One Reality . . . ever closer - Category: Articles    
 What it means to be human: the same the world over
category picture2 May 2014 @ 07:45
As the world becomes one, through technology, globalisation, etc., we're often presented with the down-side of this evolutionary step: global brands with no connection to any locality, the loss of physical community ... and the like. I'd call these the 'lowest common denominator' of globalisation, where bottom line profits have ridden roughshod over any other concern. But there is another side of globalisation: the highest common factors - where the coming together of different cultures helps us to recognise that, beyond all our cultural differences, we are all human beings, with shared needs and a common experience of 'being human'.

At a recent concert (see comment on my May Day post) exploring the cultures of China and Wales (the Two Dragons), what came though so clearly from the music from, on the outside, very different cultures and musical traditions, was just this 'what it means to be human'. Whether in Swansea or Shanghai, unrequited love is a painful experience. Whether planting rice or runner beans, every culture has to work with the wonders of creation in order to be fed.

I see the New Civilisation as one that has reconnected to these fundamentals of life and recognised that, wherever we live, whatever language or theories we use to describe live, we are thinking, feeling, human beings . . . far more alike than we are different.