In order to reverse the negative trends in well-being, science needs to develop an understanding of the psychobiological needs of humans as a result of their evolutionary nature (Narvaez et al, 2013). The diminishment of child-rearing capacity in modern times has been identified as a key factor responsible for the moral decline that is leading to predictions of humanity’s self-demise (Bradshaw, in Narvaez et al, 2013). Current western cultures are abnormal in terms of world history and culture and yet conclusions about human nature are regularly drawn from studying its members. There has been a suggestion that an ancestral human mammalian milieu (AHMM) replace western culture as a baseline for developmental optimisation. When cause and cure come from the same system, more than minor tweaking of one model or another is needed. How can western scientists steer humans towards more prosocial behaviour? The answer is to promote those cultures that embody empathy, compassion, generosity etc. including other animal cultures like elephants, parrots, tortoises and nearly all tribal culture that existed before colonisation. None of these cultures are perfect and many of their practices will not be appropriate today but on the whole, they offer alternatives that are consistent with science that can remedy our social ills.
Sarah Hrdy writes, in reference to hunter-gatherer groups: “the mother…continuously carried the infant skin-to-skin contact – stomach to stomach, chest to breast. Soothed by her heartbeat, nestled in the heat of her body, rocked by her movements, the infant’s entire world was its mother” (1999, p.99). John Prescott (in Narvaez et al, 2013) argues that bottle-feeding has deprived the infant of essential sensory-motor nutrients like touch, movement, smell and the taste of the mother. These form the basis for pleasure, intimacy and love of women throughout adulthood. What John Bowlby describes as ‘The environment of evolutionary adaptedness’ included many allomothers (other-mothers) who have all but disappeared from modern child-rearing. It has been argued by Bowlby and others that failure of early bonding puts nations at risk of violence and depression. Cross-cultural studies show that failure of affectional bonding between mother and child in addition to adolescent sexual behaviour predicts violence, depression, and addiction. Birth complications and maternal rejection at age one are linked to violent crime at 18. Breast-feeding bonding prevents infant mortality and suicide. Prescott’s research shows that in 75% of tribal cultures where weaning age is 2.5 years or more have low or absent suicide rates. 82% of cultures where weaning age is 2.5 or greater and support youth sex have absent or low suicide rates. Pain and pleasure are encoded in our brains determining who we become and if we follow a path of violence or peace. Montagu claimed: “What mothers are to their children, so man will be to man”. We now live in an environment, concludes Prescott, of ‘sensory-emotional deprivation.
References
Hrdy, S. B. (2011). Mothers and others. Harvard University Press.
Narváez, D. (2012). Evolution, early experience and human development: From research to practice and policy. Oxford University Press.