Why is important to have a "social life"???

[Gondwanaland]

I've always thought about this and, sincerely, I don't think it's really important.

I don't like being surrounded by others all the time. Some people at my university try to be friendly and all, but I just get bothered when this happens.

I don't really believe in friendship and the whole concept of 'social life'. That's another idea that society's trying to sell us.

And yeah, I know what Aristotle said once: "“Man is by nature a social animal". So don't use this to support your opinions, because that's a trite argument that appears waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too often

So, why does this happen anyway??? could you give me a rational explanation of why others need to have a social life????

EDIT: Keep in mind that I've never had a social life and, well, I don't care, lol.

 

[Tuppence]

I don't know why most people need a social life, but I suspect a lot of people have a social life because it's expected of them. A lot of people will do anything not to stand out as being different and I would imagine this includes having a social life.

There do seem to be a lot of people who socialise with the people who live near them or work with them. They might not have anything in common with these people, but they still hang out with them. Maybe these people are genuinely very sociable and have the ability to enjoy anyone's company. Or maybe they really don't care at all, they just want a friendship group for appearances' sake, it doesn't matter that they don't have anything in common with them, so they'll just make friends with whoever is near them.

I'm not sure why I need one. To an extent, I don't need one. I've never really had one so far, and I think I've managed. I suppose I don't even know for sure that a social life will make me happy - I won't know until I've tried it. But I like the idea of going shopping with other girls. Trying on clothes together. Giving opinions. Laughing and joking. Saying all the things my girls are too young to understand and my fiance is too male to understand. I think that sounds like so much fun, but I really have no idea if I'd like it or not.

 

[perfanoff]

Friendship is very important for me, social life not so much.

The need for people for socialization varies because it's a personality thing.. and as a rational argument, there's a lot of positives to be drawn by knowing many people and being able to pull small favors or business relations from them.

 

[Leadholder22]

I guess whether or not it is "important" is relative to whoever is questioning the issue.
I've been asking myself the same question as of late, so I doubt I'd be able to give you an established answer. I go to a school where you're pretty much worked to death, and everyone jokes about "barely having a social life" when in reality they seem to be just fine: socializing with people on a regular basis, having meals with others, going out of town over the weekend, pretty much everything that "normal" college kids do. I, on the other hand, haven't been able to do much of that here for two years now.. Do I wish I was as social as everybody else? Sure, but I'm not doing anything to change that. I have spent time with interesting people outside class on a few occasions, and I almost excepted the feeling of elation after all that human contact, but I felt nothing. So my conclusion for now is, no, having a congested social life isn't important to me.

 

[ladyforsaken]

It doesn't necessarily have to be important to someone. It all depends on the individual, what their personality and character is like. If they thrive with social situations, then yeah, that's what they need or want.. but there are people like you and me, who actually embrace being alone lol. Which I thought was odd, but then I don't quite care anymore. I don't crave for social situations. But like what perfanoff said, friendships and relationships are also important to me.

 

[Sci-Fi]

It is nice to have people to talk to and stuff but a big social circle, that would be too much to keep up with. Don't know why anyone would want that.

 

[Veruca]

I don't think its a universal need as much as an individual one, depending on one's goals. I imagine some people would need a big social circle for networking/business purposes. And some, as Lady has said, thrive better in a social environment.

Also, I think there are a number of people who have different phases. Sometimes, they feel like socializing and sometimes they want nothing more than a book and cup of tea at home in their own space

So whatever floats your boat really!

 

[Okiedokes]

I think friendship is important but being a big socialite...not so much. Too exhausting and overwhelming.

 

[Edward W]

Just realised Im at what cud be considered a social event and here i am looking and posting on the forum instead with my phone. Ho hum

 

[.Kitteh.]

Yeah friendship is indeed important
I've tried out once to have this so called 'social life' and it really was just exhausting
So I always just keep my closes friends by my side

 

[VanillaCreme]

Well, we don't need a lot of things... They're just nice to have.

 

[ippi]

I believe it's better to have a few but good friends instead of trying to fit in with several people you don't really have much in common with. I'd rather be a loner than create some fake personality just to be liked by others.

 

[Omnisiac]

Without social lives, ideas and thoughts don't move. Lets face the facts. Even as a dorm-hermit in college, my exisistence is dependent on alot of people. They provide the food, clothing, money I need to survive. Unless you live in the woods and off the grid you owe your life to the progress humans have made. Humans have made this progress because we are social animals. But that was then.

Today, you can run your online business frm home, order your groceries, and never have to see daylight if you don't want to. In the past that type of person would not likely have survived, but thanks to human innovation we are free to imprison our-selves as we chose w/ or w/o people.