The scientific novelty of the dissertation research is as follows:

– the problem area of ​​loneliness in modern society is defined as a certain form of self-consciousness, and showing the split of relations and connections of the inner world of the individual;

– the socio-philosophical categorical apparatus of the theory of loneliness is conceptualized as a timeless and universal phenomenon of social life;

– presents the types of loneliness and the social conditions of their formation in modern society in the context of psychological, cosmic, cultural and social aspects;

- shows the destruction of traditional social formats in the context of globalization, associated with an increase in the number of common problems for humanity, as well as an expansion in the number and types of integrating subjects;

– social individualization is considered as a factor in the formation of loneliness, which is a consequence not so much of the process of disintegration of former communities, but of the process of formation of new communities in modern society;

– systematized the methodology of the socio-philosophical study of loneliness in the conditions of modern society, based on the synthesis of various discursive practices and based on the subordination of their achievements and constructive integration into a holistic concept;

– the social factors of loneliness in the modern world are determined, which are not necessarily identified with the state of physical isolation of a person;

– revealed the transformation of personal facts of loneliness in a modern transforming society associated with the realization of the inferiority of relations with personally significant people, the emergence of an acute shortage of satisfaction of the need for communication;

– it has been proved that the synthesis of social and personal factors in the formation of loneliness in modern society depends on the causes that gave rise to them and the intensity of changes in people's self-consciousness, causing a loss of a sense of the constancy of the image of the world;

– loneliness is conceptualized in the context of postmodern transformations and networkization of modern society, leading to the destruction of hierarchical structures, the replacement of the space of places by the space of flows;

–informatization of society is defined as a condition that affects the state of loneliness by legitimizing the most adequate embodiment of the lifestyle of an individualized person;

– it has been proved that the global Internet is a tool to overcome loneliness in modern conditions, when the quantitative characteristics of the Internet have turned into qualitative ones associated with the emergence of a large number of self-organizing Internet communities that are constructive in nature and aimed at mastering the Internet space.

Defense provisions.

1. Various philosophical currents and psychological schools consider loneliness not only as the only possible basis for human existence, but also as an unnatural state for a person, a pathology and a manifestation of a person’s weak adaptability, then as a social problem, a consequence of the development of modern social forces. Loneliness is an experience that evokes a complex and acute feeling that expresses a certain form of self-consciousness, and shows a split in the main real network of relationships and connections of the inner world of the individual. If we analyze the state of a person experiencing loneliness in the modern world, then he is characterized by an element of surprise in its manifestation. There are different types and degrees of loneliness. Theories of loneliness have tended to ignore the situation in which it occurs and thus fail to take into account the many dynamic factors directly related to its essence. The conceptual model of loneliness will explain the specific features of loneliness as a universal, universal phenomenon, as well as the main ways of its possible change. To solve this problem, an interdisciplinary method was applied, combining social philosophy, psychology and sociology with existential phenomenology.

2. In modern philosophy, two positions have developed that answer the question of whether loneliness is the eternal companion of mankind or whether it appeared at some special historical milestone. The first position connects loneliness, first of all, with the emergence of an industrial society and the process of urbanization. The second position considers it as a timeless and universal phenomenon of social existence. If we proceed from the assumption that the very emergence of a social community of people and the formation of society, i.e. a certain stable solidarity (in the concept of Durkheim), implied perception and reflection about not only the presence of this community, but also its absence, then loneliness is a basic universal phenomenon that only changes in the historical process, but never leaves humanity. Just as the physical health of an organism implies the potential possibility and even the presence of a disease, so the entirety of social communication is implicitly interconnected with the impossibility of establishing communication or its loss, the perception of which is precisely the content of loneliness. In this interpretation, loneliness becomes an existential phenomenon, rooted in the deep layers of human consciousness and only partially manifesting itself in one form or another on the surface of social life.

3. Based on a review of the most important views on loneliness and their analysis, the following typology of loneliness is built. As for psychological ideas, within their framework, loneliness is regarded in the psychological paradigm as a negative state, rooted in childhood. However, unlike psychoanalysis and person-centered therapy, existentialists, firstly, do not consider this feeling pathological, and, secondly, they see its causes in the conditions of human existence. In addition to the psychological type of loneliness, one can single out the cosmic type, perhaps the most complex. The cosmic dimension is used to designate at least three different forms of self-perception: comprehension of oneself as an integral reality, thanks to which a person is related to nature and the cosmos; involvement in the mystical, mysterious aspects of life, extremely close to God or to the depths of being; a person's belief in the uniqueness of his destiny or involvement in great historical goals. The next type of loneliness can be interpreted as cultural loneliness. In the social sciences, the concept of cultural loneliness is used in a conventional sense, representing an inherited system of normative meanings and values ​​that defines decisive elements in intersubjective relationships and lifestyles. And finally - the last is the social type of loneliness. The term "social" here has a meaning often implied in American sociology. This is the construction or destruction of organized connections, relationships that form a structure within which individuals and groups interact.

