isolation

Until in 2002, a Russian mathematician working in isolation named Grigori Perelman posted a series of three short, cryptic papers online.

In order to protect himself from hurt, young Dan had to build his character to withstand isolation and endure loneliness and a meagre emotional diet.

We came to associate safety with a high degree of self-protective isolation; we might have become big readers, or fascinated by the animal world, or obsessed with music or computer games.

Feminist philosopher Kimberlé Crenshaw spoke to this in 1989 when she described the ways that gender doesn’t just operate in isolation.

All for apparently ‘nothing’ or rather for something both entirely lamentable and psychologically compelling: Dan’s need to ensure that love cannot threaten his defensive isolation.