Are we hard-wired to care for others
March 26, 2012
By Maiken Scott
MOTHER KNOWS BEST
Don't talk about your troubles.
No one loves a sad face.
Oh, Mom, the truth is
Cheer isolates.
Humor defends.
Competence intimidates,
Control separates,
And sadness,
Sadness opens us each to the other.
Anonymous
New brain research suggests that humans have a hard-wired instinct to care for infants. In their weekly conversation, WHYY's Behavioral Health reporter Maiken Scott and psychologist Dan Gottlieb discuss this research and what is suggests about caregiving behaviors in general.
During the conversation, Dan Gottlieb mentions a poem he read in a book written by a hospice physician. The poem's author has remained anonymous, but it was written by a woman in hospice care who had terminal cancer.
Listen to the entire conversation above.
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