Episode 5: Is Loneliness in Our Genes?

6 Minutes Learning English 

What is loneliness and why do we feel it? Sophie and Neil discuss how feeling lonely can help us to survive.

This week's question

Which country has the highest proportion of people living on their own? Is it …

a) the US?

b) Japan?

c) Sweden?

You'll hear the answer at the end of the programme.

Vocabulary

down in the dumpsunhappy

lonelinessan unpleasant feeling that tells us that we're lacking contact with others, which motivates us to seek out companionship

isolatedlacking contact with others

cooperationworking together to get something done

tolerateput up with

intriguingvery interesting

back upsupport

contagiousget something (e.g. a cold, or a lonely feeling) from someone else who has it

single occupancya room or apartment for one person

Transcript

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript

SophieHello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Sophie…

NeilAnd I'm Neil.

SophieHow was your weekend, Neil?

NeilWell, not great – I hadn't got anything planned, so I didn't see anyone for two days. And to be honest, I felt very lonely! There was a real physical feeling in the pit of my stomach.

SophiePoor Neil! You do sound really down in the dumps, and that means unhappy! Well, the subject of today's show is loneliness. And loneliness is sometimes described as a social pain – a pain that tells us that we're isolated – or lacking contact with others – which motivates us to seek out companionship.

NeilI'd no idea that feeling lonely had a biological explanation! How does being sociable help us, as a species, then, Sophie?

SophieIt's all about cooperation – or working together to get something done – for example, finding food.

NeilWell, I suppose I cooperated with the pizza delivery guy for a shared outcome.

SophieYou paid him and he gave you the pizza?

NeilExactly. But it wasn't a socially enriching experience. That's the bad thing about London – you can feel lonely, even surrounded with people. It isn't easy to meet people you really like – so often you might as well just on your own.

SophieGood point. And I have a question about cities and living alone, Neil, because it's on the rise. Which country has the highest proportion of people living on their own? Is it …
a) the US?
b) Japan?
Or c) Sweden?

NeilWell, I'm going to guess b) Japan.

SophieOK, we'll see if you got that right later on in the show. So, getting back to loneliness – the idea is that because it makes us feel bad, it motivates us to go out and meet people. Some people are more likely to feel lonely than others because our genes play a role in this tendency.

NeilI wonder if I inherited loneliness genes.

SophieI don't know, Neil, but while in some situations being lonely may be a good thing, because it encourages you to be sociable, in other situations it may be useful to tolerate – or put up with – loneliness. Let's listen to Professor Dorret Boomsma at the Vrije University in Amsterdam talking about this.

INSERTProfessor Dorret Boomsma, Department of Biological Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamSo the intriguing question is why do genes that influence loneliness still exist? And one explanation is that probably they do not only have negative effects. In some situations it is an advantage to be able to tolerate high levels of loneliness and that is why the genes are maintained in the population.

SophieSo, inheriting genes for loneliness might not be a bad thing. Why's that, Neil?

NeilBecause it means you can tolerate being alone for a long time without feeling bad.

SophieWell, that's an intriguing – or very interesting – idea. But it shows that you probably don't have those genes, Neil, because you did feel bad at the weekend.

NeilThat's true. And actually, that was despite spending a long time on Facebook, and that's a form of social contact. But does all the tweeting, messaging, and chatting online that we do make us lonelier, because we're getting out less and meeting fewer people? Or do virtual connections stop us from feeling lonely?

SophieThose are also intriguing questions. Let's listen to Professor Eric Klinenberg sociologist at New York University and author of a book about living alone. He talks about this.

INSERTEric Klinenberg, sociologist at New York University and authorWe just don't have great research showing that we are significantly more lonely or isolated today than we were ten or twenty or thirty years ago, which means critics who say that Facebook or the internet or whatever device you carry with you, is making you lonelier and more miserable - they just don't have that much evidence to back it up.

NeilSo there isn't enough evidence to back up – or support – the claim that social media is making us feel lonelier.

SophieNo, there isn't. OK, now before I give you the answer to today's quiz question, Neil, did you know that loneliness is contagious?

NeilYou mean you can catch it from somebody like a cold?

SophieYes. There are environmental factors involved in loneliness too. For example, if somebody you talk to every day is always unfriendly towards you, this makes you statistically more likely to be negative in your interactions with somebody else.

NeilWell, let's try and stay friendly towards each other, then, Sophie. You can start by telling me whether I got today's quiz question right!

SophieOK. I asked: which country has the highest proportion of people living on their own? Is it … a) the US, b) Japan or c) Sweden?

NeilAnd I said Japan.

SophieThis is the wrong answer, I'm afraid. It's actually c) Sweden. Nearly half of all Swedish households are single-occupancy – or for one person. Living alone in Sweden is arguably the norm because it's so easy – there are many affordable single-occupancy apartments and young Swedes can expect to move into their own apartment once they graduate high-school.

NeilOK, now let's hear the words we learned today again, Sophie.

SophieYes, OK. They are:
down in the dumps
loneliness
isolated
cooperation
tolerate
intriguing
back up
contagious
single occupancy

NeilWell, that's the end of this edition of 6 Minute English. Join us again soon! Meanwhile, visit our website: bbclearningenglish.com, where you'll find guides to grammar, exercises, videos and articles to read and improve your English.

BothBye!

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