Our Human Connection
Loneliness can cause disease and significant social challenges. That’s the message from Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States in his bestseller book, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection In A Sometimes Lonely World.
We humans are social creatures and in this obvious fact, Murthy concludes there lies both the problem and solution to many of our social challenges. He makes a convincing case that loneliness is more often than not, the root cause to issues such as alcohol and drug addiction, violence, depression, and anxiety. He further argues that loneliness is affecting not only our health, but also how our children experience school, how we perform in the workplace, and the extensive division and polarization we experience.
Murthy also points to the expansive sociocultural hypnosis we experience from birth, which can have both positive and negative effects on individuals and society. For example, infants have the astonishing ability to distinguish between individual faces—even those of monkeys. They can also distinguish between faces of any race. In their first month or so after birth, white babies can tell one Asian face from another or one African face from another. In the beginning, it’s as if all the faces on the planet belonged to their own trusted family.[1]
However, by the age of three months, babies start to favor faces of their family’s race and ethnicity. A process that researchers call “perceptual narrowing” begins to blur faces that are different from those within the infant’s small, trusted circle.
The beginnings of prejudice, or simply learning where “our bread is buttered”—or is it both?
Enjoy your journey—make a difference!
Namaste,
Chairman & Owner, Chateau Mcely
I Can See Clearly: Rise of A Supernatural Hero
[1] Olivier Pascalis, Michelle de Haan, and Charles A. Nelson, “Is Face Processing Species-Specific During the First Year of Life?” Science 296, 1321-23, May 2002.
