Unfortunately, the habitat in which connections can happen, the space in which we could cultivate this urgently needed capacity to be, think and act social is disappearing. And in many ways, this space is being systematically destroyed:

• The necessity to practice "social distancing" during the coronavirus pandemic may do lasting damage to basic habits of civility toward one another. And it may offer lasting support to attitudes of racism, xenophobia and "othering".
• The new class division is becoming "winners" and "losers". Ever more frequent shock events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, are worsening an already widening gap between people who are driving change and people who are struggling to adapt to change.
• The growing dividing-up of public spaces by income (everything from box seats at sporting events to private elevators), the digitization of contract work, and even home delivery have extended socio-economic differences so far across daily life that the simplest encounters with people across age gaps, wealth gaps, education gaps and different walks of life are becoming rare.
• Public gathering places are disappearing. Either they are closing (e.g. public libraries), being encroached upon by economic development (e.g., public parks), or being claimed by private interests for the promotion of individual consumption choices (e.g., public squares and stadiums).
• Common knowledge is being torn into contested claims that support competing interests. Public "broadcasts" are being replaced by private "newsfeeds" that aim to maximize individual attention. Public research and universities are increasingly turning to private donors (who, however noble their motivations, shape the academic sector's research agenda to align with their private beliefs about which directions of inquiry matter - and which do not).
• Civics (i.e., learning the importance of thinking and valuing at a social level) is disappearing from school curricula.
• The time and space we need in our own lives to cultivate individuality and connect in surprising, meaningful ways with other individuals is disappearing. The patterns of our thought and behavior are growing increasingly the same, as we strive to adopt the "best practices" and "mental models" of others. Our consumption of digital and physical stuff takes up a larger and larger portion of our "free" time, and that consumption, too, is increasingly the same.
• Even social media is not a social medium. We all have personal experience of this. Consider this example: Muslims who gain large followings on Facebook and YouTube for advocating more liberal interpretations of their religion often get their accounts suspended or taken down because conservative Muslim groups organize mass-reporting of these channels as "inappropriate content".
• The recent surge in social movements is also evidence of this root crisis. Without the space to cultivate our capacity to be, think and act social, we are losing the capacity to consciously shift society's direction. In frustration, we can only forcefully shove society down new paths. We see plain evidence of that in the recent success of populist movements (#MAGA, #METOO, #ExtinctionRebellion) that, depending on your politics, are either progressive or bullying. But the difference between a conscious shift and a forceful shove is that the latter comes at the cost of a stronger counter-reaction. And we are seeing plain evidence of that, too.