4. Globalization - the process of world economic, political and cultural and. The main consequence of this is the global, planet-wide migration, human and production resources, legislation, economic and technological processes, as well as the rapprochement and merging of cultures of different countries. This is an objective process that is systemic in nature, that is, it covers all spheres of society. As a result of globalization, the world is becoming more connected and more dependent on all its subjects. There is both an increase in the number of problems common to mankind, and an expansion in the number and types of integrating subjects. The modern process of globalization leads to the generation of not only just a separate new individuality, but also to the emergence of a new creative type of personality capable of independently overcoming loneliness. Under these conditions, a person falls under the pressure of new conditions that have never arisen before - the inevitable trends of globalization, as well as the theoretical ambitions of a certain category of modern analysts and the practical claims of politicians to the integrative influence of elite civilizations on the rest of the world. All these processes are accompanied by increased individual loneliness. A person who always strives, though not always consciously, for liberation from the pressure of the external world, did not foresee and could not foresee that the type of freedom that he dreamed of would turn out to have a price, and this price is uncertainty, which includes uncertainty, insecurity. and loneliness.

5. Society at the beginning of the 21st century characterized by a rapid complication of processes in the social, economic and cultural spheres, which leads to an increasingly obvious fragmentation of human existence, which is also the reason for its individualization. Based on this, individualization can be understood as a socio-historical category related to life situations and biographies of people. In such a society, very often social problems manifest themselves as individual ones. Individualization leads to the erosion and destruction of not only large social groups - classes, estates, strata, and even families. The growing individualization of society is characterized by duality and inconsistency. On the one hand, there is an increase in economic efficiency and an expansion of the layer of highly paid and privileged. On the other hand, there is a sharp drop in the standard of living for the unprivileged majority and a deterioration in the socio-economic situation of the least protected. As for the influence of the individualization of social relations on the problem of loneliness of an individual living in such a society, the acuteness of the problem of loneliness today is due to the fact that the process of establishing human autonomy is not only not completed, it has barely begun. The aggravation of the problems of loneliness and even the feeling of loneliness as total is a consequence not so much of the process of disintegration of former communities, but of the process of formation of new communities in modern society. The multi-level and incompleteness of social processes in the modern world is the main reason for the growing loneliness of an individual.

6. Due to the multidimensional, contradictory nature of the problem of loneliness, each of the sciences (philosophy, sociology, psychology, etc.) has “its own” loneliness as a subject of study, reduced to biological, social, ethical, cultural, etc. phenomena. order, which results in the lack of integrity of knowledge, the impossibility of “agreeing on terms” between specialists from different fields of knowledge, and even the rejection of any definitions. The epistemological potential of an interdisciplinary approach can be optimally realized if a set of various kinds of data is structured on the foundation of a socio-philosophical understanding of the problem. Assigning the role of the theoretical core in the study of the phenomenon of loneliness to social philosophy is due, firstly, to the belonging of the problem of loneliness to a predominantly subject area of ​​social philosophy, and, secondly, to the specific possibilities of socio-philosophical research of the problem. In order to recreate a holistic image of the phenomenon of loneliness, the synthesis of various discursive practices based on the subordination of their achievements and constructive integration into a holistic concept was chosen as the methodological dominant of the study.

7. The social aspects of loneliness are the disintegration of social relations and connections of the inner spiritual world of a person. Social loneliness does not necessarily have to be identified with the state of physical isolation of a person, quite often a person can be lonely not in isolation, but surrounded by his family, best friends and work colleagues. The concept of loneliness, as a socio-psychological phenomenon, differs in several types and types. People suffering from a social type of loneliness are often distinguished by a concentration on their inner personal space, low self-esteem, and excessive shyness. Lonely people feel unloved, worthless, unnecessary. In their own understanding and in the opinion of the people around them, the absence of a loved one, friends or loved ones are signs of a loser. The likelihood of a social problem of loneliness is high in divorced and widowed people who are on long-term treatment in a hospital or who have recently changed their place of residence. The social type of loneliness of men and women has its own characteristics and differences. The absence of her family is more tragic for a woman. Conflicting loners have also formed in modern society: civilization against civilization, culture against culture, identity against identity. They are characterized by racism and nationalism.

