Nowhere is this natural dependence more evident than in our children, whose fragile bodily rhythms need the stabilization that parents provide. Research shows, for instance, that mothers regulate the nocturnal brain and body rhythms of infants when the two sleep in close proximity. Although it sounds outlandish to American ears, exposure to a parent can keep a sleeping baby alive. The U.S. has the highest rate of sudden infant death in the world. Our habit of forcing early separation between parents and children may be an important reason why this is so.
Children rely heavily on parents, to be sure.
And when they are done depending, they move on - to their own beds, houses, and lives. When we allow them to depend, we allow them to draw upon our strength, and to become healthy and strong in their own right. The research you cited in your book makes a very strong case that learning takes place more readily when there is an emotional connection to the subject being studied and an emotional connection to the teacher. The division between knowledge and wisdom is ancient and very real. Neuroscientists now know that there are two separate learning systems in the brain-one that supports the explicit learning of facts, and one that supports the acquisition of intuitions from experience.