© Pint of Science, 2024. All rights reserved.
Modern technology allows us to speak with people in the far-flung corners of the world, and we are more connected than ever - and yet an increasing number of us are familiar with feelings of loneliness and isolation. Join us as we explore what kind of solutions there may be to balance our need for community and privacy, and what kind of effect loneliness can have on our health. Taking place in the basement Cinema room at the The Town Wall. Please note this venue has a strict no under 18s policy.
Loneliness in Ageing Societies: Modern Epidemic or Moral Panic?
Thomas Scharf
(Professor of Social Gerontology)
Amid talk of a ‘loneliness epidemic’, growing research evidence suggests that loneliness is bad for individuals and bad for society. Not only are lonely people more likely to acquire such conditions as coronary heart disease or dementia, but they are also at greater risk of mortality. In exploring loneliness in later life, as a time when it is often assumed that people are most likely to feel lonely, this talk suggests the need for a more nuanced approach. The audience is invited to engage with myths and stereotypes concerning loneliness and to think about what might work in reducing lonelines
Seeking privacy and togetherness in a journey to communal living
Helen Jarvis
(Reader in Urban Social Geography)
150 is the size of a typical hunter-gatherer society and this is said to be the maximum number of relationships any of us can meaningfully sustain.Yet many of us live alone for many years,despite yearning for close-knit community, and knowing what it’s like to feel alone in a crowd.This talk embarks on a journey to past, present and future communal living arrangements, as efforts to navigate competing desire for privacy and togetherness.Examples: ‘Freetown’ Christiania, Copenhagen, and Findhorn, Scotland.We puzzle over what we are prepared to share and that socially optimum scale of belonging.
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