WHY is it that we crave for human company so much?

This post was inspired by another post that a friend of mine did and can be found here.

I feel that it is not always that you crave for some (or for that matter any) human company. It is at time, when you have something to share, something to talk about; that you want that there be someone around you with whom you can talk and share things. These could be things related to intimate joy or terrible losses, good or bad, new or old. Could it be because we feel that there is an inherent need which implores us to express ourselves to others and bond with others through various emotions of sharing our pleasures and fears; joy and sadness etc?

The way that most of us have been bought up, emphasizes on us interacting with others. From the point that we are born, we are given stimulus to be good with others, talk and behave well… at times our payout is made to depend how we behave when we are in company. At different times, we see out responsible adults talking to others from their fraternity about their or your achievements in order to gain a standing among their peers. This reinforces the belief that the true measure of one’s achievements comes when others certify it.

Yet another reason could be that for the first nine months of our inception, and for the first two to three years after we come into the world, we get used to have a companion with us for all times. And all the friends, companions and other compatriots that we have during our lives are but a mere substitute of that feel that we used to get back then. (Which is ironic considering the pitiful state of the elderly in the world and even in India where the elderly are being meted out a shoddy treatment by their own children who plan deviously to rob them off their property etc and dispose them after their interests are met)

All these stimuli make live interactions a part of what we are and how we shape up to be what we are.

On the other extreme are the people who are made to despise the fellow humans so much that they do not crave for company of any sorts. These misanthropes are the loners who eventually turn out to be misfits in a society, which thrives on people enjoying others’ company, get treated as a nut case and are found to be an oddball. Most of the sociopaths belong to this genre.

Yet another group of people to be considered are the ones who, in absence of human company, turn to keeping pets and get so much involved in their up keep that they get totally cut off from the rest of the society. That is where the “crazy old cat lady” phrase comes from.

But, at times, I wonder if such cravings for human company is really such a healthy thing?

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