--- title: "3 Dark room Quotes By Sebastian Junger" description: "3 Dark room quotes by Sebastian Junger. Plus more from Sebastian Junger and more Dark room sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/356/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1171506.png" --- > [“The point of making children sleep alone, according to Western psychologists, is to make them “self-soothing,” but that clearly runs contrary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone-according-to-western/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/356/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1171506.png) > [“The point of making children sleep alone, according to Western psychologists, is to make them “self-soothing,” but that clearly runs contrary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone-according-to-western-2/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1722993.png) > [“The alienating effects of wealth and modernity on the human experience start virtually at birth and never let up. Infants in hunter-gatherer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-modernity-on-the-human/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/sebastian-junger-4689_child-abuse_the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-mod_2288173.jpg) ## More by Sebastian Junger > [No matter how many people you kill, using a machine gun in battle is not a war crime because it does not cause unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/no-matter-how-many-people-you-kill-using-a-machine-gun-in-battle-is/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [Right now, America doesn't ask us to do anything besides pay taxes. We don't even have to vote. But as psychologists will tell you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/right-now-america-doesn-t-ask-us-to-do-anything-besides-pay-taxes-we/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [“There are houses in Gloucester where grooves have been worn into the floorboards by women pacing past an upstairs window, looking out to sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/there-are-houses-in-gloucester-where-grooves-have-been-worn-into-the/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [“Billy's at 44 north, 56 west and heading straight into meteorological hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/billy-s-at-44-north-56-west-and-heading-straight-into-meteorological/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [There is some evidence that average wave heights are slowly rising, and that freak waves of eighty or ninety feet are becoming more common.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/there-is-some-evidence-that-average-wave-heights-are-slowly-rising/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [If you get an infection, you get a fever; the fever is your body dealing with the infection. If you get traumatized, your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/if-you-get-an-infection-you-get-a-fever-the-fever-is-your-body/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [People who do really dangerous tasks can't afford to sit around and discuss the merits of what they're doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/people-who-do-really-dangerous-tasks-can-t-afford-to-sit-around-and/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [I would never want to pass a law limiting freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean we have to condone statements that undermine basic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/i-would-never-want-to-pass-a-law-limiting-freedom-of-speech-but-that/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [I think objectivity is like this strange myth that people think you're supposed to achieve, but actually, the dirty little secret is that it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/i-think-objectivity-is-like-this-strange-myth-that-people-think-you/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [Each Javelin round costs $80,000, and the idea that it's fired by a guy who doesn't make that in a year at a guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/each-javelin-round-costs-80-000-and-the-idea-that-it-s-fired-by-a-guy/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [“I look at the names on the mailboxes and the bells inside number 1940 and pick out a couple of women’s names and press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/i-look-at-the-names-on-the-mailboxes-and-the-bells-inside-number-1940/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [It's fun to have money, but the more money I get, the less interesting it becomes. If you don't have very much, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/it-s-fun-to-have-money-but-the-more-money-i-get-the-less-interesting/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [“The United States is so powerful that the only country capable of destroying her might be the United States herself, which means that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-united-states-is-so-powerful-that-the-only-country-capable-of/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [The most profound question is, "What would I risk dying for?" The natural answer is "for my family." But for most of history, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-most-profound-question-is-what-would-i-risk-dying-for-the-natural/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [When you're scared, you're still hanging on to life. When you're ready to die, you let it go. A sort of emptying out occurs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/when-you-re-scared-you-re-still-hanging-on-to-life-when-you-re-ready/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/sebastian-junger/#itemlist", "name": "3 Dark room Quotes By Sebastian Junger", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The point of making children sleep alone, according to Western psychologists, is to make them “self-soothing,” but that clearly runs contrary to our evolution. Humans are primates—we share 98 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees—and primates almost never leave infants unattended, because they would be extremely vulnerable to predators. 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Humans are primates—we share 98 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees—and primates almost never leave infants unattended, because they would be extremely vulnerable to predators. Infants seem to know this instinctively, so being left alone in a dark room is terrifying to them. Compare the self-soothing approach to that of a traditional Mayan community in Guatemala: “Infants and children simply fall asleep when sleepy, do not wear specific sleep clothes or use traditional transitional objects, room share and cosleep with parents or siblings, and nurse on demand during the night.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sebastian Junger" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone-according-to-western-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1722993.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1722993.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fff/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1722993.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The point of making children sleep alone, according to Western psychologists, is to make them…” — Sebastian Junger", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The alienating effects of wealth and modernity on the human experience start virtually at birth and never let up. Infants in hunter-gatherer societies are carried by their mothers as much as 90 percent of the time, which roughly corresponds to carrying rates among other primates. One can get an idea of how important this kind of touch is to primates from an infamous experiment conducted in the 1950s by a primatologist and psychologist named Harry Harlow. Baby rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers and presented with the choice of two kinds of surrogates: a cuddly mother made out of terry cloth or an uninviting mother made out of wire mesh. The wire mesh mother, however, had a nipple that dispensed warm milk. The babies took their nourishment as quickly as possible and then rushed back to cling to the terry cloth mother, which had enough softness to provide the illusion of affection. Clearly, touch and closeness are vital to the health of baby primates—including humans. In America during the 1970s, mothers maintained skin-to-skin contact with babies as little as 16 percent of the time, which is a level that traditional societies would probably consider a form of child abuse. Also unthinkable would be the modern practice of making young children sleep by themselves. In two American studies of middle-class families during the 1980s, 85 percent of young children slept alone in their own room—a figure that rose to 95 percent among families considered “well educated.” Northern European societies, including America, are the only ones in history to make very young children sleep alone in such numbers. The isolation is thought to make many children bond intensely with stuffed animals for reassurance. Only in Northern European societies do children go through the well-known developmental stage of bonding with stuffed animals; elsewhere, children get their sense of safety from the adults sleeping near them. The point of making children sleep alone, according to Western psychologists, is to make them “self-soothing,” but that clearly runs contrary to our evolution. Humans are primates—we share 98 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees—and primates almost never leave infants unattended, because they would be extremely vulnerable to predators. Infants seem to know this instinctively, so being left alone in a dark room is terrifying to them. Compare the self-soothing approach to that of a traditional Mayan community in Guatemala: “Infants and children simply fall asleep when sleepy, do not wear specific sleep clothes or use traditional transitional objects, room share and cosleep with parents or siblings, and nurse on demand during the night.” Another study notes about Bali: “Babies are encouraged to acquire quickly the capacity to sleep under any circumstances, including situations of high stimulation, musical performances, and other noisy observances which reflect their more complete integration into adult social activities.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sebastian Junger" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-modernity-on-the-human/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/sebastian-junger-4689_child-abuse_the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-mod_2288173.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/sebastian-junger-4689_child-abuse_the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-mod_2288173.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/sebastian-junger-4689_child-abuse_the-alienating-effects-of-wealth-and-mod_2288173.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The alienating effects of wealth and modernity on the human experience start virtually at birth and never…” — Sebastian Junger", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/sebastian-junger/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/sebastian-junger/", "name": "Dark room Quotes by Sebastian Junger", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/sebastian-junger/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/356/sebastian-junger-4689_children_the-point-of-making-children-sleep-alone_1171506.png" }, "description": "3 Dark room quotes by Sebastian Junger. 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