Speed of the sound of loneliness

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Updated Dec 14, 2009

According to researchers in the journal iPsychological Science, lonely people are more likely to believe in the supernatural, including God; and to attribute human qualities to pets, toys and vehicles.

Since truck driving is one of the world’s loneliest occupations, this has us thinking about all the truckers we know who are fervently religious, or who carry on “>conversations” with their pets, or who introduce stuffed animals as their “co-drivers,” or who have given their rigs human names.

Of course, the same things are true of many people in other occupations (except maybe that stuffed-animal business); there are plenty of good reasons to be, for example, religious; not ionly truckers are lonely; and not iall truckers are lonely.

All this reminds us of a song by the great John Prine, “>Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”:br

iSo what in the world’s come over you
And what in heaven’s name have you done
You’ve broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You’re out there running just to be on the run

Thanks to John Latta for passing along this news story.