8. One of the most serious problems of mankind is the problem of loneliness, when relationships for some reason do not add up, not generating either friendship, or love, or enmity, leaving people indifferent towards each other. By loneliness, we mean a subjectively experienced discrepancy between the observed reality and the desired ideal state, in which there is no close emotional attachment to an individual person or there is no available circle of social communication. A person becomes lonely when he realizes the inferiority of his relations with people who are personally significant for him, when he experiences an acute shortage of satisfaction of the need for communication. Loneliness is a severe mental condition, usually accompanied by a bad mood and painful emotional experiences. Deeply lonely people tend to be very unhappy, they have little social contact, their personal ties with other people are either limited or completely broken. Genuine subjective states of loneliness usually accompany symptoms of mental disorders, which take the form of affects with a clearly negative emotional coloring, and different people have different affective reactions to loneliness. A lonely person is characterized by an exceptional focus on himself, on his personal problems and inner experiences. He is characterized by increased anxiety and fear of the catastrophic consequences of an unfavorable set of circumstances in the future.

9. The problem of loneliness is one of the urgent problems in the social and spiritual life of modern society, but little is known about the nature of loneliness, its essence and causes in modern society. However, in reality, the problem of loneliness is real. At present, an increasing number of people are experiencing this feeling due to the influence of the crisis of modern Russian culture. People suffering from loneliness over time, to a certain extent, lose their positive human qualities and spiritual values. Their situational loneliness can turn into a chronic condition, which leads to mental disorders, degradation of the individual and, consequently, degradation of society. All of the above makes it necessary to study the problem of loneliness in modern Russian reality. Social loneliness is expressed in a person's deep experience of breaking ties and relationships with other people, with society. The features of social loneliness largely depend on the causes that gave rise to them, and, in turn, affect them, strengthening or weakening their effect. From a psychological point of view, intense changes in everything, including people's self-consciousness, cause a feeling of instability, uncertainty, sometimes lostness, abandonment, senselessness of any activity in a fairly large number of people. The feeling of the constancy of the image of the world, the “lived-in” environment is lost.

10. The living space is currently undergoing significant changes under the influence of the development of high technologies. In fact, all the material and technical achievements of modern civilization are a kind of manifestation of the “soul” of postmodern society, which uses them to organize objective reality in accordance with its essence, adapts it to its needs. Postmodern is the only possible form of objectification of the abstract idea of ​​"absolute freedom" of a person, it is the absence of any norms and rules, it is a complete rejection of any style, which is replaced by vulgar, disharmonious eclecticism. An essential socio-cultural channel for the spread of postmodernism in the modern world is the assertion of the network principle of social life and the destruction of hierarchical structures. The destruction of hierarchical structures occurs under the action of the principles of the rhizome. In the modern world, the space of places is being replaced by the space of flows. One of the significant channels of information technology impact on everyday life is virtual reality. The result of excessive enthusiasm for virtual environments can be a change in a person's attitude to reality as such, including the reality of everyday life. Therefore, postmodernity can be viewed as a society of total, insurmountable loneliness, taking pretentious forms. Paradoxical as it may seem, but modern man tends to megacities, with their maximum concentration of the population, only in order to more reliably fence himself off from singles like him.

11. Information and communication technologies directly and directly affect the daily life of a person, determining the specifics and quality of his work, life, leisure, lifestyle and even thinking. The development of information technologies transforms the entire structure of human communicative experience. Anonymity, due to the development of mediated forms of human communication, allowing ambiguous identification of objects of communication. With the development of information technology, the number of live interpersonal contacts is significantly reduced. Meanwhile, as psychologists note, for normal well-being, a person needs constant contact with other representatives of a congenial social environment. A person who spends a lot of time in cyberspace loses the habit of reality and begins to be afraid of direct communication with his own kind. The individualization of society under the influence of the development of information technologies leads to the rapid legitimation of social loneliness as the most adequate embodiment of the lifestyle of an individualized person. Under the influence of information technologies, “interactive” loneliness arises, which is formed on the basis of the increased involvement of the individual in the virtual world of the cyber community. Its specificity lies in the displacement of live social contacts by virtual ones.

12. The Internet forms a global, serves as a physical basis for. At present, the Internet has become a significant factor influencing the daily life of a significant number of people. The Internet is multifunctional - it is not just an environment for personal and business communication, but increasingly an environment for buying and selling (electronic commerce), as well as entertainment. In the beginning, the advent of the Internet contributed to the increase in singles. created the illusion of a rich life, allowed to realize oneself in various guises, while canceling such a necessary attribute of existence in society as an obligation to others. But later the situation began to change in the opposite direction. The quantitative characteristics of the Internet turned into qualitative ones. A large number of self-organizing communities are currently emerging on the Internet. Many Internet communities are constructive in nature and are aimed at “settling in” the Internet space, making it habituated. The sociocultural consequence of the spread of information technologies is the growing importance of communication when its forms change, the habituation of new ways of working, leisure and new methods of information search. To overcome loneliness, special clubs for communication that operate on the Internet help. People with diverse interests can use a large selection of portals, for example,. Thanks to the Internet, it is much easier to find a pleasant interlocutor for correspondence, true love or a true friend.

