It seems to me that having the ability to choose where to work and move around provides many advantages over working in an office. 1. The stress and cortisol levels of remote workers are surely lower on average in comparison. For example, interacting with coworkers, team leaders, bosses, etc., is on average a bit more stressful to begin with due to the nature of any job. Regular competency testing, competition, needing to act a certain way, etc. Regardless of how good the people are and the professional environment is, these interactions are usually stress-inducing, even if it's just slightly. And working in an office always presents more of these interactions than working remotely. 2. The ability to change and move to a more suitable, or inspiring, or preferred place to work is more conducive to higher productivity, creativity, and less frustration. 3. The freer lifestyle remote working offers is healthier than office confinement. Both physically and mentally. 4. The more interactions with coworkers there are in a professional environment with everything that entails, the more chances there are for negative outcomes. Remote working then actually helps work relations. At the very least, it greatly decreases negative interactions. 5. The reality of there being more distractions from remote working isn't a problem because it can be solved by changing to a place with fewer distractions. Also, this problem is exacerbated and misplaced because of the data from the Covid times. People were less productive and reported several difficulties working from and disliking it. This was a unique situation that cannot be compared with remote working. People went from office to house confinement in a worldwide quarantine. It's completely different from remote working. Also, working in an office for years and then starting remote working, it's not legitimate to then say it's distracting or that it doesn't work without months or even a year of adaptation.

I don't think the arguments that office work offers more beneficial encounters, like networking, face-to-face human interaction, brainstorming, etc., are valid. Remote working doesn't mean working from home or in some remote place alone or being a hermit. It means being able to work from anywhere that's possible. It not only offers the exact same benefits you mentioned but even more on an even higher scale and variety. Cafés, libraries, bars, restaurants, parks, and different offices, etc. Another point is that most professional interactions aren't beneficial on average. Simply because of the nature of any job. Required to behave and act in a certain way, competency regularly being tested, competition, and having to work with mostly people you didn't choose or like, etc. These are all stress-inducing interactions, even if it's very slightly. Regardless of how good a job is, how great the coworkers are, and how great the office environment is, these interactions happen constantly and more often. It's a matter of volume; on average, most office interactions are stress- and cortisol-inducing. This is something remote workers greatly avoid. Not only that, but most of their human interactions aren't as stress-inducing because they're not talking with coworkers. When they do, it's mostly via webcam or messages, which are less stressful. Therefore, remote workers can have more and better human interactions, more variety, and fewer negative interactions. They may be less likely to make long-lasting friendships compared with office workers; however, these are very rare, and what happens way more often is conflict, confrontations, heated discussions, insults, gossip, lies, manipulation, backstabbing, etc. Most people spend years working without making a strong friendship. A few people rarely bonding doesn't outweigh all the negatives.

Going to work every day, with many stuck in traffic, is absolutely not enjoyable for most people most times. Not only that, but the time going to and from work, I'd say, is around an hour on average for most people. That's 1 repetitive, boring, or miserable hour spent usually 5 days a week. Adding to this the usual 9 hours in the office, that's 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for usually years. Seeing the same view and the same walls for so long over and over. Just because it's tolerable and sometimes enjoyable doesn't mean it's not mostly a slightly negative experience. When I say "coworker interactions are mostly negative", it's a legitimate generality for most office workers in the world, and "negative" doesn't mean horrible; it's just not good. Again, for most people in the world, the nature of their office job is getting paid to do a task, usually not fun and many times hard or boring, working with people they don't know, many times don't like, and having to behave and act a certain contrived way. Solving problems, avoiding others, doing boring work, dealing with coworkers that they don't like or are incompetent or have to impress, or having to prove your competency, having to navigate gossip, competition, etc. I'm not saying it's all terrible and that there aren't great positives. What I'm trying to show is that everything that a job entails is, on average, at least slightly stressful. Those who love their job are the exception and very lucky; everyone knows this. You said, "The office gives you people who actually notice". Sometimes, but not necessarily. Being stuck in an office with the same people for so many hours naturally creates companionship, but it's not organic; it's circumstance and by necessity. People are there to make money first and foremost. Coworkers were usually strangers before they met in the office for the first time and now have to work together to keep making money. Just because coworkers are friendly and compassionate with each other doesn't mean it's true friendship and understanding. It's normal human decency and working towards improving their workspace they spend 8+ hours in every day. To suggest that coworkers care more when the main reason they're there is for money is difficult to accept. However, this is not to say there aren't great people and great friendships made in offices, again, i'm speaking in general, on average worldwide. You also said "Isolation doesn't lower stress". Is a wrong assumption you've made a second time. Again, remote workers aren't mostly working isolated, the oposite is true, they keep working in different places. There're entire bussiness dedicated to receive remote and nomad workers all over the world.