Why it never ends

Chapter 1069 Domestication

Pacat looked at Hesta with some surprise, but soon, she pointed to another chair in front of her: "No, come, sit down."

"I came from the other side." Hesta pointed to the other side of the room. "Are you waiting for me?"

"Where have you been these days?"

"The Youth Front, do you remember?" Hesta said softly, "I went to their settlement once—"

Pacat's eyes suddenly became sharp: "Is this organization trying to build a socialized care system?"

"They say it's to take in abandoned babies and orphans from the area," Hesta replied, "but there may be other considerations—"

"Mass-breeding tools to be driven, eh?"

"Maybe." Hesta looked at the lamp on Pakat's desk and was silent for a while. "You withdrew an email before..."

"I do want to tell you about that reply," Pakat narrowed his eyes, "but before that, tell me, are the leaders of the social care program there only men?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't meet many members of the organization this time," Hesta answered truthfully, "but the person who introduced this project to me was indeed a man... Why do you guess so?"

"Look at this first."

Pacat pushed some white papers on the table toward Hesta.

Hesta took a quick glance and immediately recognized that this was the text of the email that was withdrawn by Pacat that day - although she did not have time to read the content, the shape and position of the chart made her feel familiar.

"Is it the orphan mortality rate at the end of the Silver Age?" Hesta read quickly, jumping around.

“It’s written very clearly here. In the mid-to-late 18th century, the orphanage in the most prosperous area of ​​the Fourth District received approximately babies every ten years. Among them, less than one-third of the children lived past their first birthday.

“In the early 19th century, the welfare house in the first district, which provided relief to the elderly, children, women and children, provided shelter for about children in years, but more than half of the children died of infection within a year, and most of the remaining children who survived lived and ate with their mothers and were cared for by their mothers.

"In the 20th century, a pediatrician from District visited a total of ten orphanages in the district. Nine of them - you won't want to believe this number, but it's a snapshot of that era - all the children admitted to these nine orphanages died before the age of two, with a mortality rate close to %." ​​"You also said that there were no antibiotics or vaccines at that time," Hesta's eyes fell on the document, "In District , even for children outside of orphanages, a quarter would die before the age of five."

“Yes, so when scientists first observed pathogens under a microscope, their first reaction was to isolate them—not only to separate sick children from healthy children, but also to keep all doctors, nurses, and even children’s parents away from them, because adults carry countless potential germs. So for the sake of their children’s health, parents should take measures to allow them to grow up freely and independently.

"The welfare home also responded to the call and adjusted the care strategy according to the plan formulated by scientists and authoritative doctors. The first is ventilation. Windows must be opened during the day. The second is isolation. All babies are placed in separate cribs. Each bed is equipped with a separate, clean bottle. The sheets and quilts used by each child have been strictly disinfected. In order to ensure safety, caregivers should touch the children as little as possible and keep as much distance as possible. Familiar?"

Hesta looked up: "What was the result?"

"You've heard the results," said Packard. "These children are quiet and thin, they don't talk, they don't laugh, they get sick easily, and even though serious diseases like cholera and scarlet fever have gradually disappeared, the children are still slowly withering away.

"Later, some psychoanalysts in the Third District began to pay attention to this phenomenon. In the middle of the 88th century, someone compared children in an orphanage and a kindergarten attached to a women's prison, observing the children's development over a period of four months. At the beginning of the experiment, there were 3 children under the age of three in the orphanage. Four months later, 23 of them had died... On the other hand, the children of the female prisoners were all alive and well.

"It was very strange at the time because the kindergarten attached to the prison was not as clean as the orphanage. All the children there shared a set of toys and played together all day long without strict isolation and disinfection. The female prisoners were allowed to come and accompany the children during the daily exercise, and they would seize this little time to hug their babies as much as possible.

The same phenomenon also occurred in children's hospitals of the same era. Although doctors followed a strict isolation system and prohibited parents from visiting children once they were admitted to the hospital, the children did not get better. Until a pediatrician from the first district suggested that if a child continued to be sick and did not get better, he could try to let the mother come to the hospital to accompany the child. Soon, the incidence rate of young children in the place where the doctor worked dropped from 35% to below 10%.

"At the same time, other hospitals allowed guardians to visit for an average of one hour per week - this pattern continued until the second half of the 20th century, when it gradually declined... You can't estimate how many children who could have recovered died at the hands of those who insisted on separating children from their caregivers."

Hesta frowned and listened to Pacat's story quietly.

"…So, in the final analysis, children still need the care of their relatives?"

"Not relatives," Pakat corrected. "Even people who are not related by blood can give the same care to children. There is only one principle of care: Is there at least one caregiver around this child who is interested in her and willing to give her constant hugs and care?"

Hesta leaned back in her chair. At this moment, she suddenly understood many problems, such as why the inexplicable disease only occurred in the nursery and orphanage in Boheng's community, while those children who had always been with their mothers grew up well with the help of modern medical care...

"You asked me why I speculated on the gender of the person in charge of this socialization program," Pacat said softly, "It's simple, because most mothers will have a strong desire to be with and hug their children during the period after giving birth. This desire is pure and almost instinctive, and it is an experience that hardly needs to be taught.

"It's only when one sex starts taking on the responsibility of nurturing that the disaster begins, because they try to mass-produce the children like farm animals... or domesticate them."