Theoretical and practical significance of the research. The conducted research can be useful in developing the concept of loneliness and its overcoming in modern Russian society. The results obtained are of interest not only for social philosophers, but also for sociologists, psychologists, social work specialists, as well as everyone who theoretically and practically solves the problem of forming a holistic, humanitarian approach to the problem of loneliness in modern society.

This dissertation can serve as the basis for further development of the socio-philosophical problems of loneliness and its overcoming. The results of the study can be used as the basis for building the concepts of social work, sociological and socio-psychological research, introduced into the practice of scientific and pedagogical activities, educational work as part of the development of the cultural program of modern Russian society, and also used in teaching general, social philosophy, special courses on philosophy, sociology and psychology of personality.

Approbation of work. The main provisions and conclusions of the dissertation research were reported and discussed at interuniversity, regional and international conferences, in particular: All-Russian scientific and practical conference "Education is the main factor in the development of man and society" (Volgodonsk, 2000), interuniversity scientific and practical conference " Professional culture of a teacher of economics and law "(Rostov-on-Don, 2000), interuniversity scientific and practical conference "Personal development in educational systems" (Stavropol, 2000), interuniversity scientific and practical conference "Psychological research in education” (Rostov-on-Don, 2001), interuniversity scientific and practical conference “The world through the eyes of a child” (Rostov-on-Don, 2002), All-Russian scientific and practical conference “Personality and Being: Personality and social reality” (Krasnodar, 2003), interuniversity scientific and practical conference “Development of personality in the educational systems of the South Russian region” (Rostov- on-Don, 2004), interuniversity scientific and practical conference "Education of a citizen, a man of culture and morality as a condition for the constructive development of modern Russia" (Rostov-on-Don, 2004), annual meetings of the Southern Branch of the Russian Academy of Education: .Sochi (2003), Nalchik (2004), Volgograd (2005), All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Psychology of Education: Current State and Prospects" (Moscow, Russia) Slavyansk-on-Kuban, 2007), international scientific and practical conference "Dynamics of research" (Sofia, 2008), scientific and practical conference "Social development of youth: traditions and new challenges" (Rostov-na - Don, 2008), international scientific and practical conference "Higher Humanitarian Education of the XXI century: problems and prospects" (Samara, 2009), All-Russian scientific and practical conference "Psychological and pedagogical research on the quality of education in the context of innovative activities of an educational institution "(Rostov-on-Don, 2009), international scientific and practical conference "News from science ahead" (Sofia, 2009), All-Russian scientific and practical conference "Psychology of professional and educational space of a person" ( Yekaterinburg, 2009), international scientific and practical conference "Vdeck pokrok na rozmez tiscilet - 2010" (Prague, 2010), international scientific and practical Internet conference "Teacher of Higher ly in the 21st century" (St. Rostov-on-Don, 2011 ), international scientific and practical conference "" (Sofia, 2011), international psychological and pedagogical readings "Personal development in educational systems" (Rostov-on-Don, 2007-2011).

What is loneliness for a person: punishment or liberation? How should a person feel when they are alone? How often do you need to be alone with yourself? What to do when you feel lonely? And most importantly, does loneliness exist at all? Finding answers to these questions will be the focus of this discussion.

Man is by nature a social being. Even primitive people understood that by uniting with each other, they became much stronger. Only it was possible to fill up even a mammoth. People understood that the strength of a person is in his ability to communicate and negotiate. Since the first people understood this, the entire population of the earth has tried to build a life in one place. Thanks to mutual assistance, they achieved some success. The advantage of all this was that they no longer had to sit alone in their cave. They sat with the whole tribe and everyone had the opportunity to communicate with a friend. However, did they have the opportunity to feel loneliness? Probably not. In my opinion, the feeling of loneliness was unfamiliar to ancient people, and appeared only with the development of civilization, when people built walls around their dwellings and fenced themselves off from the outside world and each other. Our ancestors were a single organism in which everyone played a role and could count on support. Also, people were one with the outside world, which is confirmed by many legends and myths, when even spirits were part of nature and themselves. With the development of the state and the construction of stone cities, people for the first time understood what it means to be alone. And they were probably afraid of this feeling. People came up with religion so that talking to God they wouldn't feel so lonely. Even when God did not answer them, they united in groups of believers in one and the same way, and this is how the church appeared. Of course, this is not the only reason for the emergence of religion.

What is happening in the modern world in developed countries, where almost every person lives in his own box of concrete? Many people don't even have a religion to turn to when they feel alone. In my opinion, many people, although they complain about being lonely, do nothing to avoid it. Modern people with the help of technology have simplified their lives as much as possible, and thereby suppressed the need for human communication. The computer and TV have replaced the real interlocutor, and even the telephone is a soulless intermediary for communication at a distance. It seems to me that people still acutely feel the inferiority of such communication, they cannot get out of their cells. Most likely, the trouble is that people with age have forgotten how to communicate, ask for help and trust each other. They most often do not even try to communicate in real life. The illusion is created that they are not alone, remaining all alone.

