Imitate babies, Montagu says
By STEVE KNIGHT
OllhtCnwfiM
In order to be happy and well adjusted, people
need to emulate the inborn traits of babies, a
noted anthropologist and author of over 50
books told about 400 people Friday at the Valley
River Inn
Ashley Montagu, 76, addressed a conference
on the socialization of the child, and said babies
are born with a high degree of imagination,
curiosity, sensitivity and a great capacity to give
and receive love But, he added, as a child
matures, these characteristics are suppressed
by parents, resulting in the inability of a child to
mature in a mentally healthy way
"The family is an institution in America for the
systematic production of mental illness in each
of its members," he said
Montagu also criticized the educational sys
tem for stifling the natural development of chil
dren
"Teachers in this country are only concerned
about rote memory, they don’t teach children to
question," he said
Montagu explained that the innate traits of
babies were developed and refined six or seven
million years ago when homo sapiens first began
to stand erect on the spreading African savan
nas The erect position reduced the gestation
peroid in pregnant females, causing the babies
to be born in a "highly premature state" of
dependence, he said
As a result, love evolved — through tactile
contact — to ensure the survival of the infant,
Montagu maintained He termed love as "the
highest form of intelligence that all people must
have to lead a healthy and productive life
Unloved children are "biologically different"
from loved ones, he said explaining that many
unloved juveniles develop hypopituitary dwar
fism — a disorder where a child stops growing
"The only cure for the disorder is to love (the
afflicted child) "
The |uvenile traits of imagination, creativity
and inquisitiveness also evolved millions of
years ago to help humans survive in a hostile
and challenging environment, he said
Montagu said that the early humans who used
their juvenile traits the best were much more
"likely to leave a progeny
Man was designed to retain these juvenile
traits, but today s society perceives these traits
Photo by Mark Pynes
Noted anthropologist and author Ashley Mon
tagu addressed a crowd of 400 on the
socialization of the child at a Valley River Inn
conference
as "childish,” he said
Montagu said that juvenile traits play an im
portant role in the aging process of adults
"If you die young as late as possible you have
it made and will have fulfilled your evolutionary
destiny," he said
Aside from the "humanizing needs, " Montagu
also spoke on the physical need a baby has for
its mother's milk Stating that bottle-fed babies
are less healthy and have lower IQs than
breast-fed infants Montagu called for a ban on
bottle feeding
“Cows milk is fine — for little cows," he said,
"but human babies haven t got the enzymes to
digest it "
Montagu said people must change society s
values concerning love, creativity sensitivy and
other juvenile traits if adults are to lead healthy
and productive lives He said women possess
these traits by nature and stated that all men
should strive to be unmasculine and more like
women
“The feminine qualities are human qualities,"
he said
Photos display Islamic world
"Inside the Islamic World,' an exhibit of pho
tographs taken by Springfield resident Mamade
Kadreebux opens today at 2 p m in Room 167 of
the EMU
Kadreebux, who spends most of his time
travelling around the world taking pictures, will be
showing a collection of prints he shot while in Iran
and other Islamic countries
He has shown his photographs in galleries from
Springfield to France and his travel stories catch
the attention of the media wherever he goes
"I sacrifice everything for travelling," Ka
dreebux said in a recent interview, and his tales
back him up
His adventures are the stuff of novels or Hol
lywood scripts In South America, a gang of
pickpockets left him penniless, but he talked bus
drivers into giving him rides and finally talked an
airline director into a ticket to Miami
He has explored pyramids in Egypt, photo
graphed ruins in Iran and lived with Eskimos in
Alaska Vet one of his favorite places was Venice,
California, which he calls, "the rollerskating
capital of the world "
Kadreebux says he sells his photos at prices
ranging from $10 to $50 to help offset travel
expenses
If
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