# Suddenly I find myself placing value on contact with other humans to stimulate one's **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414 "2008-01-13T22:24:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/1 "2008-01-13T22:24:26Z")
mind. I’ve been content with solitarity (if there is such a word, being ‘solitary’, alone) all my life. But only lately I’ve been seriously appreciating the company of other people and being stimulated by it. It’s been making me think that no matter how much (or how little) creative potential I have, internal creative potentiality amounts to nothing if it remains dormant, untouched by live wires, unstimulated. So I think the key to my own personal happiness and success in life might be to seek out the company of other [like minded] people. I think even a prison life might be better than solitarity. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/2 "2008-01-13T22:37:40Z")
**Lobsang** - very good to hear you say that [virtually speaking that is]. Hanging around with like minded folk always elevates ther spirits, and will eventually become a need that must be met on a daily basis - so much so that when you are alone it feels a little odd. Good on you for recognizing and rolling with it. Hope all else is well! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/3 "2008-01-13T22:53:42Z")
Could this be a benefit of sobriety? Whereas before you were having drunken conversations of little account and were generally depressed, now your brain is working unimpeded so you can now hold meaningful conversations? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/4 "2008-01-13T22:54:19Z")
Thanks **Phlosphr**. 🙂 At the moment there are two other people in the office with me. The other day there were five. At one point (and in my new mindset) I looked around at everyone, silent, glued to their computer screens. And I thought how absurd this is. What a golden oportunity to be chatting about life, philosophy, films… and so on. And these people are certainly the philosophical film-loving types. We did/do have periods of lively conversation … but much longer periods of being glued to our computer screens. I guess those other people are bored of or don’t realize the value of conversational stimulation. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/5 "2008-01-13T22:55:59Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Could this be a benefit of sobriety? Whereas before you were having drunken conversations of little account and were generally depressed, now your brain is working unimpeded so you can now hold meaningful conversations? [/QUOTE] Probably. I meant to mention the sobriety thing in the OP but I guess I got sidetracked by the main point. P.S. I apologise (in general to the group) if… YET ANOTHER of my OPs is basically about ME. I don’t INTENTIONALLY set out to talk about myself so much. :rolleyes: (at self) (It shows I haven’t got much expertise about anything else worth talking about) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/6 "2008-01-13T23:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] I guess those other people are bored of or don’t realize the value of conversational stimulation. [/QUOTE] Or, possibly, they feel a responsibility to do their jobs? Or they might have lots of stimulating conversations in their off-hours, with family and friends. I enjoy the company of like-minded people to talk with. But let me be the first to fussily jump in and remind everyone of the beauty of variety and diversity of viewpoints! It’s inevitable, so I might as well take the job. 😉 And what fun is life without a few arguments about politics now and then? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/7 "2008-01-14T03:45:39Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] Or, possibly, they feel a responsibility to do their jobs? [/QUOTE] They’re not doing their jobs. For most of them their jobs are answering the phones, and the phones weren’t ringing. ---
**Author:** ![FateHappens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/53a042/32.png) [@FateHappens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FateHappens)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suddenly-i-find-myself-placing-value-on-contact-with-other-humans-to-stimulate-ones/433414/8 "2008-01-14T04:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] I think even a prison life might be better than solitarity. [/QUOTE] Prison life is probably better than a lot of lonely jobs, like night watchman or toll booth attendant.