And then I see it, altogether, in one pure thought bite; the Quantity Theory of Insanity shows its face to me. I suppose all people who look for the first time upon some new, large scale, explanatory theory must feel as I did at that moment. With one surge of tremendous arrogance, of aching hubris, I felt as if I were looking at the very form of whatever purpose, whatever explanation, there really is inherent in the very stuff of this earth, this life … ‘What if …’ I thought to myself, ‘What if there is only a fixed proportion of sanity available in any given society at any given time?’ … For years I had sought some hypothesis to cement the individual psyche to the group; it was right in front of me all the time. But I went on, I elaborated, I filled out the theory, or rather it filled out itself. It fizzed and took on form the way a paper flower expands in water. (Self, 1991, p 126)

Dr Hall then described the benefits of secure attachment and made reference to recent advances in neuroscience indicating the impact on the development of a baby's brain as a result of the attachment process.