Recluses or hermits who have withdrawn from all social contacts are rife in Japan. There, they are known as hikikomori. The word sands for “pulling inward, being confined.” According to most credible estimates, there are about half a million of them at the moment. Interestingly, there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to the phenomenon already.[1] What is particular about Japan is that many of the hermits are quite young. Most of them spend their time confined to their homes. They do everything in their power to protect their isolation. Some of them venture outside of their quarters on occasion, but they still avoid any contact with others. This social phenomenon has attracted quite a bit of attention around the world, and especially in America and Europe, for it is feared that it may spread. In highly developed countries, going it alone is much easier than in less developed ones. Which is why an increasing number of people live alone if they can afford it. Having searched the World Wide Web using the felicitous Japanese word, I am convinced that the phenomenon is beyond the ken of my fellow humans, including scientists of all descriptions. In just a few words, the cause of ever more radical reclusion is an intuitive understanding that the end of the world as we know it is on the horizon. As animals, humans can feel it even when they cannot put it into words. And withdrawing from all social contacts is a temporary alternative to suicide. Hikikomori is bound to go global, indeed.

Footnote

1. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori (accessed on February 17, 2019).