Thread: Living alone

Number of people living alone in UK is now 8 million.
Number in USA is 36 million.

Wars have not decimated the male population.
Problems with affordable housing would suggest more people would live together.

Need help with this one.

For me it's a choice. I prefer, and can afford, to live on my own. What is the demographic or age breakdown for those living alone? Might help make some sensible suggestions ..

I live alone because, I guess, I've had my fair share of knocks in the past.
I'd like to live out the rest of my life in as much peace as possible.

The age we live in is also a big factor.
Basic necessities are not so hard to find and I'm surrounded by supermarkets and convenience stores.

I've seen the devastation that break ups cause.
"All meetings end in separation" made it long ago into Buddhist texts.
"Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Thomas Hobbes.

Several of my neighbours also live on their own, and no doubt we have all had similar experiences.

If I wasn’t married I’d be living alone. After leaving parent's home at 18 I tried unsuccessfully living with 3 different male friends. Two ended up finding the girl of their dreams and got married and the other ended up a drunk. Following all that I lived on my own for 3 years before tying the knot myself. Those 3 years were great and often wished I’d never shared living accommodations with anyone prior to that. If I survive my wife I’ll go right back to living a bachelor life. IOW I’m only getting married once …lol.

Some cultures seem to enjoy living in those multi-family mega homes you see these days. Probably cheaper but missing something because I love the privacy of living alone and think that’s the main attraction for me.

As he became older Einstein said he liked being more alone.
"I live in solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity."

He also gave this advice:

Read no newspapers, try to find a few friends who think as you do, read Kant, Goethe, Lessing and classics of other lands.
Enjoy the natural beauties of Munich's surroundings.
Make believe all the time you are living, so to speak, on Mars among alien creatures and blot out any deeper interest in the actions of those creatures.
Make friends with a few animals.
Then you will become a cheerful man once more and nothing will be able to trouble you.

What did it for me was when my last apartment roommate got severely hammered one night. He woke up at 3 a.m. and in a drunken stupor opened my closet door, walked in and took a piss thinking/dreaming he was in the commode. Took awhile for me to shake him awake/semi-sober and make him clean things up.

When I was a student that happened regularly! I learned to lock my door

Dispelling a myth. (Not trying to deflect attention away from myself) Besides I live with my wife. But if you do live alone then rest assured you’re probably not a serial killer.

From Scientific American (5 Myths about Serial Killers)

. Myth #3:All Serial Killers Are Isolated and Dysfunctional Loners.
Reality: The majority of serial killers are not reclusive social misfits who live alone, despite pervasive depictions of them as such in the news and entertainment media, including the socially challenged “Tooth Fairy” serial killer in the film Red Dragon. Real-life serial killers are not the isolated monsters of fiction and, frequently, they do not appear to be strange or stand out from the public in any meaningful way.

Many serial killers are able to successfully hide out in plain sight for extended periods of time. Those who successfully blend in are typically also employed, have families and homes and outwardly appear to be non-threatening, normal members of society. Because serial killers can appear to be so innocuous, they are often overlooked by law enforcement officials, as well as their own families and peers.

In some rare cases, an unidentified serial killer will even socialize and become friendly with the unsuspecting police detectives who are tracking him. The incredible tale of Ed Kemper (the “Co-ed Killer”) provides an example of this phenomenon.

Serial killers who hide out in plain sight are able to do so precisely because they look just like everyone else. It is their ability to blend in that makes them very dangerous, frightening and yet very compelling to the general public.

Its the matter of choice !!

Originally Posted by alexawilson

Its the matter of choice !!

More to it than that.
We are animals and we live in cages - Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo.
Some animals are more social than others.
I wouldn't describe humans as particularly social, and less so these days because their needs are more easily met.
More people are likely to live alone in the city.
It doesn't mean they are lonely.
I'm more lonely in a crowd, so living alone is not a big problem.