The Case for Intellectual Loneliness

Intellectual loneliness is a challenge that many people feel, but nobody talks about. It’s built on a paradox where you feel alive when you’re learning on the Internet but soul-crushed when you try to talk about those same ideas with friends and family.

Encountering for the first time communities in the real world founded on ideas, I began to realize that I had always felt what my friend David Perell calls “intellectual loneliness.” It’s a feeling that almost no one in your social circles shares the same passion for ideas as you. I realized I had always felt that there was no one I could share my ... See more

why it's hard to make friends as an adult:

where there's shared context (seeing the same people over many months daily i.e. workplaces) there's a lack of shared interests

where there's shared interest (hobby groups, bookclubs, etc) there's a lack of shared context

The more hours you’ve put into this chaotic business of living, the more you crave a quieter, more nurturing third thing, I think. This needn’t mean dull. The friends I have now, who’ve come all this distance, who are part of my aging plan, include all kinds of joyous goofballs and originals. There’s loads of open country between enervation and int... See more