However, is everything so bad when you are alone? In the modern world, one has only to go out into the street, as you meet hundreds of thousands of people every day. People are everywhere from early morning until late at night. It is difficult to find a place of solitude on the streets of a large city. Of course, for the Far North with a very low population density, the problem of loneliness is different and lies at the level of primitive society, when people united in order to survive. But, for example, the huge metropolis of Novosibirsk with a population of more than a million inhabitants cannot boast of this. In the daily bustle and fast pace of the inhabitants, a person gets tired of people even being with them in public transport when going home at rush hour. When he finally arrives at his apartment, he is relieved that today he will no longer have to see so many people. A person needs to be alone in order to gather with the many thoughts and problems that have accumulated during the day. And most often the problems of modern man are only his problems. From those around him, he may only need moral support and the ability to listen. Thus, it turns out that for a modern person, the opportunity to be alone is a salvation from the crazy flow of information received daily from various sources. However, for primitive man, perhaps, this was a test, as it oppressed his social need.

Another issue is whether being alone and feeling alone are the same thing. As already mentioned, a person in a large stream of people is alone with himself. Often we do not notice what is happening around because we are focused on our problems. Sometimes we look for someone we know in the crowd to share a shopping trip or a trip on public transport. So isn't this a sign that a person feeling lonely is trying to make up for the lack of communication? It is quite likely that this is so. So a person can be lonely, being together with a large number of people.

On the other hand, so-called introverts can feel great spending all their free time at home. They are for themselves a source of inspiration and self-understanding that they do not need the company of others. Many philosophers have suggested that people are afraid of loneliness because they are afraid of their thoughts. However, people who have learned to properly manage their minds use this time to their advantage.

To be alone, some modern people retire to sparsely populated untouched corners of the earth. I believe that this form of loneliness is comparable to the state of the first people, when they were one with nature and themselves. Alienation is not comparable to loneliness because it is voluntary. A person himself realizes that he needs to be alone, and this is even good for him.

Returning to the question why many modern people have lost their individuality and have forgotten how to be alone. A striking example of this is the attempts to build communism and socialism in some countries. The pressure of the authorities made people forget about their own interests and follow the lead of society. Perhaps it was then that people most of all for the first time wanted to be alone with their thoughts, but even their communal housing prevented this. Now, when there is nothing left of communism, people are trying with all their might to retire, acquiring their own apartments, in which their thoughts will belong only to them. Of course, our thoughts are something that no one can take away from us, but they can be influenced, forcing a person to think in a certain way.

So, summing up the reasoning about loneliness, we can assume that the understanding of this feeling has changed in a person with the course of history. In part, it forced itself to be lonely, secluded in stone and concrete houses. The meaning of loneliness also changes depending on the era in which a person lives. It can consist both in saving a person from the fuss of passing days and people, and in a difficult test, which consists in limiting a person’s natural need to communicate with his own kind. The essence of solitude lies in a voluntary withdrawal from society and pursues the goal of unity with nature and the surrounding world in order to streamline one's thoughts and feelings. Most often, loneliness exists in the minds of people, since you can always find a person who also feels the need for communication. As with any human condition, one should remember about loneliness that it is absolutely normal as long as a person is comfortable in it. I would define loneliness as a state in which the best interlocutor for a person is himself.

Bibliography:

1. Voskoboynikov A.E. Rashidova T.R. The concept of "Loneliness" through the prism of philosophical categories / Knowledge. Understanding. Skill. No. 2 / 2010.S.201.
2. Kornyushchenko-Ermolaeva N. S. Loneliness and forms of human alienation in the modern world / Bulletin of the Tomsk State University. No. 332 / 2010.
3. Ryzhakova E. V. Loneliness as a philosophical problem / Bulletin of the Kostroma State University. ON THE. Nekrasov. No. 2 / Volume 17 / 2011. P.74.
4. Yudich E. A. The problem of loneliness in the context of philosophy / Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. No. 6 / Volume 318 / 2011.

Swedish society, considered one of the most prosperous in the world, suffers from one of the most serious social diseases - loneliness.

Almost half of Swedish households are single and childless adults, with the European average of less than a third of the total number of households, according to Eurostat data.

What are the reasons for this problem, which is so widespread in the modern world? Why has loneliness today ceased to be a misfortune for many and has become a conscious life choice?

Host of the program "The Fifth Floor" AlexanderBaranov discusses this topic with Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Personality Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University AlexanderohmAsmolovth and Cultural Columnist for the BBC Russian Service Alexander Kan.

