New Yorker Travel Issue & The Science of Parenting

Last week, The New Yorker focused on Travel, I read two articles that I enjoyed. The first was Pankaj Mishra’s trip on the train linking Beijing to Lhasa. It seems one of the main purposes of the train is to mass migrate Han Chinese into Tibet and to exploit Tibet’s resources.

Another interesting article was by John Colapinto, on the language of the Amazonian tribe the Pirahã tribe in the rain forest of North Western Brazil. What I found most fascinating about this story was how this tribe focused on the present, they did not even have words to describe the past or the future. They did not work with numbers beyond 1 and 2, and did not have directions like left and right. I think it is much easier to focus on the present if culturally you do not have words to quantify ideas about the past or the future.

Here is a link to a slide show of Martin Schoeller’s images of the trip.

A book that I have found very reassuring about parenting, and highly recommend to new parents is titled, The Science Of Parenting by Margot Sunderland, with a foreword by Jaak Panksepp. The book is based on research, focused on the human brain. The brain evolved from the reptilain brain, which then became the mammalian, followed by the top most layer the rational brain. The lower brain has deeply ingrained emotional systems, which are rage, fear, separation, distress, seeking, care, play and lust.

The author provides a very nuturing perspective on bringing up children and emphasises hugs, cuddles and lots of love, along with cosleeping.