Little lonely creature

Loneliness is something fundamentally human. Even though no-one likes admitting it, we all feel lonely sometimes. I think loneliness is a very interesting emotion, since it is very complex. You can be surrounded by people, yet still feel lonely. You can be very alone, yet not lonely at all.

With loneliness being such a complex emotion, how could this be turned into an artificial creature? Let's start with an examples of a creature which to me, embodies loneliness.

WALL-E

WALL-E is the main character in an animated movie with the same name. Anyone who has seen it will likely be completely enamored with this little bot. The movie takes place in a dystopian world where humans have been forced to flee the planet due to how incredibly polluted it was. WALL-E is one of the little bots the humans left behind on the planet earth to do the dirty work of cleaning it up while they take a vacation on their gigantic airship. There used to be more bots like WALL-E, or maybe there still are, but WALL-E never encounters any of them. His days are all the same. He goes out during the day, collects pieces of trash, presses them into little cubes with his body and stacks them up nice and neat. All day, every day. And even though WALL-E is a bot, he has many human characteristics. He is curious, collecting little pieces of rubble that he finds interesting, he likes music and he even has a little cockroach friend. However, despite of this, he is quite lonely. Until one day, he finds EVE. EVE is another bot, but that is where the likeness stops. Everything about WALL-E is square, dirty, rusted and old. EVE is sleek, new and shiny. And WALL-E is truly happy with her around.

Loneliness consists of multiple aspect, such as a lack of emotional connection as well as a lack of physical contact. Perhaps making a creature it would be easiest to focus only on one of these aspects.

Physical contact:

I think physical contact could best be shown with a physical creature. I imagine some little furry object that shakes anxiously and emits unhappy noises when it is lonely. Once you pick it up, it might be a bit shy at first, but if you keep holding it (maybe scratch it behind the ears a little?) it will soon start to relax. The shaking will become a pleasant little buzz, not unlike a purring cat, and the noises it make, will become more cheery, maybe musical.

Emotional connection:

Since this has to do more with talking to someone who you can trust and sharing your thoughts and feelings, I think this would be best captured by some kind of chatbot. I imagine this bot would occasionally send you a couple messages, asking about your day, sharing some of their experiences, etc. You could also reach out to them, which makes them really happy, which will also cause them to reach out to you more often.

These are just two aspects of loneliness that could be represented by a little creature. Of course, there are more things that could be interesting to look into:

- the causes/consequences of loneliness

- ways of reducing loneliness for the person who interacts with the creature

By creating a little lonely creature, I do not only hope to learn more about this topic, but also to reduce the taboo surrounding loneliness. People often do not want to admit when they feel lonely, they see it as a weakness. This enhances the problem in two ways. People start to isolate themselves more, since they don't want others to know how lonely they are. And it makes the problem of loneliness less visible. Interacting with a little, lonely, creature might help people realise loneliness is a real problem, but also that it can be fixed. It is not some abstract problem we have little control over, it is actually a problem we can all help with. Talk to kind strangers, visit your friends and family. Get involved in your local community. And just listen to people.