I am from NY so I take the subway to work all the time. Now I step on the train and sit amongst the many other drones headed for work. I take a good look at the passengers and notice what I notice EVERY singe time I make this
same observation. DAMN WE UGLY!!..no no no… We are so very alike…
Legs, arms, chest, knees and toes knees and toes. That is the greatest truth, but then you will notice the subtle differences like oh… skin color, facial build, body types etc…
Im suggesting that humans have forgotten that we are all one and the same. We forego that initial and crucial observation that we are all one thing...not many things, and when we forget this and skip to the subtle changes then we believe those changes equate to differences in thought and belief etc.
If you argue that we all have different belief systems... I would argue that every belief system emerges from a very specific human emotion or urge or whatever you want to label it... THEN each society builds a "bridge" to best explain or personify their ROOT belief... notice how even the most isolated tribes will believe in some sort of higher power? Its not Jesus (or its not ur SAME belief), but their "nature god" or "sun god" is rooted from the same need or questions we had when we think of jesus or zues or whatever else we screwy humans think up.
so I says.. "screw cultural identification". the One thing we should identify with in each other is the 1 simple fact that we are all human...the Human culture.... I know someone will argue that death being the unkown terror that it is will always make humans cling on to their already embedded thoeries of "god" and after life...so the cultural difference (as far as religious belief goes) will sustain.
no race, religious or economic (oh yes..Ive heard people put down others due to their economic standings) considerations should take place when "judging" a fellow human... Base it all on their actions from the start...it sounds pretty impossible..I wont claim to have that kind of discipline.. but im trying.
Maybe I mean to say that we as humans should not be so overly proud of our cultures… I dont see humans conquering space and beyond the way the world is today… too much seperation. THINK STAR TREK, MAN!!
or maybe not…
How do you propose to do this? The seperation of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ is fundamentally hardwired into human beings (though the specifics of how to do this is not). As a general rule, plans which run counter to human nature end in disaster.
And what culture would replace all the other ones?
It isn’t a bad idea, but the problem is that in order to get a system to replace it, the implimentation of this system would probably be far, far worse than what is presently in place.
This implies there are no changes going on in humans as our time line progresses… As more literature and technology surges; as will our minds… The “hard wired” fundamentals may not morph entirley I agree, but surely It can change… We used to be hunter gatherers long ago, but now we opt for Mcdonalds or a trip to the market…surely that is an example of how human hardwired fundamentals have changed or shifted.
Hopefully something we can all agree on…a human culture.
The only way humans can exist is by identifying differences. Without these differences we would be an autonomous collective. I do agree though, we are all the same, physically. We’re composed of the same atoms, and similar minds. We should recognize this but still remember that we are different, and everything is subjective. At least for the time being.
What differs humans but the cultures in which they were raised to think?
And whatever happens to cultures in the future, I hope the result is part of civilization – defined as where the individual person is valued – and religiously humanistic with the opportunity for individuals to choose the right religion.
I can’t sympathize with this at all. Behind egalitarianism and universalism is a disdain for life itself- you disagree with differences because you fear the discrimination, bias, and power strutures that lay behind them, a weakness on your part. Each human being is different, not just physically but socially and culturally and to imply that we are “all the same” is to destroy our own selves, we reduce ourselves to something less than living, for even “animals” have their own socialization. Culture is what makes life worth living, if cultures did not exist we would not be able to gaze upon pyramids, cathedrals, or temples. Differences should not be shunned, mixed, or deconstructed, they should be embraced.
What I’ve read is opposite…(I couldn’t find any article in English) but it says that our fundemental perception in Japan…(and China) is “us among them” But this is only history and things have already changed…not entirely though.
Clarify that. I’d be interested in that perspective. Everything I’ve read suggests ‘us vs. them’, however, it has all been from a European cultural matrix, so that could be why.
But the ‘us amongst them’ still demonstrates the same desire to divide humanity into in-groups and out-groups. So, if I am correctly understanding you, the essence of my point remains the same.
Genocide in Africa, terrorism in the states and abroad… all fueled by fanatics obsessed with their Descriminations, biases and power structures…
Pardon me if Im not as brave as you are faced with these circumstances…Am i weak for this? Perhaps.
Isnt culture just a micro organism of a much larger and more relavent structure? Within each culture lies these fundamental human “truths”. There is NO culture I can think of that considers a thief a just person. That is just one globally accepted “human culture” truth. I mean, Pyramids and cathedrals aside; there are certain aspects of human life that every single culture will agree on…everything else is superfluous and potentially damaging.
So the only thing that makes our cultures different are the superfluous things like praying to zues to make it rain or sacrificing lambs to repent of sins or a pyramid. These things being amazingly important to the cultures they belong to but irrelevant to any one outside that culture (save for maybe an engineer…pyramids). The parts of all cultures that DO matter?
Stealing is bad… Killing an innocent is wrong; also something I think the world agrees on…How about something as simple as laughing to show appreciation and positive feelings to others …that sounds like something humans can agree on no matter what culture…
I dont want to kill the culture...I want the world to change its priorities regarding judging another human. Ill be as proud of my culture as ill be as proud as ...idunno...my skills with a guitar...and nothing more.
praising and celebrating other cultures is all fine as long as the people themselves are not physically entering into your nation with their foreign ideas and outbirthing your people in a democracy. before you know it they will be the largest group and overtake your government and impose thier foreign culture on your people, destroying your own and most likely oppressing you.
that’s just how nature works. i believe in the right to form policies of non-immigration or assimilation if the populations are similar enough by culture or looks or whatever to be easily assimilated.
otherwise you are committing a terrible injustice to your people
europe is gonna die
america is gonna die
western peoples and their cultures are gonna die
cause they won’t get past political correctness and silly ideas of tolerance
they can see the greater injustice they are doing to their peoples by letting others freely colonize their lands
karma? no
guilt get over it. your ancestors are not you. just because they committed injustices, or the rulers did, does not mean you have to let your people be overrun in the present and future
free settling allowed by the traiterous political leaders is every bit as unjust as settling by conquest
this is all because the cultural feeling is too strong and assimilation is very hard among groups
multiculturalism is suicide for any nation
to quell the earth as a whole, one culture is what is ideally needed
to quell the cultural instincts and some physical factor that have formed and held peoples together is well nigh impossible or so it seems…
thus, thou shall not worship diversity and invasion because you feel lost in the world and like to treat other peoples as perculiar entities to be looked at and studied, like animals.
First, I agree thgat the value of a culture is it’s truth content. Which is why I disagree with the latter poster, Nothingness, and think the proper response to cultural invasion is education and sorting out the truths from falsities of different cultures, appreciating the truths of both cultures.