Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You

What Is This Monkey Business Called Father's Day!?

Father's Day is June 20th this year. In recognition of this, the New York Times published an interesting article that details recent insights into how and why male primates might favor publicly displaying their fatherhood this week. In a nutshell, the piece suggests that Men Behaving Dadly (to borrow a phrase) may provide important social cues that contribute greatly to the character and strength of the social fabric of some primate species. Examining these social connections is a complex science but there is no doubt that they exist for apes and humans alike and that fatherhood is a bond more robust (and subtle) than we usually admit. While the questions "How?" and "Why?" we father the way do may be inextricably connected from a social science perspective, a more nuts-and-bolts look at fatherhood is a great way to reflect on the value that competent parenting brings in our lives.

So, where does a father start when it comes to proper preening and cobbling together an impressive parental infrastructure? Today's dad might consider Be Prepared: a Handbook for New Dads by Gary Greenberg. Presented in the style of an old scout manual, Be Prepared provides copious examples of workarounds that benefit the child AND demonstrate a father's superior ingenuity such as how to construct a teether from a clean sock and frozen apples. This hysterical read is really an invaluable operating manual written with a structure that parallels the aging of your infant. This is handy since dad might not have enough free time to read more than a few pages at a time in those first few months. Armed with this book, a towel and duct tape, a dad should feel confident heading out in to the world in his new role as a father. [A favorite insight from Be Prepared- Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" provides a 66 BPM tempo that works magic for rocking your baby!]

The aforementioned New York Times article stresses that fatherhood activities can be a display with high social value. Carrying a child can be a sort of "battle symbol", a display that the male is capable of enduring stress. This type of observation speaks to the varied and deep connections that define primates as social animals. Connected: the Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives demonstrates how these social networks can be modeled and what those models reveal about how emotions, ideas, obesity and viruses (just to mention a few examples) move across these networks. Written by Harvard professor and health care specialist Nicholas Christakis, Connected's essential message is that our interconnection may make us susceptible to influence from others in ways that are beyond our perception but recognizing this effect should embolden us to return that influence in the most altruistic fashion we are capable of.

It's a rare book that merits being included in more than one Furthmore... post. James and Other Apes (as presented by author James Mollison) is one such book. At the risk of taking a discussion about primates, parenting and connectivity in an utterly anthropomorphic direction it must be stated that the larger-than-life portraits included in James are, in some way, transcendent. Even if looking into the dozens of apes faces between these covers tells us nothing more than that we are capable of a powerful inter-species sympathy, we must acknowledge that there is an empathic impulse within us that drives much of our more positive behavior. Even an infant, held in their father's lap, will be struck by the power and familiarity of these portraits, a sense of connection that crosses innumerable divides.