on the topic of loneliness

Being lonely is not a feeling reserved for people

Workers at the Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Japan, saw one of their Sunfish experience loneliness

Photo by Craig Lovelidge on Unsplash

I read the lonely Sunfish story in ***MeWrites.***

I was reminded of the primate experiments conducted by scientists during the 1950s and 60s.

Research that would not be allowed today.

Here is one experiment I remembered.

A female primate who was subjected to stress eventually bore a child. She rejected the child and refused to bond with the newborn.

She was placed with other Moms. The group saw her behavior and went into action. They collectively taught her how to be a Mom.

It is easy to think that good behavior comes naturally without a need for learning.

Our son, born in 1979, gave me a chance to be a dad.

In the breakroom, I was telling my workmates all of the ways I would raise him.

Someone said, “You’re raising a child, not a science experiment.”

He was right.

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