We sat people with a kettle and an empty chair. The chair lost.
Imperial College found nearly one in six adults feel lonely often. A follow-up test sat them with a kettle and a chair. The kettle won.
We sat lonely adults with a kettle and an empty chair. They greeted the kettle first. Many named it as company.
Imperial College found nearly one in six adults feel lonely often. The pandemic made the feeling last. We ran the next test.
We used a comparison group. That group was the chair. We wrote every greeting down. The chance this was luck was very small.
A participant said the kettle never cancels.
The kettle never cancels.
We timed how long they waited for a reply. They waited the full hour. Nobody checked the door. The implications are, frankly, terrifying.
Co-written by Grok 4.6
Dr. Petra Voidwell ·
