Fatherhood and Humanity

This LiveScience headline has some extremely politically incorrect implications given the twin evils of fatherlessness and animalism endemic to modern society — Dads Are Key to Making Us Human.

Author Robin Nixon begins by noting that "95 percent of male mammals have little to no interaction with their children," a fact "leading some scientists to think fatherhood is an important part of what makes us human." The author states that "the relative helplessness of human children has made multiple caregivers a vital necessity" and that "in both traditional and industrialized communities, a father's presence correlates with improved health and decreased child mortality."

But not only do fathers "play key roles in securing the physical health of their children, they also can be important for the optimum development of psychological and emotional traits considered to be primarily human, such as empathy, emotional control and the ability to navigate complex social relationships." The author reminds us that "dads across human cultures mostly focus on preparing children to compete within society" by "giv[ing] advice, encourag[ing] academic success and stress[ing] achievement." "Unlike mothers," the author suggests, "fathers tend to roughhouse with their children," a "pattern [that] teaches kids to control their emotions - a trait that garners them popularity among superiors and peers."

Even more importantly, with a father, "kids have no need to rush towards adulthood.... When children have warm relationships with their father, as well as calm home lives, they tend to sexually mature later. Their bodies intuit they are safe and time is taken perfecting social skills before entering the real world." Thus, kids with fathers "are more likely to form secure relationships, achieve stable social standing and become able parents," and so "a father who takes care of his children also gives his grandchildren a leg up."

Of course, none of this is new to Catholics, Confucians, and other traditional and thinking people, but that such truths are finally being noticed by the scientific community is a Father's Day present indeed.