What about starting a family? Of course you shouldn't do it just because you feel lonely from time to time, but if you need strong social bonds, then why not? Instead of analysing the shit out of the problem, just do what people have been doing for ages.
I can think of one reason not to -- contrary to a popular belief, parents aren't necessarily as happy or satisfied as single people, and I suspect this is more likely to be true if the parenting decision is based on something orthogonal, like thinking of it as a way to deal with loneliness, rather than any real commitment to the activity itself.
Quote: " ... a wide variety of academic research shows that parents are not happier than their childless peers, and in many cases are less so. This finding is surprisingly consistent, showing up across a range of disciplines."
> ... just do what people have been doing for ages.
To me that's not much of an argument in favor of doing something. People owned slaves for ages, claimed that women were stupid and subhuman for ages, and burned original thinkers at the stake for ages.
I think I was misunderstood. If someone needs others around him then he should work towards fulfilling that need. In most cases he won't be able to somehow expell that need from his ego.