Alexander Baranov : While there is a lull in the political world, we decided to take advantage of Friday to talk about the eternal, that is, about loneliness. This idea was inspired by a great article by our BBC colleague Maddie Savage, which us from Stockholm, how lonely the Swedes live. Not only the Swedes, but also many others who decided to move to this blessed country. You can read this material on our website, it is called" The country where visitors suffer the most from loneliness" .

In Sweden, half of the households- These are households for one person. This is much more than the average for Europe, where there are no more than a third of them. What we have? We have, one might say, a country of victorious socialism, where everything is for the individual, where the idea of ​​equality is strong, life is comfortable, and people have enough opportunities to organize it the way they want. As a result, Sweden becomes a lonely country.

We had a question: firstly, why is life in such a prosperous country in terms of communication and so on? Sasha, what do you think - a person loses his important instinct, he evolves, becomes an individualist, he no longer needs society, or are there some other mechanisms involved? What are your first thoughts?

Alexander Kan: I think it's quite a dialectical - sorry for the word - process. Indeed, with progress, economic and social progress, in which the Scandinavian countries and Sweden, perhaps, are ahead of the rest, other countries of the planet, social justice and social equality have become higher there than in other countries.

Many say that the Scandinavian countries, probably in the first place, really embodied in many ways the ideal of socialism, which was in no way embodied in the Soviet Union. This well-being really allows individuals, people to exist in much less dependence on society, on a team, on a group of other people. This in itself has always been perceived and is perceived as unconditional progress, as an unconditional social achievement of such a model of the country's socio-economic development.

Why did I use the word "dialectic"? There is a reverse side of the coin. As the well-known English proverb says: "Every cloud has a silver shell" or, conversely, "There is a fly in the ointment in every barrel of honey." This is loneliness with all the ensuing consequences.

One of them (by the way, you didn't mention it): Sweden is - as far as I remember - a country with one of the highest suicide rates in the world. This is the reverse side of that very medal, that very social progress that allows people to live in maximum independence from society.

A.B. : Yes, the paradox is that if we look at Swedish society, becoming healthier as a society, it becomes sicker at the same time, because many scientists say that loneliness- it is actually a disease, a social disease that can be measured. It's measured in lifespan and so on, and as we heard at the beginning of the show, stress and depression and even blood pressure become problems for lonely people.

Alexander Grigorievich,toHow do you explain this phenomenon to yourself?

Alexander Asmolov: Both Sweden and a number of other countries - one way or another, we are talking about a relatively prosperous way of life - have earned the right to so-called "personal autonomy" throughout their history.

In the course of human development, more and more the ability to be autonomous, the ability to make decisions independently, the ability to be responsible for oneself has become practically a barometer of one or another cultural life of society.

At the same time, in these societies, as it has already been said today, the price for personal autonomy is the loss of connection with others. A person is never alone, even if he is physically alone. A person is always a dialogue, a person is always two people.

In the course of development, a situation occurs when we are deprived of the possibility of both dialogue with others and dialogue with ourselves. In a huge number of social connections, interpersonal connections, the most dangerous form of loneliness arises, which is called "loneliness in the crowd."

There is either a real crowd around, or an imaginary crowd, or even a smart crowd of social networks, but the flight from oneself begins. This escape from oneself as a form of loneliness, as a loss of perspective in life, as shown by a brilliant psychologist, the author of the book "Man in Search of Meaning", ends with the fact that a person has an existential vacuum: he loses himself.

Loneliness as a loss of oneself, as a form of existential vacuum, as a loss of the value of "what to live for and why to live" leads to a huge number of tragic phenomena. This is observed in different countries, but it seems paradoxical to us in those countries where, in economic terms, everything meets the banal criteria of the so-called well-being, and in existential terms, the loss of identity, the loss of "I" and the loss of meaning is literally a tsunami that covers now a number of countries.

These phenomena are manifested in Sweden, Hungary, and Norway as enough, I would say, socially prosperous countries, and, of course, these phenomena exist in all countries of the world.

A.B. : It seems to me that we often think about Sweden, Norway, other successful countries, when we talk about the problem of loneliness, simply because it surprises us more, because it is more visible, but, as I understand it, the problems are mental health problems associated with loneliness are much more severe in countries with severe social stratification, where people simply have no choice.

A.A.: You are absolutely right, because the question is what is the deprivation of meaning, what is the basis of the loss of meaning.

In those countries where there is a fairly strong social differentiation, where there is stratification, we also deal with loneliness. It is incredibly important to understand that loneliness has evolutionary roots.

There is a wonderful book by an ethologist, a specialist in animal behavior, on Panov's evolution, where he talks about the evolutionary ethological roots of loneliness. We are dealing with a very complex multifaceted phenomenon.

