It’s actually fewer steps. Society is just late-stage community.

Our brains evolved for living in groups of ~30-100 people. These communities are small enough to all know and support each other through life’s inevitable struggles. A healthy society is made up of thousands of these smaller, tight-knit communities, not just millions of individuals.

Our brains are not happy alone—not for extended periods. Reducing all our social interaction to anonymous chats (like this one) and passing hundreds of nameless faces does not fulfill your social needs and will leave you feeling lonely.

It is work, and you will encounter people that suck and/or won’t reciprocate, but if you keep at it, good people will reveal themselves. I promise it’s worth it.