Something quiet has changed.
People don’t go out the way they used to.
Not to dinners.
Not to events.
Not to gatherings that once felt automatic.
And it’s not just age.
It’s not just weather.
It’s not just technology.
It’s something deeper.
The First Truth: People Didn’t Become Anti-Social
People didn’t suddenly stop liking each other.
They stopped liking the cost.
Every outing now carries friction:
• money
• time
• energy
• unpredictability
What used to be casual now feels transactional.
Dinner isn’t just dinner.
It’s planning, traffic, parking, noise, crowds, expense, recovery.
People ask themselves a simple question:
“Is this worth what it takes out of me?”
More often than not, the answer is no.
Why Home Feels Safer Than Public Life
Home offers something public spaces don’t anymore:
control.
At home:
• the temperature is right
• the noise is manageable
• the pace is yours
• the exit is immediate
Public life used to be energizing.
Now it often feels demanding.
People aren’t hiding.
They’re conserving.
The Real Cause Isn’t Fear — It’s Depletion
This isn’t about people being scared.
It’s about people being tired in their bones.
Years of:
• economic pressure
• constant alerts
• social tension
• health disruptions
• political noise
• digital overload
The nervous system adapts by pulling inward.
Not because it wants isolation —
because it needs recovery.
When people say, “I just want to stay in,” what they often mean is:
“I can’t afford to spend myself anymore.”
Who Is to Blame? (The Honest Answer)
No single villain.
Not “the kids.”
Not “technology.”
Not “COVID.”
Not “politics.”
The real culprit is compounding strain without relief.
Systems sped up.
Costs went up.
Margin disappeared.
Social life became another job — and an unpaid one.
When life offers no buffer, people create their own.
They stay home.
Why Going Out Lost Its Payoff
Going out used to give:
• connection
• novelty
• belonging
• laughter
• relief
Now it often delivers:
• stress
• expense
• irritation
• exhaustion
People didn’t lose the desire for connection.
They lost trust that public life would give more than it takes.
That’s a rational calculation, not a moral failure.
Will People Go Back Out Next Year?
Some will.
Most won’t — not the old way.
What’s returning is not crowds.
It’s selectivity.
People will go out when:
• the setting is smaller
• the purpose is clear
• the people are trusted
• the exit is easy
Big, loud, vague socializing is fading.
Intentional, contained interaction is replacing it.
That’s not collapse.
That’s adaptation.
The Price We Pay If This Continues Unchecked
There is a cost.
• weaker community ties
• fewer casual friendships
• less shared culture
• more loneliness
• slower social repair
When people withdraw too long, muscles atrophy — including social ones.
Staying home protects energy.
But over time, it can narrow life.
That’s the tradeoff.
What Actually Brings People Back
Not guilt.
Not campaigns.
Not “get out more” slogans.
People re-engage when:
• life slows slightly
• trust increases
• costs stabilize
• spaces feel humane again
And most of all:
when people feel resourced enough to show up.
Connection requires surplus.
Right now, many people have none.
The Quiet Middle Ground
The future isn’t total isolation.
It isn’t a roaring return to pre-everything life.
It’s smaller circles.
Fewer outings.
Better choices.
People aren’t disappearing.
They’re protecting what little margin they have left.
And until life gives some of that margin back,
home will keep winning.
Not because people stopped caring,
but because caring got expensive.
The Faust Baseline™Purchasing Page – Intelligent People Assume Nothing
micvicfaust@intelligent-people.org
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