Deep Connectedness

The impulse to be social is so deep-seated in human consciousness that it’s even evident in the womb, suggests a new study on the interaction of twins just a few months after conception.

Twin pregnancies offer “the unique opportunity to explore social behavior before birth,” wrote researchers led by psychologist Umberto Castiello of Italy’s University of Padova. “Newborns come into the world wired to socially interact. Is a propensity to socially oriented action already present before birth?”

The researchers used ultrasound recorders to make three-dimensional videos of five pairs of twins, once at 14 weeks and again at 18 weeks. By the 14th week, they were already reaching for each other. This was even more pronounced by the 18th week, when fetuses touched each other more often than themselves (see picture below).

Though some contact is inevitable between two growing bodies sharing a confined space, kinematic analysis showed that fetuses used distinct gestures when touching each other, rather than touching themselves or uterine walls. Their hands lingered.

Even without this study I think we know we’ve been created for deep connectedness.

Sin did not change that. It complicated it but it didn’t change it.

You still have that desire. In fact, we don’t do well at all with isolation. People who are socially disconnected are between two and five times more likely to die from any cause than those who have close ties to family, friends, and other relationships.