Could the culprit be found in the period in the womb, with all of the input we receive during that time? For the Papuans, a feeling of togetherness is very important; living together. The piglets, the game of the hunt, the harvest, all of it is for everyone and is shared fairly. Could it be that the fetus in the womb can feel the connectedness of being together with all the women in the womens’ house? Going together to the field, doing everything together. Could all of this sink in and have an impact on you in the period, around the time of your third or fourth birthday, before you become conscious of life?

Incidentally, the individuality of the people in New Guinea was very clear, yet beneath that you could feel their connectedness to the others in the tribe. As far as I could tell, that connectedness is very important for the development of each individual into his or her unique self. The advantage for these people is that they are very good at making contact with others on a feeling level in the outside world and can move around easily in society.

A study revealed that Ugandan newborns are further developed than American newborns (see J.C. Pearce Magical Child). When they are born healthy, Ugandan babies laugh already after two or three days, while babies in the United States typically laugh only after four to six weeks. Pregnancy in the United States is usually planned and therefore an American baby already has a social function. I consider the laughter of the American baby to be a form of learned behaviour. The emotional bond with a newborn is less here than in cultures of unplanned babies and so I see this delayed laughter as an insufficient emotional bond between mother and baby. A baby laughs when it feels safe in its inner world, Westerners laugh in order to feel safe in the outside world (since they don’t feel safe in their inner world).