OFFLINE — The Loneliness Epidemic (Part 1)

We are the most connected generation in human history. We are also, by measurable data, among the loneliest. So what's going wrong? In this opening message of the OFFLINE series, we name the paradox that most of us feel but rarely say out loud — that scrolling through other people's lives at 11pm leaves us emptier than before we started. We look at what the data tells us about the loneliness epidemic, what a researcher at MIT says we've traded away without realising it, and what an ancient text written long before smartphones says about why we're wired for connection in the first place. Because the ache you feel isn't a flaw. It might just be the most important signpost in your life right now.