A decade ago, bringing the world closer together sounded like an admirable goal.

But it turns out that it makes us miserable.

We are inherently very status-focused.

We orient ourselves based on the status of the people we interact with the most.

The more inequality in a community of people interacting, the more social distress.

Now, we can all "interact" with high-status people in parasocial relationships all the time.

Inequality in the adolescent development window is particularly toxic.