If once, in the forties, Erich Fromm wrote the book "Escape from Freedom", then more and more works of the twentieth century, reflecting reality and especially now, the twenty-first century, can be written as "labyrinths of loneliness" and "escape from loneliness" ".

A.B. : MMany scientists call loneliness one of the human instincts that allowed a person to survive, just like feeling hungry. The feeling of hunger makes a person look for food, and the feeling of loneliness, discomfort from loneliness makes a person look for others like himself, and thanks to this, in many ways, as scientists say, - as far as I read today - it makes a person a collective person, makes a person learn to work together, and so mankind has survived. This is the theory, do you agree with it?

A.A.: This theory raises big questions for me, because the questions about the origins, according to which there is an association in one or another evolving social system, are somewhat complex. Now I can only say that any evolution is the growth of diversity, and the winning strategy of evolution is when there is an increase in diversity, when we have a group way of life.

So unification, as evolutionary social biologists say, is an increase in our possibilities with our variability in evolution. There are anonymous systems and there are so-called personalized systems, that is, there is a very interesting and serious problem here.

Remember the wonderful legends and books, remember the stories about the lone wolf on Council Rock. In fact, the phenomenology of loneliness is in this. Whatever the hypotheses, it stems from the most ancient evolutionary roots of the development of life.

A.B. : Yes, indeed there are many types of loneliness, as you said. Sasha, since we are talking about culture, about literature, you can see that literature, culture in general, directly addresses the most terrible kind of loneliness that Alexander Grigorievich spoke about - this is loneliness in a crowd, when a person communicates with people, when he seems to have everything, but the man is terribly lonely.

To what extent does culture succeed, how seriously does it contribute to determining this, how much does it help a person, is it able to help a person cope with this? To what extent, in your opinion, does she analyze this feeling well and deeply?

A.K.: Of course, without this there is no escape in culture. Suffice it to recall the textbook expression "we all grew out of Gogol's overcoat", which has become a textbook. What is an overcoat, what is unfortunate Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, if not this sad, sad, aching description of loneliness, moreover, loneliness in a crowd, loneliness in a big city. But this was written almost two centuries ago, in my opinion, in the 30-40s of the nineteenth century, when Gogol wrote "The Overcoat".

So these processes, as we say today, the further, the more aggravated, and, of course, the problem of loneliness is reflected in a variety of manifestations of works of art. Comes to mind, say, Munch's "Scream", for example. The same is the cry of despair of a lonely man.

A.B. : People walk, look at this picture, and they don't really hear this cry. People are becoming more and more individualistic. They are so fascinated by material wealth that they imagine themselves to be creatures capable of living on their own.

A.K.: Yes, but at the same time, life often takes quite cruel revenge for such confidence.

A.B. : Alexander Grigoryevich, is there a connection between deepening loneliness and technological progress? Now a person who comes home from work does not need people, because he is up to his neck busy with business until late at night. He needs to go to the iPad, look at the social network, he also has a lot of different boxes with handles that you need to pull until he wants to sleep. Is there a direct connection or not, or does it seem to us that technology throws us into the arms of loneliness?

A.A.: Any direct connections and correlations are slippery things. At the same time, continuing the series of my colleague: Vishnevsky's book "Loneliness in the Net", which has become quite famous, tells how the forms of loneliness are changing.

Now there is even a unique construction called "virtual identity", or "virtual personality". We find ourselves "in the string bag of meridians and latitudes," as Andrei Voznesensky wrote, "in the string bag" of the World Wide Web, but in this web we are so often cocoonized, autonomized, that, as I said, one of the great tragedies of our time, namely the collapse our "I".

The collapse of our "I" is the loss of social ties. Loneliness is pulling a person out of social interpersonal networks, like pulling a mushroom out of a mycelium.

Therefore, various forms of technological evolution in one way or another lead - you are absolutely right - to change and increase the likelihood of a heavy price for the opportunity to be autonomous, for the opportunity to dive into the world of networks and hide so far that from introversion in the network, from a kind of virtual introversion, you just don't pop up.

A.B. : On the other hand, there are many older people who have never heard such a word" introversion" , but they just want to chat with someone, and social networks help them. It is probably hard to argue with this: if before the advent of the computer, many elderly people were doomed to complete loneliness in their apartment, within four walls, now that they have mastered the computer, they can communicate. What's bad about it?

A.A.: No, once again I want us to hear each other clearly. When we have a lot of friends and when, for example, through this or that network, through Facebook, any of your words and your actions can respond, and when self-presentation appears all the time, self-presentation is an absolutely normal phenomenon, but often, as in any game , you can play.

We have particular forms of loneliness when we flirt on social media. I am not speaking in any way from the standpoint of so-called "cyberpessimism". Rather, I relate both in my affairs and in life to "cyber-optimists", but I say again: we must understand that what my colleague correctly said is absolutely one thing - the immortal Akaki Akakievich, who took papers home with him not to be alone and, I quote Gogol, "piss one's heart's content", but our age is another matter. The forms of loneliness are changing.

