Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the African Philosophy that describes humanity towards others. It basically means, "I am because you are". I see it as we are who we are because of the people, things and creatures surrounding us. The Zulus would say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu" which means that a person is a person through other persons. We are defined by what other's see us as. We often don't spend enough time acknowledging the things around us and how amazing they are. Most of the time we look at how different we are but in the end we are all related.

This concept can be related to Jeremy Rifkin's video "The Empathic Civilization". Click Here to Watch. This video amazed me in ways that I can't even describe. It talked about how we are all different but related becase of one man and one woman. It linked it to other ideas and concepts that helped me understand what he was truly talking about. He was basically saying the same thing as the Ubuntu concept. To make it even better, I could actually visualize and keep up with everything Rifkin was saying because it was drawn on a white board. This video will make everything make sense. You have got to watch it!

The video and Ubuntu philosophy took me a step closer to what I want to learn in this unit. We are all different because of the things around us. Genetically, all humans are related because of two people. But we have more things in common with the things surrounding us than we can imagine. Humans need to work with the rest of the world and be positive to resolve problems. We also need to pass on lessons and values so we can be the best we can be. In the end we are all human. If we look past the differences, the things we could accomplish will amaze everyone.