SHOW NOTES:

https://eggshelltherapy.com/podcast-blog/2025/12/05/why-we-still-feel-lonely-with-philosopher-lars-svendsen/

 

We can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone. We can have friends, a partner, a full social calendar, and still feel like something is missing.

I spoke with philosopher Dr. Lars Svendsen about loneliness. His work so brilliantly weaves together philosophy, psychology, and decades of cross-cultural research.

Prior to this conversation, I did not know that...

Norway is one of the most individualistic countries on earth. It also has some of the lowest loneliness rates in the world.

People who see their friends every day report more loneliness than those who do not.

Creating new social spaces and community events does almost nothing to cure loneliness.

In one study, people preferred giving themselves electric shocks over sitting alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes.

Loneliness, it seems, is less about what is missing out there and more about what we are looking for.

I hope you come away from this conversation feeling a little less lonely. Or at least, in my own case, a bit more hopeful.

 

Dr. Svendsen is a Norwegian philosopher.  He is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is the author of several books, including A Philosophy of Boredom (2005), Fashion: a Philosophy (2006), A Philosophy of Fear (2008), Work (2008), and A Philosophy of Freedom (2014). He has a unique ability to communicate difficult contemporary and international topics straightforwardly. Dr. Svendsen has received several prizes for his work, and his books have been translated into more than 35 languages.

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