I take the pragmatic view that meaningful interaction is as weighty as meaningful connection. You can be lonely in your own family, for instance, and find great pleasure in good conversation with people you barely know. We do seem to form 'bonds' with people, however (particularly with partnership), so I would not discount the impact of closeness with others, but I think it takes very few to be satisfied here. Even in a large family, you're probably only very 'close' to few people.
> erosion of family units
They're smaller now, but can we really say they've gone? Besides the scattering which is not really new, we choose our level of involvement with family.
> erosion of family units
They're smaller now, but can we really say they've gone? Besides the scattering which is not really new, we choose our level of involvement with family.