Scientific American - September 2018

8 Scientific American, September 2018

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pear when synthetic meat becomes eco-

nomically viable. Income inequality will

vanish as a problem when poverty is com-

pletely eradicated and everyone has abun-

dance. Not all moral issues are so readily

soluble, but many are, which is why sci-

ence and technology should be in the mor-

al philosopher’s toolkit.

OBJECTIVE MEMORY
In “Our Stuff, Ourselves,” Francine Russo
reports on research showing a connection
between low emotional security and great-
er attachment to inanimate objects, in-
cluding a 2015 study involving young chil-
dren and their favorite possession.
Russo does not describe the experi-
menters as having accounted for the feel-
ings or significance that the adult provid-
ers of those youngsters may have had to-
ward objects. As a child of the Depression,
I did not have as many possessions to at-
tach my affections to as children do today.
My relationship with my mom was clearly
established, and she did not seem to at-
tach a great deal of extramaternal mean-
ing to her gifts of time or kitchen tid-
bits. Things that gave meaning to my life
in those days were things more related to
a child’s developing skills than to posses-
sion: climbing trees, riding a trike, creat-
ing imaginary landscapes out of mud or
melting ice, singing songs, skipping rope.
Possessions still mean little to me. My fur-
niture is old and unfinished and serves
only the purposes for which it is used. 
I wish Russo’s article had considered
adult providers and the present-day cul-
ture they represent, which could have ex-
posed deeper issues than an individual
child’s mental equilibrium.
JUNE HARNER via e-mail

CLARIFICATION

“Our Planet, Ourselves,” by Mariette Di-

Christina [From the Editor], referred to

mosquitoes and the viruses they carry

spreading diseases such as malaria and

Rift Valley fever. And “Catching Fever,”

by Lois Parshley, noted that the expansion

of habitats of mosquitoes and other in-

sects has exposed new populations to vi-

ruses, as well as  that malaria is globally

on the rise.  To clarify, Rift Valley fever is

caused by a virus, and malaria is caused

by a parasite.