We must look at this phenomenology - both Gogol's and Hesse's "Steppenwolf", and, finally, "Loneliness in the Net". They are different, hence - hear me - there is no one recipe that would help to cover the immense in this case, the multifaceted phenomenon that we are talking about today.

A.K.: I would like to recall another example that came to mind while we were talking here, and which seems to me extremely important in the interpretation of loneliness in connection with technological progress.

I'm talking, of course, about the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, beloved and known to all of us. This is the 18th century, this is the century of technological progress when this book was written. A representative of a developed civilization who has fallen on a desert island not only does not suffer from his loneliness, he completely transforms the world around him and finds a partner for himself.

This, of course, was the gigantic civilizational message of Daniel Defoe and the era of enlightenment of the 18th century, who at that time was not at all aware of the negative consequences that this technological progress entails, right?

A.A.: In fact, what is now called "Robinsonade" in analytics. Here you very accurately noticed: if you want to make yourself, build yourself, construct the world. Through the construction of the world, a unique number of technologies arise - as Foucault said, "technologies of oneself", "technologies of constructing oneself", which are in no way less than certain computer technologies, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies.

A brilliant example with Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe constructs reality, so one of the most important things is constructing oneself and understanding that even the loneliness in which we often find ourselves is a unique process of construction, self-creation, which can lead to a variety of consequences.

A.K.: There are other examples of loneliness when not the world is constructed. Yes, Robinson Crusoe designed the world around him, but there is also a model of hermitage, a model of monasticism, when people leave the secular world and construct this world no longer in physical reality, but in their own spiritual world, while achieving ... You remember "Steppe Wolf": Hesse also studied this topic a lot, and many others, in the end Dostoevsky, but you never know who. This is also one of the possibilities of being alone.

A.A.: Absolutely right, I agree here all the time. The whole phenomenology of the elders, the phenomenology of hermitage is one way for European culture, when we go along the path of mainly creating a unique amount of technologies.

For a number of Eastern paths - the path of withdrawing into oneself, focusing on oneself, the path of non-action - is another path. At the same time, I say again, these are the ways of the socio-cultural evolution of mankind and many forms.

After all, what is an old man, what is a hermit? It is a constant interlocutor with oneself and with the world. Yes, physically he seems to be alone, but the brilliant characterization of Mikhail Bakhtin - "polyphony of consciousnesses" - often manifests itself with the greatest relief in the life of hermits and in the life of elders.

A.B. : Alexander Grigorievich, since we are talking about old age, about elders: loneliness- Is this an age phenomenon, do people feel lonely in their youth, in old age, or does it not depend on age?

A.A.: Alas, or not alas, but how often did we feel lonely at the age of seven or nine? Recall a situation when a child remains as if abandoned. What is teenage hysteria, which is now often inherent, and indeed was inherent, in many teenagers? This is an attempt to make one see oneself, to notice oneself by unsuitable means: "I put on other clothes, I don't look like you, I'm informal, I exist." Thus, the teenager says: "Notice me," he emphasizes, searches for his "I" and tries to literally escape from the monstrous forms of loneliness.

And the resentment of a teenager as a form of escape from loneliness? You will remember in your own life and in my life how often a teenager imagines a situation when he leaves this life, closes his eyes and sees a long line of people: what would they think, how would they say, how would they say goodbye to him. And he says: "Here I will die, then you will feel that you have lost. What will happen to all of you if there is no me?"

After all, our life path is a history of rejected alternatives, and each time along this path we part not only with loved ones, but also with ourselves, at different stages of our personal growth, and sometimes even personal evolution.

A.B. : British director Sue Bourne made a film called" Age of loneliness" . She talked to so many old people, lonely people who live alone.

She found out with great surprise for herself that over and over again every single elderly person tells her the same thing. He says that just a cup of tea in someone's company, just an opportunity to talk to someoneandabout what, just sitting next to another person changes absolutely everything in their life. She talks about the need for charitiesaboutCompanies that can call a lonely person, talk - this is a cure.

This begs the question: maybe we are overthinking ourselves about loneliness? If such a simple treatment of this problem, maybe it is much more superficial than we think, maybe everything is not so hard?

A.A.: How I would like to calmly say in response to this: "Yes, a cup of tea next to another, touching the hand of another - and loneliness will literally, like a hand, take off."

But I return to what you have already discussed more than once in our communication today: behind loneliness most often, most painfully (this is not a disease, this is a manifestation of the life of an individual that defends itself), behind loneliness - I repeat - most often a loss of meaning: why you exist and live. Here you can drink a cup of tea and some other cup, but at the same time, it is quite difficult to cope with your loneliness with the help of such an important recipe.

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