America Is Getting Lonelier and More Indoorsy. That's Not a Coincidence
theatlantic.com
theatlantic.com
I’m American and I’m outside all the time. Walking the dog, or walking with my family, taking my daughter to the playground. I work full time and have a family but easily have time to walk every day.
But maybe “outdoors” here means activities like hiking? If so I think I understand what you mean. That would be something most people could only do on weekends.
I think a bigger issue is nature isn't so much accessible to many. They paved paradise and put in a parking lot. I'm house hunting and so many neighborhoods don't have sidewalks or parks.
There are cities where the nicest outdoor areas in 200 miles wouldn’t make the top-100 list of outdoor areas in the same radius, for other cities.
I guess that means I should move somewhere that’s frequently snowy if being outdoors often is a goal.
I also think that too many Americans today err on the side of avoiding potentially rewarding activities because of the chance that they might be uncomfortable–stuck in such a narrow comfort zone that’s basically counter to experiencing things that promote happiness and fulfillment.
Fresh air, literally. Sunlight during parts of the year. Observing the changing seasons. Seeing plants, and maybe animals. Exercising by myself or in organized sports. Being in a shared space with others in my community enjoying themselves.
These all seem like pretty small asks for an outdoor space. Sure you probably won't appreciate them in a highway median, but I also doubt that most people would have to drive 200 miles to find something like this.
You can do all of these by just opening a window.
>but I also doubt that most people would have to drive 200 miles to find something like this.
You're right, I don't have to drive anywhere, I can stay indoors and get all that by opening a window.
The Earth, like socializing outside, is jejune. We are adapting for the new world.
The exception is in the context of a relationship, but you only enter those by meeting rare drop people with good chemistry (which is precluded by staying indoors all the time) or as a coping strategy for low single income (but you're on HN hahaaa $$$).
edit/ I've also lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Texas, and spent significant time in the Carolinas, Alabama, and New Orleans. I'm stretching my brain to think of a single place where I've spent time that didn't have access to compelling outdoors. Texas is the one that really comes to mind, seeing as there's little public land there.
There are parts of this country that make one long for the emptiness of Kansas. At least there’s a kind of stark beauty in seeing nothing until the Earth curves away at the horizon. And biking on those zero-elevation-change-for-miles arrow-straight country roads can be meditative.
I'm deeply introverted, but I love the energy and bustle of people, and especially love the brownian motion of ideas and cultures colliding in big cities.
I associate nature with deep loneliness because there are so few people out there, and those who are out there don't really talk to each other. I've been camping, been on hikes, etc. with and without friends, but it's really not my thing. I like going fishing with friends, but forests are not my thing. As a kid I watched a movie about cabin life in Oregon and it left an indelible mark on me: I told myself I never want to live that life. It's so isolating.
I love being around people, even if I don't talk to them. I could sit in a cafe by myself and feel full just feeding of the energy of the overheard conversations and the relationships of people around me.
But as a Chicagoan, I do love talking to people. I love the inconsequential interactions like asking the receptionist how her day was, or the person in line about the weather.
I can't stand it anymore. I found out I really enjoy living in the countryside, with access to some nature.
I associate nature not to loneliness, but to solitude, which I usually find desirable. And the bustle of people around me is deeply annoying. I can enjoy going to a cafe when it is mostly empty. If I start to listen to people talk, I feel an urge to leave.
I wonder if it has something to do with a personal trait, or to the specific metropolitan area I grew up in that made me dislike crowded places so much.
Polar opposite here! I dread a landscape of brick, concrete and asphalt. Whenever I visit a large city I feel the need to escape as soon as possible. Large cities contain more people but less community than small centers, in which it's easier to get cozy with the people living around you geographically.
Large cities comprise neighborhoods where lots of community is found. Chicago has 77 and very warm.
That's "why bother with romance when you almost certainly won't be with one of the 100 most attractive people in the world" logic.
To use your analogy, it’s more like living in a city where the most-attractive person once came in 3rd in an ugliness competition, and also everyone has unpleasant personalities. It’s less that you don’t have any of the best options available, and more that you don’t have any that are better than “still fairly bad”. You visit a buddy few couple states over, rave about how wonderful and pretty all the locals are, and your buddy’s like “dude wtf we’re infamously the ugliest town in this state, and the reputation is deserved, I need you to say these things to some of my local pals so they can have a good laugh”.
Why bother, indeed.
I'm guessing I probably have (by your definition), as a matter of fact.
But what exactly is a "really bad outdoors situation" anyway?
Really bad.
Moving to a walkable area was a game changer for me in so many ways.
Huh?
Those are in the evening. I can't pop into nature for an hour and a half after dinner the way I can pop into a TV show. It's like two hours away, if I plan the trains right.
