Humankind is constantly striving to push the boundaries. We innovate to create impressive new technologies, automate manual processes at the speed of light, and are quickly digitizing every kind of action and interaction.

But how does this impact us as humans? What happens to our real-life connections when our lives are so deeply enmeshed with AI, machine learning, industrialization, and digitalization?

“I remind myself that I’m always more satisfied by human interaction than by a digital connection.” — Maulik Pancholy

Our social architecture is intrinsic to our survival as human beings, but building a network can be easier said than done. Anyone who’s ever moved to a new city will tell you how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult, especially in a new space.

Try these tips to create your own support network of likeminded humans that root for you just as much as you’re rooting for them:

• Be the friend you’d like to have: It’s easy to take social connections for granted when life gets busy. A missed call that doesn’t get returned or an unanswered message may not seem like such a big deal. That’s where the old adage that ‘people may not remember what you did, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel’ comes into play.
• Being helpful and supportive and remembering to check in with others strengthens relationships. It also builds reciprocity and cements our social architecture.
• Spreading ourselves too thin: when we’re the type of person who knows everyone, we might think our social architecture is just fine. But how well do we really know those people? Take a quality-over-quantity approach to nurturing our friendships.
• It’s impossible to communicate with everyone and plan shared experiences with dozens of people. Still, we can make that kind of intentional, more profound connection with those who are more meaningful to us.
• Being active in our community: Creating human connections is easily achieved by being an active community member. We need to find meaningful activities or organizations; chances are, we’ll find a tribe of like-minded people. Community participation also brings meaning and purpose to your days, enriching the human experience in a way that only face-to-face connection can.
• Be vulnerable: Open and honest communication may feel uncomfortable initially, but that vulnerability allows us to cultivate common ground. It can build stronger ties, nurture trust, and bring a sense of honesty and authenticity to our relationships.

Like what you’re reading? Want more consciously prepared brain food?

Listen to this Harvesting Happiness episode: https://harvestinghappinesstalkradio.com/human-connection-the-soul-of-our-social-architecture/ or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode is part of The Good Citizen’s Election Season Survival Guide to Restoring Common Sense and Sanity in a Crazy World — produced in collaboration with renowned, fair-minded subject matter experts who provide strategies that enhance critical thinking, increase civic engagement, and foster healthy pleasure to boost personal well-being and relationship satisfaction.

Take an even deeper dive with More Mental Fitness by Harvesting Happiness on Substack and Medium.

GUEST BIO: Allison Pugh, PhD, is a Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and the 2024–25 Vice President of the American Sociological Association. She writes about how people forge connections and find meaning and dignity at work and at home. Allison’s work has been widely published in The New Yorker, Time magazine, The New Republic, Aeon, The Harvard Business Review, and more.

Professor Pugh builds a compelling case for the preservation of human work in an increasingly automated and mechanical world.

Her newest book is The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World.