所有孤独的人:他们都属于哪里?

所有孤独的人:他们都属于哪里?

People of every age are lonely. According to one study examining over 3.4 million people, older adults aren't even the loneliest people; teenagers and young adults are. Then loneliness declines, according to Jane Brody in The New York Times.

每个年龄段的人都是孤独的。根据一项对340多万人的研究，老年人甚至不是最孤独的人;青少年和年轻人是最孤独的。据《纽约时报》的简·布罗迪(Jane Brody)称，孤独感会随年龄增长而下降。

A sculpture of Eleanor Rigby called 'All the Lonely People' by Tommy Steel stands in Liverpool. (Photo: Rodhullandemu [CC BY-SA 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

Conclusion: "Among participants who were older than 60, loneliness was a predictor of functional decline and death."

结论:“在60岁以上的参与者中，孤独是功能衰退和死亡的预测因素。”

Loneliness and isolation among the old is a big problem now.

老年人之间的孤独和孤立是一个大问题。

The dangers of senior loneliness and isolation are many. (Photo: Welbi)

The British government found that the problem was so bad that former Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a Minister for Loneliness.

英国政府发现这个问题非常严重，以至于前首相特蕾莎·梅(Theresa May)任命了一位孤独大臣。

So if this is the situation today, what will the situation be when the baby boomers get older? One cause, according to Welbi, a Canadian seniors care company, is losing the car keys.

如果这是今天的情况，婴儿潮一代长大后会是什么情况呢?据加拿大老年人护理公司Welbi称，其中一个原因是丢失了汽车钥匙。

The results of loneliness and isolation can be severe, and deadly.

孤独和孤立的结果可能是严重的，致命的。

What happens next?

接下来会发生什么?

It's beautiful, but it does look lonely. (Photo: S. Hermann & F. Richter/Pixabay)

The number of people considered lonely or isolated seems to vary depending where you look. A British study found 38 percent of seniors felt lonely, an American study says 40 percent. Multiply that by the 70 million baby boomers and you have a lot of lonely people.

被认为是孤独或孤立的人的数量似乎取决于你看的地方。英国的一项研究发现，38%的老年人感到孤独，美国的一项研究表明，这一比例为40%。再乘以婴儿潮时期出生的7000万人，就会有很多人感到孤独。

Some believe technology can solve this problem. We've already discussed self-driving cars as a possible option, but there are a lot of techies proposing role-playing games, videos, Skype and other video platforms. Others are already testing robots that can keep you company, watch over you and even tell jokes. But techno-pessimists like Evgeny Morozov worry that the technology will be misused.

一些人相信技术可以解决这个问题。我们已经讨论过自动驾驶汽车作为一种可能的选择，但有很多技术人员建议使用角色扮演游戏、视频、Skype和其他视频平台。其他人已经在测试机器人，它们可以陪伴你，监视你，甚至讲笑话。但是像Evgeny Morozov这样的技术悲观主义者担心这项技术会被滥用。

He worries that were are heading for "a thoroughly dystopian future, where corporations prolong our existence – it's so lonely and alienated that it doesn't really deserve to be called 'life.' "

他担心，我们正在走向“一个完全反乌托邦的未来，公司延长我们的存在——它是如此孤独和疏远，真的不应该被称为‘生活’”。

It all sounds like my late mom was right. After my dad died, she took up bridge. She hated cards, but she knew that at least once a week she would be part of a group of four. It doesn't matter what it is, but being able to maintain social connections seems to be key. That's why I keep talking about cohousing and baugruppen and walkable communities; I worry about the 40 percent of the baby boomers, 28 million Americans, lonely and alone as they "age in place" in their suburban homes.

听起来我已故的母亲是对的。我父亲去世后，她开始打桥牌。她讨厌打牌，但她知道自己每周至少要参加一次四人小组。是什么并不重要，但是能够保持社会关系似乎是关键。这就是为什么我一直在谈论合住、baugruppen和适宜步行的社区;我担心的是婴儿潮时期出生的那40%的人，也就是2800万美国人，当他们在郊区的家中“老去”时，会感到孤独。