The shelf · Loneliness and solitude
Does Together hold up?
Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, by Vivek H. Murthy (2020)
The former US Surgeon General's case that loneliness is a public-health problem and connection a remedy.
The short answer
The direction is sound, but its famous figures are often stretched: the study behind them measured social ties broadly, not loneliness.
The claims, checked
The mortality effect of weak social ties is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Holds with conditions The source paper measured social relationships broadly and says only that the effect is comparable with quitting smoking. Living alone was the weakest measure, with a result that could be chance.
Evidence: Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010
People with weak social relationships are 50% more likely to die early.
Does not hold As worded, no. The meta-analysis of 148 studies reports 50% higher odds of survival for people with stronger ties. Odds are not risks, and a figure turned around for the other group is not the same figure.
Evidence: Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010