Don't deny your humanity

To the Editor,

Why you are already a socialist.

You can't help, it. You are a system of connected and interacting living things that produce what we think of as individuals.

That is a cultural artifact, not a truth. We exist because of a vast collaboration, viruses, bacteria and human cells that co-exist and cooperate to sustain each of us. Half the cells in our bodies are not human, but bacterial. And without the collaboration of those many different kinds of bacteria, we would cease to live. It is not a competition, but a joint venture. That system extends beyond ourselves, where evolution or a creator, imbued us with a special nervous systems, found only in mammals, most developed in social animals (humans, whales, elephants..). All have a specialize part of the brain and even more special cells there, that cause us to feel what others feel. In small social groups, that system acts to restrain our most critical urges. But in the faceless world of virtual communication, that system is not as active, bypassing our empathy circuit, for which we are all hardwired.

Lastly, look to nature, for how in the great forests, the tall trees are connected by a vast underground network of collaborative organisms, send food and support to the young and the weak, even among differing species of trees. The tall and strong trees sustain those less capable. Nature is by design, socialist. Don't deny your humanity for ideology.

Sean Hagberg, PhD

Cranston, RI