As in could you survive without them? I don’t think you need friends to live, it’s not like they are water or food which you can’t do without.
There are different levels of “need.”
On one level is the most obvious critical **survival **need - food, water, oxygen, etc. Take those away and you die.
On the second level is things to maintain a certain quality of life. You don’t need human interaction to survive, but you will very likely go berserk in solitary confinement.
So yes, human relationships are a need. Not survival, but to have a reasonably healthy mind. Unless you’re naturally wired to be a hermit. So yes I need and want my friends.
Here we go again…
We’ll give our answers and he’ll reject them all.
Anyway, I’m bored enough, so here’s my take:
You can survive without them, yes. You, specifically, might be better off with them than without.
I don’t necessarily mean forced solitude like solitary confinement. But more like chosen solitude. PEople seem to be rather exhausting to be around. Plus I think there are different levels of social need depending on individual differences and culture.
You can do away with a lot of things and you will manage to survive. But most people don’t want to merely survive. They want to thrive.
No one answer for everybody. For some people friendship is critical for their emotional well being. For others, who don’t mind solitude and find enough satisfaction in other activities, probably less so. Probably everyone needs some human contact and would be unhappy with whatever reason kept them isolated, unless they deliberately chose to be a hermit.
“People seem to be exhausting to be around” is not a universal experience.
I survive quite well without “friends”. I work with people, interact with them online and have a number of acquaintances who I may bump into and chat with at certain sporting events, but don’t go out of my way to actually meet or go out with anyone.
I pretty much get all the human contact I can stand at work.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock. I am an island.
I wonder how much social media has taken away the need for friends?
My social circle is virtually non existent these days. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting older (46) and don’t really feel the need for friends or if that’s because I have places like this board to fill the social void.
Whatever the case may be, I do not feel my quality of life has suffered because of my diminishing social circle.
How is this different from the last time you asked the same question?
Other than my wife, I don’t have any serious friends. I get along with just about anyone, but there is no one I hang out with, other than at work or at my SF con committee. I’ve never felt I needed anything more.
He asked it in Great Debates. tomndebb closed it as not worthy of a debate, but thought it would do better in IMHO. Rather than moving it, he gave the OP the option to reopen it here. I see no problem with it, although I am not going to take part.
Companionship is nice, but sometimes, it’s good to be alone. Friends may demand more giving than what you get in return. In my experience, I’ve often discovered that my closest friends are people that I originally considered only acquaintances, and over time they evolved to be friends, not because there was a natural friendship basis, but just because they never went away, and both parties grew comfortable with putting up with each other.
In my case, social media has nothing to do with it. I have no online friends, who I have not met personally.
On a somewhat related subject, here’s a Philosophy Bites podcast on social deprivation, which I listened to recently.
Some people are recluses. Certain hermits can crawl into a cave and live there, meditating on the oneness of oneness, and get by well enough.
But humans are a social species, and our entire psyche is built around interaction with others. It’s what we’re best at, and, for the vast majority of us, it’s something that we enjoy, and is very good for us.
Well the prevailing opinion is that it’s more of a need for psychological well being. But I wonder if it’s more regular human contact than friends. ALso could it have something to do with feeling alone. There is a difference between being alone and lonely. What if one has no friends but doesn’t feel lonely?
This is almost my own experience. I have no friends. I am friendly, especially with coworkers. But, I never see any of them outside of the work place. I raised a child. I have a spouse. I have 4 idiot cats. But, I don’t have a “poker night” or a bowling league. It’s just not something I have ever craved. I know that some people limit their exposure to the outside world for religious reasons. For me, it’s probably more down to laziness.
I cannot agree that it’s like depriving someone of water which can kill you quickly. Also I’m not sure how accurate her claims are. I’m sure that there are plenty of people who are fine if not better off without friends. ITs down to personal taste I guess. I mean we are social in the sense that we need people to look after us when young. But friendship is more of a want than a need.
Also I don’t agree on the whole “rights” bit. If they can be taken they are privileges, not rights
As people get older and have a hard time getting out they’ll want someone to talk to even if it’s for 5 minutes . I saw this as health aid so I say this depend on the age of the person too. If you’re able to be around people part of the day that might be enough for some people other people like and need to have people to be with .
People can dies of loneness , I had clients that wanted to die b/c they were lonely .
I say yes some people do need to have friends it help them get through life easier . This is why so many people have pets ,they’re their friends if they have a hard time making friends with people. All my friends are dead. 