Solitude vs. the Crowd: Why Time Alone Matters for Independent Thinking

Is it better to be in a noisy crowd or enjoy quiet solitude? Jennifer Stitt, PhD in Intellectual History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explores the benefits of the latter. Drawing on the philosophical works of Hannah Arendt and the ideas of Edgar Allan Poe, she highlights the importance of making time for solitude—especially in today’s world, dominated by social media and the constant urge to stay “connected.” Stitt also examines the difference between solitude and loneliness, the dangers of never pausing to reflect, how solitude prepares us for public and political life, and why being a “person of the crowd” is the greatest crime.

Edgar Allan Poe and the Dangers of the Crowd

In 1840, Edgar Allan Poe described the “mad energy” of an old man wandering the streets of London from dusk till dawn. The man could only temporarily ease his torment by immersing himself in the bustling crowd. “He cannot be alone with himself,” Poe wrote. “He is the type of the greatest criminal… He is the man of the crowd.”

Like many poets and philosophers, Poe emphasized the value of solitude. He believed it was a “great misfortune” to lose the ability to be alone, to be swept up by the crowd, and to give up one’s uniqueness for dull conformity.

Emerson and the Power of Solitude

Two decades later, Ralph Waldo Emerson was also struck by the idea of solitude. Quoting Pythagoras, he wrote: “In the morning—solitude; … then nature may speak to the imagination as she never does in company.” Emerson urged teachers to instill in their students the importance of “periods and habits of solitude”—habits that make “serious and abstract thought” possible.

Hannah Arendt: Solitude as the Foundation of Freedom

In the 20th century, solitude became central to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt. A German-Jewish émigré who fled Nazism and found refuge in the United States, Arendt spent much of her life studying the relationship between the individual and society. For her, freedom was tied to both the