Why talking to each other matters now more than ever

Raphael's fresco The School of Athens: philosophers and scholars in conversation beneath a grand vaulted hall, with Plato and Aristotle at the centre. — Raphael, *The School of Athens* (1509–1511), fresco in the Vatican. Photo: Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

It has never been easier to reach another person. A message crosses the planet in a second, and almost everyone carries a library, a newsroom and a town square in their pocket. And yet loneliness has become a serious, well-documented problem, and talking with people who see the world differently does not come easily to everyone. This post is about why we believe that meeting each other in real conversation, and doing so across borders, matters especially today.

Loneliness is not a small problem

In June 2025 the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Connection published its global report on the subject. It reports that about one in six people worldwide is affected by loneliness, and it links loneliness to more than 871,000 deaths a year, roughly 100 every hour. Young people are not spared: between 17 and 21 percent of those aged 13 to 29 reported feeling lonely, with the highest rates among teenagers.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has followed people since 1938, points in the same direction from the other side. Its director, Robert Waldinger, puts the main finding in one sentence: "Good relationships keep us happier and healthier." Close ties to family, friends and community, the study found, matter more for a good life than wealth or fame.

Information is not the same as conversation

Never before have we had so much information at hand. But reading, scrolling and reacting is not the same as talking. Comments are short and often sharp, and nobody has to stay when it becomes uncomfortable.

A conversation works differently. You see a face or hear a voice. You can ask "What do you mean by that?" and wait for the answer. You can be silent for a moment while a thought takes shape. In a good conversation nobody has to win, and that is exactly why people dare to say something they have not yet fully worked out. This is what we have experienced in our discussion group in Hamburg over the years.

"Personal" means present

By "personal" we do not only mean sitting in the same room, although we love that too. We mean being present with real people in real time: listening, answering and staying until a thought has been finished. That can happen at a kitchen table, in a library, or in a shared virtual room like the Denkraum in Second Life, where people from different continents can meet today. A virtual room does not replace a real encounter, but for many people it is an easier first step towards one.

Why worldwide?

The questions that matter most do not stop at borders: how we want to live together, what we owe to the generations after us, how we deal with new technologies. But the answers people give depend on where they stand. A group in Hamburg and a group on another continent may take the very same question in very different directions.

That difference is not a problem to be solved. It is what we can learn from. A network of small groups, each with its own voice, offers something that large debates rarely do: many viewpoints side by side, none of them claiming to speak for everyone.

In hard times, we move closer together

We live in a period of overlapping crises, and the figures behind them are sobering:

Climate. The World Meteorological Organization puts 2025 at about 1.44 °C above the 1850-1900 average, and the past eleven years are the eleven warmest on record.
War. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program counted 61 state-based armed conflicts in 2024, the highest number since its records began in 1946.
Inequality. According to the World Inequality Report 2026, the richest tenth of humanity owns about three quarters of global wealth, while the poorer half owns about two percent.
Displacement. UNHCR counted 117.8 million people forcibly displaced at the end of 2025. That is the first decline in ten years, but the number remains very high.
Population. The United Nations expects the world population to peak at about 10.3 billion in the 2080s. How far the pressure on resources depends on population size, on consumption or on how we share what we have is debated among experts.

These problems are connected, and none of them stops at a border. It would be easy to blame politicians alone, and criticism of political decisions has its place. But no single government can solve such problems by itself, and lasting solutions need more than decisions from above. They need people who understand the issues, discuss them with one another and are willing to take part.

That is where civil society comes in: neighbourhood initiatives, clubs, congregations, volunteers and groups of citizens who meet because they care about something. These have long been the places where people learn to speak with those who think differently, and where a kind of trust grows that no law can order. Conversation is the groundwork. It is hard to decide how we want to live together before we have talked with each other.

The Denkraum has no political programme and does not take sides. We offer a place for thinking and talking, with room for many viewpoints. We believe that societies cope better with hard times when their members keep talking with each other, also, and especially, when they disagree.

What a first step can look like

You do not need to be a philosopher, and you do not need a plan. Here are three ways to begin:

Ask one question. Choose a question that has been on your mind lately and put it to someone you trust. Then mostly listen.
Join us. The Denkraum in Second Life is open to everyone. You will find the location on the World Map page.
Start a group. A few people and a shared question are enough. If you do, let us know and we will gladly put your group on the map.

Pictures can help as well. On the Art page you will find works that come with a question each, an easy way into a conversation.

What was the last conversation that changed how you see something? We would like to hear about it. You can reach us through the contact form in the sidebar.

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