Alone is not lonely

The exercise in the last lesson is uncomfortable for a reason worth naming.

Two different words

Being alone is a situation. Nobody else is in the room.

Being lonely is a feeling about that situation. The two get used as if they were the same thing, and they are not connected as tightly as people assume.

Alone describes the room. Lonely describes how you feel about it.

Which one the exercise tests

Thirty minutes by yourself puts you in the first state on purpose.