To Touch Is to Live: The Need for Genuine Affection in an Impersonal World

When we are not getting ‘touched’ by genuine, caring contact with other human beings, we tend to withdraw from others, or to multiply our diversions and acquisitions as an attempt to fill a void that only human contact will ever satisfy. Violence and abuse are also outgrowths of this lack of touch. Caplan finds the roots of inadequate touch in methods of child-raising, early education, family culture, a lack of healthy models of sexuality, and many other sources. She emphasises the need to get more ‘in touch’ – closer to who we really are as a species, and closer to others in ways that support our highest potential as human beings.