4 by Daniel Akst and states that, unlike Artistotle, Americans do not take friendships seriously at all. We may have many casual acquaintances, but very few true friends with whom we can share deep bonds. Instead of getting the benefits of a relationship with boundaries, we focus on relationships that can take us over. Taking care of our emotional health is something we choose to do independently, even though we are so dependent in many other areas of our survival. We live alone more often, we join social organizations in the lowest numbers in a century, up to a quarter of us have no one to confide in, and the average person has four intimate relationships, half of which are spouses and children. In fact, when we feel like talking, we pay when we hire therapists or adopt pets. He says, referring to University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, that Americans are lonelier because of the rushed way we tend to our social relationships, which reduces meaningful connections. He goes on to say that we are “stuck in what social critic Barbara Ehrenreich has called 'the cult of conspicuous busyness'” (par. 10) and that we strive to gain respect from this lifestyle which then leaves us no time for to building intimacy