u/Truth573

Hi. I've been struggling with isolation/lonliness and a handful of other issues, like some physical health issues, and as a result of everything I'm not feeling too great currently :(

If I could find some meaningful connections with others, I think it'd help me feel better. I've been interested in a lot of different things, and here are two projects I have:

I'm working on revising and resubmitting a philosophy paper on the root cause of humanity's pursuit of Al, which provides an evolutionary perspective on the philosophy of Jacques Ellul, who wrote a lot about the technological phenomenon. I'm definitely very concerned about Al safety and the main part of the article is aimed at addressing how we arrived here.

In the future also hope to finish an evolutionary hypothesis paper suggesting a structural source for the difficulty of a major evolutionary transition, since it's an idea in astrobiology that some evolutionary transitions may be very difficult, and that it may play a role in both their timing and the Fermi paradox.

Feel free to message me if you're interested in chatting/emailing. I'd prefer those around my age. I'm in the US.

So, I'm 22 and it's been a major challenge for me to consistently sustain obligations like classes, especially after getting hit with several different types of physical deterioration, and the situation feels uniquely cruel because of the social aspect. It's been pretty hard for me to find people I can "click" with, especially IRL, and an academic setting seemed like my best shot at it (I've been most interested in evolution, but I've also studied philosophy on AI), but to get into a setting where I'd have a shot at good IRL connections seems like it would require sustaining things for an extended period. I've tried repeatedly but just haven't been able to keep it up for very long with how quickly I've gotten exhausted, and it's worse now that I have a few different types of structural deterioration.

Anyway, it just feels really cruel, not just dealing with physical deterioration but also being locked out of social connection because I can't sustain things for long enough to get into settings where I'd have a better shot at finding people who I could feel less alone with. Some people have suggested generic social settings but that just ends up making me feel more alone because of what is missing. I don't really see a solution. I just wish I could find decent social connections without having to sustain what's been unsustainable for me. It has felt so cruel.

It seems like both my left and right foot are consistently visibly worse than they were several months ago, and it sucks, and that it has been worsening continuously since some threshold was reached within the past 1-2 years. I'm not sure what I should do about it. I saw one podiatrist last October and got X rays, and it was 27 degrees on both feet, but it's certainly worse now, especially on the left foot. It really sucks to be consistently getting worse over months rather than years at 22. There is suspected EDS, and this is not my only issue that has been worsening over months recently; I've also been progressively losing gum tissue over the same timespan, which seemed to speed up around the same time (though a small injury played a role in one spot). It seems like these two physical issues have worsened the fastest, while my other types of physical deterioration have worsened less rapidly.

The podiatrist I saw in October didn't seem all too great. She told me I have "hallux rigidus" and that I need "rigid shoes" to prevent the joint from "jamming". Yet I can bend both my big toes back pretty far without an issue; I measured it at ~130° relative to flat on my right foot a while back. So I'm skeptical of there actually being "hallux rigidus", and it certainly doesn't seem like even flexible shoes require it to bend back anywhere near as far as it would have to for it to "jam." She seemed to generally see older patients, and I wonder if that played a role. It seems like the real problem is that the bones just keep shifting out of place more and more, and it's recently caused blistering and I've also recently noticed swelling after walking. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but it definitely sucks to be consistently worsening at a pace that's noticeable over spans of like 3-6 months. I might have worsened it by sitting on my feet on my bed, but it has also seemed to worsen more and faster the more I walk or stand, like when I had classes, even though I don't walk anywhere remotely near as much as I did a few years ago. I wonder why it accelerated so much within the past 1-2 years.

Hello. I've been struggling with isolation and have a desire for close connections with others around my age. I have a lot of interests that I can talk about, from evolutionary biology to philosophy on the structure of modern society. It's a challenge for me to find people with whom I can feel less alone, and it has been compounded by the fact that both my mental and physical condition have deteriorated recently with multiple issues worsening at the same time. It has been pretty taxing and has made it difficult for me to meet people IRL, since I've had trouble sustaining things for a long time. I don't have much hope for the future at this point.

There are a lot of topics I can talk about, but I basically just wish I could find a connection that could make me feel less alone. I'd say the topic that has interested me the most is that of the *big* evolutionary transitions, and I've also been interested in philosophy on AI (I am not a fan of AI development), and of the development of technology in general too. I'd also say I'm a person who tends to feel things deeply, which has contributed to some of my struggles. I'm in the USA.

I am 22 and have been pretty isolated and facing a lot of issues, and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about meeting others around my age with whom I might be able to connect. I was a biology major at SLCC hoping to transfer to the University of Utah and had a high GPA, but I'm not taking classes now due to pretty severe mental exhaustion combined with multiple types of physical deterioration (with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome suspected by the most recent doctor I saw). My failure to make better progress has left me feeling pretty bad about my own ability, but it seems that for me to connect with someone and feel less alone, there needs to be a sort of understanding that seems relatively uncommon :(

I've been feeling pretty alone and terrible recently, and I wish I could find others around my age to connect with, but it feels like a pretty big uphill battle, especially with my present level of functioning.

Anyway, I've primarily been interested in evolutionary biology, and (after being encouraged by a professor) I've also submitted a paper to an undergraduate philosophy journal on the AI issue and how it seems to be driven by evolutionary characteristics that while momentarily beneficial, seem to lead to a negative endpoint for humanity (though the journal wants me to make a few changes and resubmit it).

I feel like I basically missed my shot to get to a place where I can meet people via school, given my failure to progress more while still young with all the challenges I've been facing, and it sucks.