[LiquidPolymer]

I remember reading a book that stated human socialization evolved when the primary interactions were between family groups and small tribal communities. Everyone knew everyone. Socialization with outsiders was formalized and much more time-consuming and awkward.

In the modern era, we are constantly interacting with strangers or people we barely know. Some gregarious people are very good at this, but otherwise it can be a challenge to find common ground for socializing. I don't know if any of this is true, but it strikes me as intuitively true.

[Erratic6576]

This book? Jeremy rifkin 2010, The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness In a World In Crisis, Jeremy P. Tarcher, ISBN 1-58542-765-9

[Gibbon1]

From my opinion I'll add two things.

We're expected to interact with people cold. Know nothing about them and have no shared experiences.

We have a culture of fear of strangers.

A lot of this is due to fear mongering by the media and suburbanization.

So you don't live in a small community where everyone knows everyone. You don't live in a dense city where you rub shoulders with lots and lots of strangers who are all okay. You live in a suburb where you never have a detailed interaction with strangers. And the media tries to drive home that those people are dangerous.

One thing that's declined in the US is churches, clubs, neighborhood bars. Which were good ways for people to meet each other in a high trust environment.