Agreed - but I think some of that is just people being people. I know very settled & traditionally rooted folk who have absolutely retreated from the world. I don't think being in one place automatically makes you more sociable and communally minded. (Also, the longer you're somewhere, the more you tune stuff out & stop seeing what's really going on around you...)
So yep, totally agree that a siloed existence is a miserable one - and unhealthy too. I just think it can happen everywhere, including in small communities. It sounds super-trite, but there's nothing that kicks me out of a self-absorbed funk more than genuinely helping a friend with something and feeling like I did a good thing. That's not really a location phenomenon, that's more an attitude-based one? And it's infectious too. We're all herd animals really...
So yep, totally agree that a siloed existence is a miserable one - and unhealthy too. I just think it can happen everywhere, including in small communities. It sounds super-trite, but there's nothing that kicks me out of a self-absorbed funk more than genuinely helping a friend with something and feeling like I did a good thing. That's not really a location phenomenon, that's more an attitude-based one? And it's infectious too. We're all herd animals really...