Social Animal

David Brooks' The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement shows how human beings are indeed social animals. Educational facilities and social programs often miss the mark in addressing one or more aspects of the person without addressing all in conjunction with one another. This is most clearly seen in the educational careers of Harold and Erica. However, Harold and Erica were fortunate enough to be involved with one or more people in their formative years that would address all of the aspects of the social animal and therefore, create successful human beings.

One of the most interesting studies presented by Brooks is that of John Bowlby, a British psychologist, who wrote the 1944 work Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves. Bowlby's study showed that the majority of young boys that had been abandoned did not show emotion. They felt they were left because they weren't good...