Sebastian Junger

Western society has this narrative that we're moving steadily toward a kind of societal perfection. And in some ways we are. The improvements are amazing. But there's this massive unseen cost which is our sense of connectedness to the group, and that connectedness to the group has been at the core of our definition of what it means to be human for 200,000 years. For the first time in history it's being challenged, it's being corroded. Then when soldiers experience life in the platoon or when earthquake survivors experience a brief communal survival effort, everyone's shocked by how good it feels, even though the circumstances are horrible. When really it's people reexperiencing their evolutionary origins of being in this small inter-reliant life. And it feels good. It feels real good. Show less «

For me, PTSD is just one lens to look at a broader question of our society - the very common sense of loneliness, the lack of communal utility that people sense, like, 'What am I here for? Who am I helping? Who needs me?' That's a societal problem and not a personal problem. Show less «