Is not having friends a turn off?

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What research is this, which specifically studied people who don't want friends?

Those aren't groups who don't want friends.

True- I realize I was equivocating.


Of these:

X characteristic applies to every single member of Y group.

Sez what?

The former is the claim, and a radical one, and the latter is no claim at all.



If there are to be claimed health benefits on the human psyche and physiology for having friends,
and consequences to not having them,
I would think it kind of important to ensure that ALL people are wired in this identical way before asserting such.

Or else use qualifiers so as not to marginalize people and deny their reality.

the studies were of autistic people and people with social phobias.

you are somehow trying to assert that people who don't WANT friends would not be included in the studies, but they would be. and any good researcher would note it accordingly if the results from that group were vastly different from the rest of the group under study.

i haven't seen any valid argument as to why some people supposedly don't need friends except that... they don't WANT them. just like i don't want vegetables, actually.

Again, those aren't people who aren't desirous of friends- they're people who face significant difficulties in acquiring them...

Not being excluded doesn't mean they were studied separately and compared to a control.

I've yet to see a study cited wherein people who weren't desirous of friends WERE studied as a group.


Probably because I'm not making an argument.
I'm asking for evidence about a claim made about all of humankind
and have yet to see it...

I haven't seen any study on why there would be psychological or health benefits in friendship (how this constitutes a "need" in a real sense is yet another question) for people who naturally or nurturally are wired to not be desirous of it. Since, ya know, that's what's being claimed....

Last edited by ValentineWiggin on 09 Apr 2012, 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

.... they are included in the same studies....

~sigh~

Were they studied separately, as a group, and the data compared to a control?

Yes/no?

i don't know.... i wouldn't search that because i don't think it's necessary.

It is necessary, when the claim is about every member of a class of people, that the supporting evidence control for all related variables.

It used to be thought, for instance, that sexual attraction was a fundamental human experience,
and research into the benefits of sexual activity to this day presumes that participants experience some degree of sexual attraction.
And because of this presumption, as opposed to controlling for all possible variables,
IE, the idea that some people AREN'T wired this way,
the findings can't be extrapolated to everyone-
it CAN'T be claimed that the positive benefits from sex are universal to all people,
because researchers failed to make sure to include asexuals specifically, and compare their responses to a sexual control-
it certainly stands to reason that the experience of sex to an asexual would present very differently physically and psychologically.

Those who for whatever reason aren't desirous of friends as the majority of people seem to be are being overlooked in a similar way when studies fail to examine their responses specifically.

All that can be in good conscience claimed is that:
"Among X class, where A, B, C, D, but NOT E are controlled for, Y behavior has positive benefits

well, you're making a claim that you don't need friends and are not pleased to be judged on not having friends. however, you don't have anything to support that assertion. your only argument is that... you don't want them. people don't always act in their own best interests so that is not really a valid argument.

if you don't want friends, that's fine. nobody will force you. but it is not reasonable to expect that people would overlook that fact when deciding whether to date you.

now that i think of it... do you have friends that you talk to online?

I've made no claims, so I need no evidence.


I've simply asked a dozen times for evidence of claims you've made- studies which account for all relevant variables,
IE, that there is a singular dynamic between all humankind and the notion of friendship, that being one with positive benefits.


Done.

No. I used to try to engage some people I knew from theatre in debate on Facebook, but that wasn't successful.
I've never really gotten the notion of "friendship", per se. As I've said...

The forums here constitute the whole of any socialization I might have, now that the boyfriend's on a work trip,
apart from family gatherings on holidays.

And that's fine.

Wait...does a grumpy fat tom cat count?
Actually, he ignores me, usually, too. So nvm.

these are some of your claims:

these are assertions.

This is an argument from definition.
You can't make claims about the entirety of a group if you fail to isolate variables relevant to the conclusion drawn.
This is getting ridiculous.


This is an expression of skepticism...IE, an INVITATION FOR ACTUAL EVIDENCE OF CLAIMS MADE.


Communication =/= friendship drive is a claim that needs evidencing?


Right, so another expression of skepticism of claims made by...you.


"I'm not convinced, and nothing you've shown accounts for the relevant variable which includes me" isn't a claim, no matter how you try to phrase it as such. Not playing the violin isn't a hobby, nor is bald a hair color.

Has anything I've said about the importance of
isolating non-normative groups when making claims about them, undifferentiated from the whole,
sunken in?

Curious.

Hmm most of my friends are women now that I think about it.....I have like only four close guy friends and over 18 female friends

I am better at macking friends with girl's cause we get to have a girl's day put on make up and talk about boys

I love going shopping with girls to it can be so much fun shopping with my brother is soo boring.

I identify more with men. I've been looking into something akin to the "male lesbian" concept, only for women.

If I still had my ex girlfriends number you would be the perfect friend for her then.