Some thinking surrounding Wendy's demo...
Do I have anything in common with someone who lives halfway around the world? If I say no, am I close minded? If I say yes, am I ignoring nuances of social, historical, cultural, generational context? Is there a correct answer?
I think there are elements of the human condition that cross the multiple boundaries that exist between a mystery person halfway around the world and myself. Take, for example, love. I've experienced multiple variations of love: romantic, sibling, familial, friendship, self-love, even the loss or absence of love. Now, let's look at said mystery person. In some way, shape, or form, he-or she-experiences love. It might be a facet of the love I experience, or it might even simply be the absence of some sort of love. Either way, love holds a place, knowingly or not, in his/her life.
In consideration of theme, there has to be a marriage of these two ideas: universalization and contextualization. Certain elements of the human condition exist no matter who or where you are. A fuller understanding of said elements comes only when the elements can be more closely contextualized.
But, this is just what I believe. You may believe what you choose. And, in the end, we may find ourselves united by the human condition of belief.
As I started to read your second paragraph, I thought about the absence of love....and bam, there it was in the next sentence.
ReplyDeleteI have spent many years asking questions about the universality of ideas we take for granted. I don't have any answers to my questions that are not fluid and that don't change every time I pose the question to someone else. It is secure to see the concepts that we believe as universal and it becomes unsettling to think that others might not see it the same or even know what it is. This is always a struggle and a sticking point.
ReplyDeleteKim,
ReplyDeleteI really heard what you were saying on Friday and even now in your post. I think that you are so right in bringing up these questions on universality and individuality--like why is finding universalaties necessarily a bad thing. I was surprised that it became such a heated discussion against universality last week. I think that the problem may have happened because people are understanding universality in two different ways. I think that you are saying universal in the sense that there are commonalities across the globe and it's a positive thing if we can find those things to create more of a global community. I think some other people were hearing universal as "true for everyone," which may have ruffled some feathers and I don't think that's what you were saying at all. I don't want to put words in your mouth (or anyone else's for that matter), but that's what I was thinking in the car ride home on Friday.