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Notes -
Looking back, the periods in my life when I had the most friends are when we needed each other:
But more and more we're all just... self sufficient. We work remotely, we learn from youtube tutorials or AI, and can hire specialists for almost any task that needs doing. There's none of those friction points that force us to be around random people, and when we do, everyone is just staring at their phone. There's also a feedback loop where, the less time you spend around other people, the more your social skills decline, and the harder it becomes to do friendly conversation or invite people to social events.
Not new hires in their first corporate job ever though. Also, kids still attend public schools and college, don't they? That hasn't changed. I imagine economic stagnation may have reached such levels that only few college students can afford to go on summer vacations.
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