Among all our needs, a wish to be needed by other humans is one of the basic ones. Seemingly self-evident, the significance of this need has only rarely, if ever, been addressed in the social sciences. This is one of the major tenets of this book (originally published by SNS, Sweden, 2005), and the point of departure for a rich theoretical as well as empirical discussion of a wide range of issues related to the unique cultural dynamic of the human society: historical, evolutionary, philosophical, etc. The need to be needed is present in all humans of all times. Yet, one profound outcome of...