How can we trust strangers when friends keep breaking our trust again and again? A 2021 survey by the American Enterprise Institute found that the number of Americans who say they have no close friends has quadrupled since 1990, going from 3% to 12%. Having friends is important, however. Research by Brigham Young University psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad has shown that loneliness is a major threat to longevity. The threat from loneliness is equal to that from smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic, according to that study! Why do we avoid interacting with strangers? This is the question raised in the latest edition of a blogger community forum. My simple answer would be that people are even avoiding friends nowadays, then what about strangers? People are shrinking into themselves, I think. Including me, most people I observe seem to be withdrawing from other people. Yesterday, I was invited to an evening party of some friends from my teenage days. I found a conven
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