The increase in loneliness in the current generation is due to increased ego. Previous generations had the exact same shallow friendships and meaningless sex partnerships, but they were satisfied. People just expect too much because their ego has grown.
Actually, that applies to me. I do have a huge ego because I care about myself. Knowing what causes my suffering doesn't help...and yet, I feel it has increased my perception. Perhaps it's a double edged sword with both good and bad outcomes. I think it's only that way for me because I have a very high intelligence.
I suppose it all boils down to:
-Satisfied people lack awareness or actively enjoy suffering.
-Unsatisfied people see how empty the world is even if they often are too stupid to pinpoint it and will blame the symptoms and not the disease.
The other explanation is loneliness just seems more predominant because it's reported now.
I also want to add...no human can end their loneliness. Everyone is inherently alone and will never escape it.
No. We are in an "awareness of self" epidemic. Not that the awareness is accurate self-actualization. It's literally mostly people just aware they exist in isolation as a single consciousness.