Social Anxiety in the modern age

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

Why do we care so much what strangers on the internet think?

Why does even the thought of public-speaking make some of us wish for death instead?

We're social creatures who evolved to live in tribes. These tribes tended to max out at 150 to 200 individuals. In other words, every one knew everyone else fairly well. Being part of a tribe was life or death. If you got banished, you were on your own and unlikely to survive for very long. Those are the instincts that kick in when someone trolls us online or we're asked to give a presentation. Calling it "stage-fright", betrays how seriously our minds and bodies interpret the threat of being rejected in a public-speaking situation.

I briefly mentioned this idea in a blog post about the value of face to face meetings. There's something interesting about the fact that modern life gives us lots of opportunities to experience social anxiety. We also still do plenty of tribal things - sports teams, alma maters, etc. but I'm still chewing on what this all means and how we might make it easier to be the social creatures we are, in a healthy, relaxing way.

I keep circling around the need for more opportunities for structured, regular, social interaction. But, really? Who has the time to maintain multiple, recurring activities? I'm a fairly extroverted person and at the end of most work days and weeks, I just want to be in a dark room somewhere with my books and laptop. I'm just spent. So, perhaps it's a question of finding one or two high-value, rejuvenating activities and seeing how those do.

I'll keep exploring (and organizing) these ideas in the weeks to come.