Readings from I and Thou  2

Close Relationships   I and Thou focuses on self-identity and the interface between one individual and others.

A sense of a common or shared consciousness pervades individual consciousness. Each human is born with a deeply imbedded sense of social structure. Human tendencies were not invented by modern society and are not going to change fundamentally until the construction of our brain changes.

The challenge of really understanding how humans operate and why they do the things they do has been taken up by numerous individuals and several  academic disciplines.  No idea can possibly be right if it ignores human physical and mental continuity with all other living creatures.

Humans bond to each other in several ways. The most enduring bonds are kin-related, based on closely shared genes. Mothers bond to their babies and siblings bond to each other. Friendships are weaker and often temporary bonds that are based on the need to affiliate with others for protection, social status, feeding, sex and fun. Humans become distressed when they a re isolated. Social conventions rely on bonding. Descriptions such as “love, affection, friendship, loyalty, duty, faith, obligation” all refer to bonding.

The most celebrated and contested bonding is often described as "falling in love" and occurs between individuals who are not related. The experience of falling in love is a complex of feelings, perceptions and cognitions designed to bring to two people together in a tight, exclusive bond that supports reproduction.

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I and Thou

The Psychology & Philosophy series was developed by Persona Digital Books. The books are copyright and all rights to reproduction by any means are reserved. We encourage readers to quote and paraphrase topics from I and Thou  published online and expect proper citations to accompany all derivative writings. The author is Stephen Gislason and the publisher is Persona Digital Books