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Comment by tn13 | Hacker News Reader

This might be just an oriental way of living. I am not sure why researchers are hell bent on classifying almost anything as some kind of mental issue. I frequently stepped out of workspace to grab a hot coffee and my psychologist friend told me that drinking hot beverages frequently is a person's way of coping to the lack of emotional warmth in life by replacing it with material warmth!

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I think it's more that these roles seem to prefer studying phenomena from an outside point of view - some believe that by immersing themselves in the culture, they would lose their objectivity (also, this appears to be a particularly difficult culture to immerse oneself in, as by the definition presented in this article, having deep social interactions with a Hikikomori makes him/her less of a Hikikomori).

I think really the key is to work your way into the place where you can relate to the people you're studying, but still understand the person you were before / the status quo.

> (also, this appears to be a particularly difficult culture to immerse oneself in, as by the definition presented in this article, having deep social interactions with a Hikikomori makes him/her less of a Hikikomori)

Anonymous communication doesn't count as "social interactions". Imageboards are where the hikikomori culture thrives. I doubt many would remain hikkis if they were deprived of internet access.

> This might be just an oriental way of living.

If that were true, why are there increasing instances of the same phenomenon in Western nations?

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