Fernando Esponda on Family Dynamics

Below, Fernando Esponda responds to the question:

The boundaries of science are continually expanding as scientists become increasingly integral to finding solutions for larger social issues, such as poverty, conflict, financial crises, etc. On what specific issue/problem do you feel we need to bring the scientific lens to bear?

I suggest turning to the fundamentals. It is often said that the basic unit of society is the family, that it is quickly being disintegrated, and that many social problems are connected to this fact. I think it is time to refocus the scientific lens on this topic. Here are some relevant questions: What is important about the family that is being damaged and how? Is there a substitute? How are the larger social issues, like the ones mentioned in the question's text, related to family disintegration? If we have a problem, what can be done, what policies should be adopted, what technologies and practices are helpful, which are hurtful?

It is not my intention to be touchy-feely. My initial reaction to my own answer is, "this guy wants us all to hug more," and for that, he (me) is not serious. But really, we need more hardcore mathematical, computational, psychological, etc. models of this constitutive molecule of society--of how it touches other issues and ideas of how it can be "engineered."

I would like to see a plausible model of societal dynamics that identifies key parameters and its consequences. For example, how the average distance between the residence of family members affects poverty, or the degree to which the frequency of family vacations affects the probability of a country going to war, and how with just more hugging everything would be alright...just kidding.