Oh, Robert Waltz ... I didn't know you had a silver lining on your pessimism bubble. I really love that real story though.

Also, they're researching communes and how they work, scientifically - there must be sacrifice and a reason to stay loyal together. That meditation and song would do the trick. They vowed to help each other, (not in the cult way of the communes that have been shown to work over time) but for survival of the group. Yay science.