HOME. Without doubt, it’s one of the most evocative words in any language. Whether it’s a suburban semi, igloo, yurt or a particular patch of desert, the familiarity and domesticity of home usually provokes relief when you arrive.
But why? What is it about being in a specific place that makes us feel so good? Why is being away from home so stressful for some that US psychologists once recognised homesickness as a potent progenitor of mental illness in recent immigrants? All this, and much more, is explained in John S. Allen’s book Home.
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Allen uses these tools to explore the privileged place of home in our cognition, while introducing us to as many as 17 emotions, Neanderthal homemaking and five psychological roots of economic cycles.
More than anything, research by Allen and his colleagues shows that notions of sanctuary, certainty and the consequent capacity to relax are key to our concept of home, how we identify it and why we need it. An affirming read for the commute home.
(Image: Owen Newman/Getty)
Home: How habitat made us human
Basic Books
This article appeared in print under the headline “Where the heart is”
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