Solitary Education: Introducing the Uses of Solitude

The state of solitude has always been associated with unusual human circumstances such as confinement in prison, a voluntary religious experience, or explorers charting new challenges in remote lands. The contemporary global capitalist world, however, with advanced information technology and the many gadgets made available to those who can afford them, is seen by many to have increasingly become a world where individuals are living in solitude among the electronic sound and fury. Our world is a world of rising number of single-person household in major cities, increasing ownership of mobile gadget for communication and entertainment, and ironically escalating a number of people suffering from psychological and emotional conditions. If the state of solitude has become a norm in our world, how can we reconcile with this condition and adapt ourselves to this new world? And is it possible to teach our future generations how to handle this state? The presentation is a work-in-progress report on learnings from interdisciplinary literature about solitude, and how this state of being can have positive 'functions' in our daily life settings for leading a better life. It is hoped that some of the insights can be developed into exercises that can be taught in a classroom setting.