[johnnyanmac]

>If you were a farmer or shepherd or fisherman or … 50 years ago, to whom would you talk during the day and work?

Co-workers? their boss? some entity of the company they are employed by?

Are these farmers/fishermen working solo? it could be their family, but generally in such a situation their family is also employing teenage labor in the form of offspring.

>You would just talk to your family when back at home.

how does that work when you have no family? In the classic times you'd also gather around at a bar to discuss the day with strangers. That doesn't quite work out so well in modern urban environments where even bars come in as groups.