Ali Mattu, Ph.D.

In 2015 I started a YouTube channel to share everything I know about psychology & mental health. In 2021 over 140,000 people subscribe to The Psych Show. Almost 4 million people have watched my videos. Today, @YouTube is telling my story: youtu.be/HZCvKDjQ4-g

The WALL-E humans didn't stop moving all at once. They just kept choosing comfort. Amazon now. DoorDash dinner. Netflix slop. OnlyFans chat. Every day. For years. Until the easier option was the only one they could manage.

We went from Friends, six people, one couch, every day, to six people, one group chat, tapbacking memes.

The lies aren't going to stop. But you don't have to listen.

Lie 5: "You're broken." Shame makes you believe you are wrong. It's the most nefarious lie. It makes you hide. Guarantees isolation. But if a friend came to you feeling this way, you'd remind them they are doing their best. You deserve the same.

"You don't belong here." And other lies our brains tell us. I've been a psychologist for 12 years. I've also had social anxiety as long as I can remember. Things have changed. The anxious voice that used to whisper is getting louder, for everyone I know. I know why. 🧵

I'm a psychologist who studies loneliness. I know the research on social fitness. I know how to build and maintain real connection. And I'm still clueless as to what my social gym should look like. What does yours look like?

Industrialization engineered movement out of daily life. Digitization, remote work, and frictionless delivery are doing the same thing to human connection. We built a $120 billion gym industry to fix the first problem. We don't have an equivalent for the second one yet.

Physical activity was free for 2 million years. Then we had to pay $30/month to get it back. Social connection is next.

Pretty sure if Hollywood remade Back to the Future and sent a 17 year old in 2026 back to 1996, they'd probably decide to stay there.

I've wanted to take a cooking class for years. The only things I can cook are eggs and popcorn. Writing this finally convinced me to book one. The worst that happens is I burn something and meet someone. What about you?

So here's what I'd steal from Gen Z: find one thing in your community you might want to try. A birdwatching group. A run club. A knitting class. Something you'd be bad at with people you don't know yet.

People love to hate on Gen Z. But they've figured out something the rest of us haven't. I'm calling it inconvenience culture. Here's what they figured out and what you should steal 🧵