I think that hermit now would be significantly more isolated than the closed door person, since no one else now is using physical mail for professional communication.
True, but it doesn't change the fact that in 2025 an engineer with a closed door but ethernet and cell connectivity is still likely to be inundated with a continuous stream of notifications and other forms of electronic correspondence with his peers.
put another way, I'm getting exposed to hundreds of ideas and people -- and probably 40% bots -- just being on HN
a researcher in 1971 could maybe get yesterday's news via newspaper, or maybe radio -- but if they're closed door they're focusing, so they hear nothing else.
