20
Social attachment is just as vital to human beings. Research
psychiatrist Dr. George Engel collected 275 newspaper accounts of
sudden death. He discovered that 156 had been caused by severe
damage to social ties. One hundred and thirty five deaths had been
triggered by "a traumatic event in a close human relationship."
Another 21 had been brought on by "loss of status, humiliation, failure
or defeat." In one instance, the president of a college had been forced
to retire by the Board of Trustees at the age of 59. As he delivered his
final speech, he collapsed with a heart attack. One of his closest
friends, a doctor, rushed to the stage to save him. But the strain of
losing his companion was too much for the physician. He, too, fell to
the floor of the platform and died of heart failure.48
Our need for each other is not only built into the foundation of
our biological structure, it is also the cornerstone of our psyche.
Humans are so uncontrollably social that when we're wandering
around at home where no one can see us, we talk to ourselves. When
we smash our thumb with a hammer we curse to no one in particular.
In a universe whose heavens seem devoid of living matter, we address
ourselves skyward to gods, angels and the occasional extra-terrestrial.49
Our need for other people shapes even the minor details of our
lives. In the early 1980s, a group of architects decided to study the use
of public spaces outside modern office buildings. For over twenty
years, architects had assumed that people long for moments of quiet
contemplation, walled off from the bustle of the world. As a
consequence, they had planned their buildings with solitary courtyards
separated from the street. What the architects discovered, to their
astonishment, was that people shunned their secluded spots. Instead,
they parked themselves on low walls and steps near the packed
sidewalks. Humans, it seemed, had an inordinate desire to gawk at
others of their kind.50
Even mere distortions in the bonds of social connectedness can
affect health. According to a study by J. Stephen Heisel of the Charles
River Hospital in Boston, the activity of natural killer cells--the body's
defenders from disease--is low for people who, on the Minnesota
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20
Social attachment is just as vital to human beings. Research
psychiatrist Dr. George Engel collected 275 newspaper accounts of
sudden death. He discovered that 156 had been caused by severe
damage to social ties. One hundred and thirty five deaths had been
triggered by "a traumatic event in a close human relationship."
Another 21 had been brought on by "loss of status, humiliation, failure
or defeat." In one instance, the president of a college had been forced
to retire by the Board of Trustees at the age of 59. As he delivered his
final speech, he collapsed with a heart attack. One of his closest
friends, a doctor, rushed to the stage to save him. But the strain of
losing his companion was too much for the physician. He, too, fell to
the floor of the platform and died of heart failure.48
Our need for each other is not only built into the foundation of
our biological structure, it is also the cornerstone of our psyche.
Humans are so uncontrollably social that when we're wandering
around at home where no one can see us, we talk to ourselves. When
we smash our thumb with a hammer we curse to no one in particular.
In a universe whose heavens seem devoid of living matter, we address
ourselves skyward to gods, angels and the occasional extra-terrestrial.49
Our need for other people shapes even the minor details of our
lives. In the early 1980s, a group of architects decided to study the use
of public spaces outside modern office buildings. For over twenty
years, architects had assumed that people long for moments of quiet
contemplation, walled off from the bustle of the world. As a
consequence, they had planned their buildings with solitary courtyards
separated from the street. What the architects discovered, to their
astonishment, was that people shunned their secluded spots. Instead,
they parked themselves on low walls and steps near the packed
sidewalks. Humans, it seemed, had an inordinate desire to gawk at
others of their kind.50
Even mere distortions in the bonds of social connectedness can
affect health. According to a study by J. Stephen Heisel of the Charles
River Hospital in Boston, the activity of natural killer cells--the body's
defenders from disease--is low for people who, on the Minnesota
<< < GO > >>