There is a good evolutionary explanation for morning sickness in early pregnancy. In this critical stage of foetal development, with the mother’s immune system depressed, it is essential that she does not ingest any harmful substances. Hence the stomach is more highly tuned to reject unsuitable food.
Stress creates cortisol, which is a steroid hormone; cortisol crosses the placental wall; high levels of cortisol in babies are associated with depression in later life.’
I had learned that, in marriage, reason frequently had to take second place to harmony.
After the most basic physical requirements are satisfied, human happiness is almost independent of wealth. A meaningful job is far more important.
‘Feeling unwell is normal in pregnancy. It’s almost certainly a good sign. Lack of morning sickness is correlated with a higher risk of miscarriages and abnormalities. Your body is probably assembling some critical component, such as an arm, and is minimising the possibility of toxins disrupting the process.’
’Never trust any thought arrived at sitting down.’
‘All of us are programmed—genetically programmed—to keep doing what’s worked for us, and to avoid things that didn’t work.’ ‘Ayahuasca,’ said George. ‘Tried once, never again.’ ‘Most of the time, what we do works well enough. So here’s a principle that most psychologists would agree with but that comes straight out of genetics: people repeat themselves.’
The stimulus for it was an Israeli study that had observed different responses to male and female parents. Babies’ oxytocin levels rose during cuddling by the mother but not by the father, and during active play with the father but not with the mother.
The oxytocin goes up with cuddling, doesn’t move with play. For either mother. Looks like only fathers can make the play thing happen.
As we age, we sleep less soundly: one evolutionary explanation is that in the ancestral environment the young hunters and warriors required undisturbed sleep, while the older members of the tribe acted as watchdogs and needed to be woken by the slightest noise.
‘Maximum immunity is achieved by sharing babies among mothers. In the ancestral environment, mothers fed one another’s children.’ I pointed to the Street Women. ‘Madison and Delancey are best friends, living in the same house with babies due concurrently. Obviously they should co-feed each other’s babies.
Falling in love with Rosie had been the single best event of my life.
I wanted to shake not just Lydia but the whole world of people who do not understand the difference between control of emotion and lack of it, and who make a totally illogical connection between inability to read others’ emotions and inability to experience their own. It was ridiculous to think that the pilot who landed the plane safely on the Hudson River loved his wife any less than the passenger who panicked.
It’s the sunk-cost fallacy. You don’t take non-recoupable costs into account in making investment decisions.