ABSTRACT
A highly significant event for the development of vertebrate sociability was the evolution of maternal care by which friendliness came into existence. The invention of parental care is the starting point for the development of higher differentiated social systems. In two decisive steps, it brought into the world: the behaviors which allow friendly interaction; and the individualized bond or what we call love. The behavioral patterns associated with infant care permitted the bonding of individuals not closely related by blood, so as to form closed cooperative groups that act as units. If interpersonal relations cannot be improved in large cities, we may expect that mistrust and fear will become the determining factors in social relations. This could have harmful consequences for liberal democracy, especially if they are exacerbated by further fears such as anxieties about economic security. Autistic children avoid contact due to pronounced social fear, withdrawing into a capsule shut off from their social environment.
