Loneliness. I am not sure whether its an emotion or state of mind. Let's call it a state of mind, it doesn't matter what we call it. Yet it is something no other species is capable of. Yes, animals do band together in herds and groups, but for humans it is possible to feel lonely even in a room full of people, something which may not be the case for other organisms. What use is this state of mind, you may wonder.

What if I told you that loneliness is not only useful for humans, but could probably be the cornerstone that helped build the human civilization?

You'd probably think they are the mad ramblings of an underground man. Well, that's what they are, but my madness has patterns, and like Physics and Maths and other fake sciences, it aims to make sense, but doesn't manage to do so.

We feel lonely because nature tells us to form relationships. Friendships, partners, small talk, it doesn't matter. What matters is that there is a bug in most people's minds that doesn't allow them to exist in peaceful solitude for a prolonged period of time. Which doesn't let us sit still in our solitude, and forces us to make connections. Even for those who claim they hate socializing, all those underground denizens, they too have their own outlets.

The solitary early man would have roamed the Earth by himself, if he didn't feel lonely. The want for meaningful interactions with others led to the formation of tribes, except man still wasn't content. Unlike other animals, humans weren't satisfied with the simple presence of their fellow beings, so they evolved from noises and grunts to language. Man still wanted more ways to interact, so he made inventions to ease others and his own life, and perhaps to get praise alongside the added comfort. Trade itself could be born out of social interaction, or else why will anyone give something to get something theoretically equivalent in value?

Perhaps these are the 3 am thoughts of a bored, senseless mind. Or perhaps there is some merit in them. But I am sure loneliness was a powerful catalyst in the formation of society and civilization. 

But alas, these days its powers have weakened due to technology. Once it required us to go out of our house and talk with people, but now our social needs can be easily fulfilled by the press of a button (or few buttons). One can live isolated in an underground bunker, but feel connected to the world. Just another way technology is messing with our minds.

What is the underground, anyway? Its not a literal bunker, beneath the underground. But it is the state of isolation that is even more pronounced than in such a bunker. For to cut off all ties, to roll over and let the world go about it business and me go about mine, that is the underground. Few have the courage to go underground, and fewer to stay in it. To cut off yourself from the world, and have no one to live for or even ask for, is something very few have the inner strength to endure. Crippling loneliness is bound to descend upon them. But with technological advances, perhaps it would be easier to combat loneliness and to live underground, and more denizens who would experience the netherworld beneath them.