VIII. At Our Best… ↑
62. We feel a sense of shared humanity with others of our species.
As our sense of connection to others expands, starting with family, and continuing with larger and more complex groups, we may eventually feel a sense of connection with humanity itself, including all other humans, as well as other living beings and the web of life itself.
Words from Others on this Topic
If I ask you all today to look around and tell me who you see…. When you look around, I don’t want you to see black, white, Asian, I don’t want you to wonder if a person is Democrat or Republican, gay or straight. When you look around, I just want you to simply see human beings – nothing more, nothing less. And I guarantee you, if you can begin to see people that way, just as human beings, you’ll begin to treat them a little differently, you’ll begin to understand their points of view.
Charles Woodson, 28 Apr 2018, from the speech “2018 University of Michigan Spring Commencement Address”
I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.
Albert Einstein, 18 Sep 1896, from the paper “The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: My Future Plans”
It’s a labor of love for all of us. It’s not contrived or fake and it’s not about money (it’s too much work to be about money). It’s about the love of what we are doing. That’s the center of what it is about, and that’s the center of what anything of great human value is always about. It’s about that love that you have for humanity in our commonality. And to experience all of the things that are in this music like heartbreak and joy and many other things – a certain type of striving and struggle – it’s a part of the life we all live together.
Wynton Marsalis, 2008, from the book Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life
In grounded theory, researchers try to understand what we call ‘the main concern’ of study participants. When it comes to belonging, I asked: What are people trying to achieve? What are they worried about?
The answer was surprisingly complex. They want to be a part of something – to experience real connection with others – but not at the cost of their authenticity, freedom, or power. Participants further reported feeling surrounded by ‘us versus them’ cultures that create feelings of spiritual disconnection. When I dug deeper into what they meant by ‘spiritually disconnected,’ the research participants described a diminishing sense of shared humanity. Over and over, participants talked about their concern that the only thing that binds us together now is shared fear and disdain, not common humanity, shared trust, respect or love.
Brené Brown, 2017, from the book Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
Relevant Reference Models
- An element of Developmental Levels
- An element of Humanist Manifesto III
Next: 63. We do not demand perfection