Big Think The great friendship collapse: Inside The Anti-Social Century | Derek Thompson
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Oct 13, 2025 
In this discussion, Derek Thompson, a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of Plain English, dives into the reasons behind America's increasing solitude. He explores how technology, from television to smartphones, has transformed leisure into a private affair, isolating us further. Thompson warns that our preference for screens over people is rewiring our brains, with emotional costs that can’t be ignored. He also raises concerns about AI potentially replacing genuine friendships and proposes a values-first approach to technology to reclaim social connections.
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Technology Privatized Social Life
- Technology reshaped American social life across decades, from cars to TV to smartphones.
- Each leap privatized a domain: cars private lives, TV private leisure, phones private attention.
Smartphones Create Chosen Solitude
- Smartphones let people feel alone even when physically present with others.
- Thompson calls this era the "antisocial century" because people increasingly choose solitude.
Choosing Aloneness, Not Just Feeling Lonely
- 'Antisocial' differs from loneliness because many actively prefer being alone.
- Celebrating canceled plans shows people choose aloneness, not suffer it.
