La condition humaine au siècle de la solitude
The human condition in the century of solitude

Summary/Abstract: People all over the world feel alone, disconnected and alienated. We are in the middle of a global loneliness crisis. This is not just an emotional health crisis, but also one that affects us physically. Research shows that loneliness has worse health consequences than lack of physical activity, is as harmful as excessive alcohol consumption and twice as serious as obesity. These effects do not take into account income, gender, age or nationality. The loneliness crisis is also a political crisis, leading to division and extremism in the United States, Europe or other parts of the world. Loneliness and far-right populism go hand in hand. The essential difference between the definition of loneliness, which we will refer to throughout the article, and the classic definition is that loneliness is something more than the lack of love, companionship or intimacy. The aim of this article is not only to assess the exact scale of the loneliness crisis in the 21st century, how we got here and how much worse the situation will get if we do nothing, but it is also a call to action. The central idea is that each of us plays an essential role in the fight against loneliness. Reconnecting society cannot be a simple top-down initiative implemented by governments, organizations and large corporations, even if the process of societal disintegration can be largely attributed to them.

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