Can a person be happy if he has no friends?

I agree with you, it does take more than some fake smile. However, you can still have that positive feeling deep down inside of you, and still not have it make that huge difference in your life. 

hewhowalksalone said:

Is love and friendship classed as 'material'?

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Well, there was a cartoon in a magazine.

A well dressed man was standing by a pool, leaning over to talk to his male friend sitting in the pool.

His male friend was older, bald, and smiling like crazy.

He was surrounded by a dozen giggling splashing naked young girls.

The caption read:  "Does money buy happiness?  I dunno, but it sure as hell
buys a pool full of beautiful girls!"

You can tangibly measure changes in the brain, as well as many other material
results, in response to love and friendship.  So, yes.

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Jessicat said:

I agree with you, it does take more than some fake smile. However, you can still have that positive feeling deep down inside of you, and still not have it make that huge difference in your life. 

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Precisely.  Only actual change has any worth.

people are social creatures, its embedded in our dna, if you were suddenly cast away onto an island without anyone, i'm sure you'll go crazy like Tom Hanks did in the movie "Cast away" and start creating imaginary friends just to keep your sanity. Yes we can be happy without people for a period of time, sometimes we need our own space and time to reflect and recharge, but eventually you'll need some sort of company, someone to talk to, to acknowledge that your ok.

Don't try to take the easy way out and find ways to not need people in your life. Always strive to do the right thing and in the most efficient way, even if its hard, like trying to connect with people, overcoming your fear of rejection and alienation, and understand people.

my best recommendation is to read one of the most popular books on connecting with people called "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie , its helped me a lot and i feel so much more understanding and friendly with everyone and they in turn are friendly to me.

all normal humans depend on social support and recognition in a group...the more that's eroded the less emotionally stable...if everyone's being eroded in the same way then at least their problems will be similar which already alleviates the problem somewhat but not entirely.

I think that because humans are social creatures by nature, we need some form of positive social interaction to be happy. Rather that be friends, family, business relationships, or a committed romantic relationship can be a variable. Does a person specifically need friends to be happy? No, probably not. However I do believe that people need some form of positive social interaction to be happy. I think of it more like the bar scenario: Pick your poison, kind of a thing.

Without friends, yes. But with no social connections at all? I doubt there are many people who could live like that for an extended period of time without getting sick of themselves.

I do constantly feel like there's an emotional void inside of me that can never be filled - I guess, in a weird way, I'm used to it.

Yes, if they have a dog.

hewhowalksalone said:

I do constantly feel like there's an emotional void inside of me that can never be filled - I guess, in a weird way, I'm used to it.

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i feel this way too. however, i'm not used to it, I want it to go away and fill it, i just don't know how. how did you become comfortable with it?

Mere distraction. That's all I feel I can do, really.