Solitude and privacy: How technology is destroying our aloneness and why it matters

This article connects streams of research on solitude, a critical component of privacy. It examines the influences of technological, societal, commercial, and governmental forces on solitude. Solitude is one of the four basic states of privacy, along with intimacy, anonymity, and reserve. It can be defined as an absence of human activity. Solitude entails a willful disengagement from others, enabling freedom from observation. Individuals experiencing solitude are attuned to dialogue with the mind or conscience. There is ample evidence that a societal appreciation of solitude has diminished in contemporary society. Many of us have great difficulty in disengaging from human activity. This likely is tied to the increasing difficulty of purposely limiting device usage and accompanying links to social media. A defining characteristic of modern society is connectedness, whereas solitude requires purposeful disconnection. Solitude can foster clarity, creativity, moral courage, individuality and independence, emotional respite, and self-actualization. It contributes to the health of individuals, groups, and society. Purposely reflecting upon solitude's place in contemporary society is critical to exploring whether individuals seek solitude in our ever-connected society; in examining the implications of a life without solitude; and in taking meaningful action toward protecting an expectation of, and appreciation for, solitude.