Cannibalism is usually confined to the ritual eating of enemies after victories. The murder and eating of children violate the basic rules by which societies are governed, which is why these horrors continue to haunt the imagination, and why they will continue as archetypal fears so long as our species survives. Warner makes the interesting suggestion that paedophiles are our modern equivalent of bogeymen, and hints that too much preoccupation with protecting children from possible abuse may deflect politicians from taking steps to improve their lives in respect of education, nutrition, and health. Fears can sometimes be soothed away with lullabies, although lullabies often list many more dangers against which the child has to be protected than the child may have previously imagined. It is arguable that music originated from the coos and hums with which mothers address their infants.
Baby talk is closer to the sounds of music than ordinary speech.
And music reassuringly links people together because it induces similar physiological reactions in diverse individuals at the same time. We also deal with our fears by making fun of them. A book so packed with learned information needs some light relief. Warner provides it in a chapter entitled 'Going Bananas'. The banana 'became common in Europe only after its importation from the Caribbean began around 1900'.