For most of our species’ existence on this planet, homo sapiens have lived in communities. In the hunter gatherer era, it was a given to ensure safety and in order to distribute work. These communities weren’t very large, in the order of 20–50 people. Similarly in the agricultural era, we lived in village communities. We no longer travelled much, since our survival was so closely tied to the plots of land we farmed. Living in a community was again a necessity in order to protect these invaluable plots of land, which being valuable and stationary, were easy targets for raiders. In addition, having a community of farmers allowed individuals to gain efficiencies through specialisation and trade.

Then the industrial era began, pulling people into large cities where there now was a disproportionate amount of job opportunities in highly specialised industries. At the same time we also made a considerable shift from having a community to keep us safe and help in times of distress, to a model where the government was expected to fill these roles. This shift rendered community largely unnecessary for survival and the individual became more pronounced.

As globalism increased competition and capitalism relentlessly drove new efficiencies, work hours continued to increase. This continues to happen today and we now live in a world where our lives are dominated by work. In the western world our survival is essentially guaranteed, but most people still spend 50% their entire waking lives as adults at work or commuting to and from work.

The problem is that most people are not satisfied with their work and don’t find it fulfilling. Furthermore, we’ve somehow created a work culture that encourages the separation of the professional and casual self. Essentially creating a situation where it is expected that you are not yourself at work. So we end up spending 50% of our lives not being our true selves.

This being the case, do people spend all their free time being their colourful, vibrant selves while socialising with others? No. We spend time watching TV and doing chores. When then do we have time interact with other likeminded, inspirational peers?

Humans need community. We need to feel like we belong. We are biologically built to need human connection, to need community, as much as we need food or water. Unfortunately we aren’t getting it.

In recent years, Vivek Murthy, previous Surgeon General of the US, named isolation and loneliness as the most pressing health threat to the nation. In the longest ever study on human happiness, the researchers found that people who live in isolation die sooner than ones who enjoy human connection. Another study found that the subjective feeling of isolation and loneliness led to a 26% higher early mortality rate. This doesn’t just apply to the elderly either, as is commonly thought. Middle aged men suffer from loneliness and isolation too. Even teenagers are lonely. While they are the most connected generation ever, they are also the most isolated, living their life through social media. Various studies put the amount of teenagers suffering from loneliness somewhere between 20–80%.

Loneliness, then, is a problem affecting people in all age groups and the problem is likely to only get worse as we create new technologies for receiving or experiencing entertainment from the comfort of our own homes.

To combat this, there is a small but growing trend visible in the social fabric of our society. More and more people are moving into community living environments. They aren’t moving for financial reasons and these aren’t the hippy communes that have given the term community living strong connotations. These are people with ample financial resources, successful careers and long term relationships choosing to move into communities.

I think these people may be on to something. Not only do these people automatically belong to a community, but many of these communes provide plenty of services to make life easier. For example, a company called Common has a subscription service by which you can live at any of their many locations in the US and for the price you get furniture, fast internet, cleaning and all sorts of other perks. They truly make living easier, by allowing increased mobility and doing all the annoying logistical stuff related to renting for you. Let’s be real, no one likes figuring out electricity, insurance, internet and paying for it all separately. They aren’t the only ones. The Collective is a community living project in London, which provides community members everything from sporting facilities to meeting rooms. With a quick google search you’ll find that there are many, many more sprouting up in cities across the world.

These communes make the logistics of living an incredibly simple process, but many of them do something else which is potentially even more important. They carefully vet new entrants for culture fit. This may seem borderline discriminatory at first glance, but when you think about it, what really makes a community? Having a group of diverse, but likeminded people who are all committed to upholding the community. This is possibly the most exciting part about community living. Living with an entire group of people who inspire you personally. As more and more communities are started, the spectrum of communities will expand in diversity, eventually allowing anyone to find the perfect community for them. In to art? Go live with a bunch of artists, musicians and graphical designers. In to tech? Go live with programmers and tech entrepreneurs.

The primary argument I hear against this idea is that people value their personal space. While it’s a valid argument and it’s obviously a matter of personal preference, I will offer some counter points. It’s important to distinguish between personal space and total space. Renting or buying your own apartment may give you more personal space, but in most cases you actually end up with much less total space. In community living arrangements, there are often large shared spaces due to the sheer size of the apartments or buildings in question. Is it more important to you to maximise personal space or total space? For me the idea of having space to do things is more important. Maybe I want a room for just painting or a VR room. I’ll never have the space for that in my own apartment.

That’s why I think community living is a macro trend to look out for in the next 20 years, it allows you to be enveloped by people who share your passions and values in that small amount of time we do have outside of work and sleep while providing unprecedented flexibility. While ideally everyone would also find work in areas they care about passionately, it’s not realistic to expect that to be the case, at least not before we have robots running industry and universal basic income provide everyone with the financial flexibility to choose what to spend their time on. Until then, make the most of your working life, but failing that, live with people who get you excited about life itself.

Time at work and commuting during a 50 year career working full time:

Total time: 24*7*52*50 = 436 800 hours

Time spent sleeping: 8*7*52*50 = 145 600 hours

Time spent at work: 47*50*50=122 200 hours

Commute: 0.5*2*5*50*50=12 500 hours

Percentage of time spent at work or commuting:

(122200+12500)/(436800–145600) = ~46%

Sources:

Average weekly work hours in the USA for full-time working adults is 47 hours a week

Average vacation time in the US is 10 days

Average commute in the US is more than 25 mins