We now have a loneliness epidemic in the U.S. The dominant thinking seems to be that the recent pandemic and our digital devices and social media are to blame. The digital world, people seem to think, rules out real connection with others due to the lack of in-person, face-to-face contact.
While there is something to such claims, we want to suggest an alternative cause for whatever increase in loneliness there actually is. This is simply the fact that we tend to steer away from genuine discourse with others as polarization increases.
