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Comment by CuriouslyC | Hacker News Reader

I understand the parasocial bit. I actively dislike the idea of gooning, ERP and AI therapists/companions, but I still notice I'm lonelier and more distant on the days when I'm mostly writing/editing content rather than chatting with my agents to build something. It feels enough like interacting with a human to keep me grounded in a strange way.

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What's funny is I feel compelled to say "please" and "thank you." Like even at the point where I say it, something will say in my head, "You don't have to say that," but I do it anyway because it feels wrong not to.

You guys need to touch grass. Go join a kickball league or something.

I'd argue that doing something you don't like with people you're not into is a L. Loneliness isn't optimal but for some people it's the lesser evil. I'm married though, so I have a floor, I'm sure some people are lonely enough to benefit from being around people even under the worst of circumstances.

Sure, I’m not saying it needs to be kickball. I’m just saying if you find yourself being grounded by an LLM, maybe you should seek out a community of people you do actually like who do something you actually like.

I appreciate the sentiment, and I'm sure you mean well. It does feel a bit patronizing though, please consider that there are a lot of competent people who've experienced loneliness, chewed through their local meetups and Facebook events, found them wanting, and decided a little loneliness was a better choice.

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