Its an odd paradox: thanks to cell phones, PDAs and the Internet, weve never before been in touch and within reach of so many people. And yet, weve never been so lonely, either. Which is to say, our loneliness is largely something weve inflicted on ourselves through countless lifestyle. choices, many of them good, some even critical. But in the end, is it all worth it？ What is lost when we have e-mail pals on the other side of the world, but dont know our own neighbors？ Are bigger salaries, bigger cars, bigger homes worth the price of smaller social circles and diminished relationships？ Our loneliness has costs: crime goes up when neighbors dont look out for each other. The burden on public services increases when were not helping each other out. And the din of an iPod is no substitute for genuine connection with another human being. Theres no easy way out of our collective loneliness, and no solutions that come without trade-offs. But some of those trade-offs are worth reconsidering, lest we consume our lives with the things that matter least, at the expense of those that matter most.