I read years ago that when Daniel Boone spotted smoke from a new cabin's chimney only five miles away, he decided his neighborhood was getting too crowded. I just read Wikipedia that the story is not true and that he was an important frontier citizen in several locales. I thought "the Daniel Boone problem" was how much citizen density one could take, but the whole thing seems to be hokum visited an innocent little boy and his imagination.
I read that Camus said that hell is other people but when I checked with Google, I found that Sartre said that, not Camus. But Sartre wrote the line in a play where three people have just discovered themselves to be in hell, where they were taught there would be fire and torture but learn that they are going to have to be among the company of the other people forever.
Pocket, the new page service in the Firefox browser, showed me this article today: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a25398316/finding-quiet-time/
There seem to be many people trying to decide if they are too alone, have too much solitude, are alone too little, need more solitude. It might be helpful to distinguish being alone with one's self and no one else, from being rather near others but without speech or other communication. There is also the situation where one is among others, but they are talking with others only, as on a crowded busy street.
Lynn has been attending Quaker meeting since the early 90's. The Quakers were interested in doing without the religious middlemen and sought a direct relation with God. You can be among hundreds of Quakers and find everyone being still and quiet. Lynn also benefits from full solitude, where one is alone by oneself in a field or forest.
Personally, I can enjoy paying attention to another or a group of others without speaking. Just looking at each other off and on can be quite satisfying. In a still group that is silently meditating and not paying attention to the presence of others, there can be both awareness of others and strong solitude. Hunters in a stand may be very quiet and still while being totally conscious of others in the group.
