Thank you for this comment. I think it&#x27;s really hard to pin down.<p>I don&#x27;t agree that it&#x27;s about people &#x27;drifting apart&#x27;, or &#x27;finding different interests&#x27;.<p>In some sense those are being taken as tautologies, when I don&#x27;t think they are. Why can&#x27;t people with different interests hang out?<p>There&#x27;s loads to talk about. Our interests are a tiny microscopic portion of the human experience.<p>In the UK people go out and get stone drunk and then anything becomes a fun topic of discussion. We call it disinhibition. But why are we &#x27;inhibited&#x27; to begin with?<p>This is why I call it &#x27;ego&#x27;. I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;m using the term accurately. It&#x27;s just this idea of pleasing one&#x27;s self, efficiently, rather than trying to be part of some whole, or just swimming, letting life happen.