I agree – human beings are social animals.  We need each other – existing alone is not the order of life. 

When we are born, we don’t just get up and start walking and following our involuntary instinct to find food – like a calf or a foal or a spider!  We arrive on the planet completely dependent and our only involuntary instincts are to eliminate body wastes and breathe and suckle – I won’t go into more details!

We need others to take care of us and our every need – hopefully, caring people are there to provide nourishment, love, warmth and comfort – for a great part of our early lives – so that we can evolve toward being a contributing member of our communities.  To think that we don’t require others to grow and develop is – well, just plain ignorant.

That being said – it is true that many people don’t have everything that is needed to grow into this desired outcome – and some will make it and most will not…okay, yeah – Tarzan is an extreme example.  But, I would still argue that some interdependence was important to his superb agility to swing through the jungle.

But, I digress…we need each other – together, we can do what we can’t do on our own…and ‘that’s the truth.’  And, I’m sure that Lily Tomlin’s character – Ernestine ‘ would agree!

Jana Larsen

June 13, 2020