Hikikomori: The Postmodern Hermits of Japan
I strongly object to insinuation that people who are socially isolated and dependent in the physical world are almost by definition wasting their lives.  Not everyone's spending their online lives doing nothing but surfing porn and Facebook.<p>They could have very rich online lives, where they are able to socialize - even very freely, competently, and confidently.  They could be very creative online, or learning, producing, and contributing to all sorts of projects, from open source programming, bug fixing, or documenting to contributing to projects like Wikipedia to creating art or music, and so on.  They could have many friends online, or perhaps the focus of a scholar.  They could even be helping others on all sorts of online forums.<p>What's missing is the ability to support themselves and the lack of friends or a support network in the physical world.  But what a lot of people from the old, mostly physical-only world miss is that the virtual world can often be as rich or sometimes even richer, more full of potential and free of limits than the physical world.<p>All sorts of achievements and connections are possible to a much greater extent virtually than physically.  Many people can find social and emotional connections, creative and productive fulfilment, and a great education online, where they could have many problems in the physical world.<p>That's not always or necessarily a pathology.  It's an expansion of possibilities, which are sometimes negative, but not always or necessarily so, and sometimes can be positive, growth-promoting, and can even lead to more physical contact -- as when someone who's active online find a kindred spirit online and then continues the relationship in person.<p>I'd love for there to be more research on how modern hermits spend their time online, rather than always fixating on a pathological interpretation of the choice of being solitary.