TV and internet has literally nothing to do with it. My ability to schedule an entire Saturday or Sunday does. And not have it pour rain (or be during a snowing freezing month).
I love walking around my neighborhood but it's exercise and walking -- it's certainly not nature. Don't confuse the two.
Like, do they not expect people to want to walk anywhere or is it just too expensive due to property rights?
Instead, what you end up with are silly trails that are often not lit up at night, paving the way for robbery, rape, etc.
Much better than spending a few bucks on a legit sidewalk. (cough).
For many nature is far away, a car is unaffordable, and public transportation is non-existent.
It is not at all accurate that all Americans have free time to get outdoors if they simply limit their screen time.
Now, random kids roaming isn't possible without risking calls to police or child services, accessing nature areas requires arriving early to ensure parking, and getting into a beach needs a reservation made weeks in advance
It's one of the things I never feel right about complaining about because literally every other aspect of being a "knowledge worker" is great but having to use brain all day means at night I'm physically energized but mentally exhausted which sucks for actually doing anything.
even within consumption, a lot of the time i feel spent & dont even want to watch a Good tv show, and intentionally pick something really dumb and pointless.
Maybe the rejection of notions of design like that are partially to blame.
What do you mean by this?
I think it can be an "escalator" of engagement though, and small exposures can build up to bigger adventures!
I never visited a proper outdoor area until college (grew up in the city). My first time, I was so scared of the unfamiliar trees that I think I screamed when some vine grazed my skin, lol.
A few years (and a few more day hikes) later, I went on my first overnight backpacking trip. Nearly froze to death because our guide didn't check the weather. Had to evac half the group out overnight through the pouring rain. Glad nobody died, but we got real close to frostbite territory. The next trip with the same group, we nearly got shot (pissed off some, uh, rural hunter types) and had to hide in sand dunes until the gunshots stopped... it's a wonder this guiding group stays in business, lol.
Despite all that, backpacking became a lifelong love. I've introduced probably a dozen friends to backpacking, and they're all most impressed by the Jetboil :) These days me and my SO go on a few trips a summer, not quite as much as we were younger, but still.
Ya gotta start somewhere! That's all I'm saying.
It's more or less the difference between a tourist and an expat.
for both points, i think some of it is driven by social media too and it doesn't take a lot for those places to feel full. are outdoorsy people listening to bluetooth radios on trails? doubt it, probably some attention seeker looking for social media content
If you have a season pass it doesn't make sense to ski the worse conditions, since you can just go back another morning. There's also the desire to beat the traffic leaving the resort, which can be brutal in some places.
Also, hiking and skiing are not exactly the most social activities.
It's not even something you can control as a parent. My kid, 16 years old, walks to school on his own - but he's always back right after classes. And it's not that he's an outcast. That's just how they roll in the SF Bay Area. Other kids go home too, or they are shuttled by their parents to some organized after-school activities.
I think this author is talking about the middle ground between remoteness with nature access and living in a place like brooklyn.
More seriously though, I feel this in my soul. I've worked remotely since pre-pandemic, so there's no need to leave the house to get money. I bought a weight rack, bench press, and created a solid at-home gym. Grocery runs were replaced with delivery during pandemic and never reverted. I'm currently single and more interested in technical passion projects than pursuing a partner. I've never owned a vehicle.
It's shocking to me how this confluence of factors has made it all too easy to go a week (or two!) without going outside! I've been glued to my computer since I was a pre-teen, but only in the past few years has everything come together such that I'm entirely self-sufficient indoors. Existing outdoors is no longer a natural byproduct of my existence!
FWIW, I do feel that there are benefits to going outside. I'm not championing my approach - just noting what's occurring. I feel our biology has not evolved at the same pace as our technology and I sense myself more at peace when I go for a run on the beach - even if I'm diligent with my Vitamin D supplementation :)
Interesting times we're in, to be sure.
On the other hand, I hate being forced to be social in non-social situations or when I want to be left alone, like in an airplane or at a restaurant (I really enjoy eating by myself; always have).
I wonder if "being lonelier" these days means people are on their phones being in their zone when they want to be left alone instead of being forced to strike up small-talk, which makes me wonder whether people have always wanted this privacy but the technology wasn't available.
How much of that is real need and nostalgia for church and farm life?
Let’s use technology to give people more time off, see what outside the box things they come up with.
Everyone around me is an expert in some highly complex thing and we all go work in offices when there’s problems on our street the architects, general contractors, and electrical engineers could fix. But line must go up or we’re all commie trash, or some dumb shit.
Would people associate the outdoors with discomfort and danger? Would they forget how to explore and be curious? Would they have no nostalgia to inform them of what they’re missing?
Maybe we’re finding out?