Where did everybody go? Central Perk. Luke’s Diner. MacLaren’s. Everyone used to have somewhere they just went. In Part I, we talked about what happens when we never let our minds wander. In Part II, we’re talking about who else used to be in those empty moments. I went into this sure that third places were disappearing. Instead, maybe they just moved: into group chats, algorithms, and that dang phone. So we’re talking about The Homework Machine, an MIT study on ChatGPT and memory, a nursing home study on plants and autonomy, a poem called “Please Use AI,” phubbing, and an Egypt vs. Brazil game where strangers became friends. Then the neuroscience: social connection and dementia risk, what our brains do in person vs. on Zoom, and my Grandma Rita. But more than anything, this episode is about how deeply we yearn for human connection. Not to be more productive, but to live this life we were given. It’s why we build chosen families. Why even plants grow better together. Why the only way to have a friend is to be one. No technology could ever replace that. Because our brains need room to wander. And they need other people to wander with. LISTEN TO PART I:The Lost Art of Doing Nothing: https://nadinescornerr.substack.com/p/the-lost-art-of-doing-nothing READ MORE: Maybe It Really Is That Dang Phone: https://nadinescornerr.substack.com/p/maybe-it-really-is-that-dang-phone The Village of Characters: https://nadinescornerr.substack.com/p/the-village-of-characters My Old Friend, Serendipity: https://nadinescornerr.substack.com/p/my-old-friend-serendipity RESOURCES: 1. Oldenburg, R. (1989). The Great Good Place. Paragon House. 2. Memarovic, N., Fels, S., Anacleto, J., Calderon, R., Gobbo, F., & Carroll, J. M. (2014). Rethinking third places: Contemporary design with technology. The Journal of Community Informatics, 10(3). 3. Gutman, D. The Homework Machine. 4. Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., Situ, J., Liao, X.-H., Beresnitzky, A. V., Braunstein, I., & Maes, P. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.08872 5. Langer, E. J., & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(2), 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.34.2.191 6. Rodin, J., & Langer, E. J. (1977). Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(12), 897–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.35.12.897 7. Smucker, S. (2026, May 4). Please Use AI. Substack. 8. David, M. E., & Roberts, J. A. (2024). TikTok brain: An investigation of short-form video use, self-control, and phubbing. Social Science Computer Review, 43(6), 1292–1305. https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393241279422 9. Livingston, G., et al. (2024). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet, 404, 572–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0 10. Zhao, N., Zhang, X., Noah, J. A., Tiede, M., & Hirsch, J. (2023). Separable processes for live “in-person” and live “zoom-like” faces. Imaging Neuroscience, 1. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00027 11. Balters, S., Miller, J. G., Li, R., Hawthorne, G., & Reiss, A. L. (2023). Virtual (Zoom) interactions alter conversational behavior and interbrain coherence. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(14), 2568–2578. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1401-22.2023 12. Wilson, R. S., Mendes de Leon, C. F., Barnes, L. L., Schneider, J. A., Bienias, J. L., Evans, D. A., & Bennett, D. A. (2002). Participation in cognitively stimulating activities and risk of incident Alzheimer disease. JAMA, 287(6), 742–748. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.287.6.742 13. Genova, L. Still Alice. 14. Royal Horticultural Society. The Three Sisters. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/features/three-sisters This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nadinescornerr.substack.com
