The Lone Wolf
From news.com.au today:Trend goes against herd mentality
By Roberta Mancuso
November 3, 2004
PEOPLE living alone are more likely to suffer mental and emotional problems because, like cows and dogs, humans crave social interaction, a researcher says.
Brisbane's Griffith University sociologist Bill Metcalf said yesterday humans were social, or herd, animals that from birth had an intense need to belong to a group.
He said the growing trend towards single-household living was creating lonely, isolated people who were less likely to feel as valued and secure as those living in groups.
"Community living is a natural phenomenon - it's like breathing and sex and eating," Dr Metcalf said.
"When we are not in community we suffer the way that a cow or a dog suffers if it's deprived of interaction."
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that of the 7,072,202 households counted in 2001, those who lived alone accounted for 22.9 per cent (1,616,213). That proportion was up from 22.1 per cent in 1996.
ABS projections also show that there could be as many as 2.4 million to 3.4 million people living alone by 2021.
Dr Metcalf said living alone was likely to foster feelings of isolation and depression in a person, and blamed single household living as the root of some of society's problems.
"You're far more healthy living with other people than living alone, no matter who you are," Dr Metcalf said.
He said his latest book, The Book of Community Living, explored how members of "intentional community living" groups across the world experienced increased life satisfaction and decreased suffering.
He said these people deliberately set out to create an "ideal society" by immersing themselves in communal life.
The Courier-Mail
Yeah. His findings don't surprise me a bit, actually.
I have thought about the term "Lone Wolf" for a while.
Who is the Lone Wolf? A bloke--usually--who is strong, independant and emotionally aloof, who will see through the trials of adversity without anyone's help, thankyou very much, and will shun the love of a Good Woman for "her sake".
(Yikes, that's a whole new annoyance. "I love you but--" start crappy soppy music here-- "it can't be because I would do too much damage to you with my awfulness." What's with that, anyway? Are women just too stupid to make informed choices about whether to love a man who may be not what he wants himself to be? Why not just tell her the reasons you think you're not good enough for her and let her decide? And then just NOT decide to prove her wrong? Become the man you'd like to be? Sheesh. It's just an excuse. Get with the programme and be honest enough to say "I love you but not enough to change what I think are my rotten habits so I don't actually hurt you with them. Sorry." It's a lot better than "Hey honey. You're too stupid to see the downside of me and I don't think enough of your intelligence to allow you that choice." Grr. No, this hasn't happened to me -- people don't "fall in love" with me, I'm not the type. Happened to a friend, though. Bloody annoying).
What was I saying? Why do I say that so often? Disorganised mind, anyone...?
Umm. Lone Wolf. Think Clint Eastwood (argh!).
Whoever coined this phrase didn't know much about wolves. Wolves are pack animals, and rely on each other to survive. They mate for life.
Lone wolves DIE.
Hmm. Maybe whoever coined the phrase did understand what they were saying. Think about it.
School time again.
NaNoWriMo update: words written: none, of that project. But I started another new, related one. 500-odd words of that. Go figure. Title of last book: "Imbolc". Title of new book: "Beltane". Titles of two new planned books for this series (who also have 500-odd words to their credit each): "Lughnasa" and "Samhain". I'm sure you'll see the relationship. :-)
posted by Heather @ 8:26 am
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