The social scientist Kasley Killam was always fascinated by the science of human connection. In college, for example, she once decided to carry out a personal experiment for 108 days and to carry out friendliness every day. At the Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health, she examined solutions for loneliness. At Google’s Health Spinoff, her task was to bring people together to promote social health. “During my research in Stanford, in which I developed an app about human connection, I came across the term” social health “for the first time,” says Killam. “Since then my work has been through the lens of the connection.”
Before your keynote speech at Wired health Later this month, Killam explains why social health was the lack of a factor for human health. This interview was processed for length and clarity.
WIRED: Traditionally, human health was divided into a physical and mental component. But they do the case that a third pillar – health – must be carried out. Why is that?
Kasley Killam: The reason why I believe that it is so important to increase and distinguish social health is that the connection has such an oversized impact on our health, but is overlooked and underestimated. If you look at all the data, it is unbelievable to what extent you have an impact and ours determines Healthour LuckAnd ours longevity. Connection is not a sensitive thing; It influences how long we live. Social health deserves to rise from the shadows and stand up in the spotlight because it is much more important than we see.
In your book, The art and science of the connectionThey indicate that the lack of social connections increases the risk of different diseases from stroke to dementia. An astonishing finding that you quote is that we die two to three times higher in the next decade when our relationships are missing, regardless of our mentally and physical health. This applies comparable to regular smoking and excessive drinking, obese and physically inactive. What happens to our bodies when we are lonely, which leads to such bad results?
One of the leading theories is this idea of stress. If you think about hunger or thirst, these are different indications that our body gives us as a helpful way to know that we lack something we need. Loneliness is one of these clues. But if it is chronic, it becomes a problem. Chronic loneliness, like chronic stress, ultimately increases cortisol, inflammation and weakens our immune system. We need other people to survive so that chronic loneliness is literally registered as a threat. In contrast, the body calm down when they have supporting relationships and more easily deal with stress. Connection is a fundamental need that our body understands.
They call the current state of our collective social health an emergency for public health. Many votes with them: in 2023 the US surgeon General gave one out Advice About our epidemic of loneliness and isolation and the WHO has established A Commission for Social Connection. What do you identify as the causes of this crisis?
The separation is a real crisis that a lot is talked about. But there is also an overs conception in which we are actually more connected, but not in a sensible way. We both have to tackle. There are many factors that have contributed to the status quo, and one that we have to call is technology and Social media. I’ve been more concerned about that in recent years. Technology tools have to complement the real human connection. But at the moment many of them are designed as a replacement or as crutches. AI is an example. Millions of people use AI as a replacement for a romantic partner or a friend. That worries me a lot.
