Ubuntu

The word Ubuntu is a Nguni word that has no specific translation to english, but is used to describe an African view of life where humans can only get a full fulfilment in life by interacting with other people. This represents a a human spirt that unites mankind across race and religion boundaries.

To me, Ubuntu means that a human will not die happy or satisfied unless they interact with people outside of their comfort zone. It has a hidden meaning in my mind that tells you to help the homeless man on the street, attend a religious service that will help you understand other people's opinions, or give that extra 3 dollars to the pizza man. Despite other arguments, no one wants to be alone. Doing something which requires you to step out of your small comfort box could help you make the lifetime connections with people that help you escape loneliness.

This relates to the Rifkin RSA video perfectly. The video told us how we needed to forget about everything society has made up, (politics, religion, social ladders, etc.) and come together as a human race if we want to survive. Ubuntu is essentially telling us the same thing, only comparing it to a person's happiness. I think the human race can survive if we adapt a portion of both philosophies. Getting rid of the "made up" portions of society will not fix everything because we are human, and we are flawed. Everyone needs to help everyone if we want to survive.

Of course, all of this carries back to our essential questions of our Hope/Human Spirit Unit. It falls under the ever-growing category of loneliness and how a human expresses hope when they are lonely. Hopefully a lonely person in the world will understand this, and start a new generation of hope that is planted in your brain the day you are born.

Feeling Human Aywhere

Another beautifully written article we analyzed in class was posted by Ezra Klein, and can be viewed here http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2... .

The article talks about a 35 year-old disabled man named Jason Rowe, who uses his online character to, in a way, carry out the life he wish he could. He explains that by using his character, he can walk, fight monsters, or simply hang out with his friends at the bar. His online living really ties into our "Humanity; Hope and Spirit," unit.

For this man to survive everyday is a struggle. I would think going on the internet and seeing other people live their lives relatively normally would upset him, and make him regret his online decisions. Then again, living out your life in a fake persona can always give you more strength to live, like in Mr. Rowe's case. The hope this man possesses must be stronger than all of ours combined. Waking up everyday knowing what you and I would consider the simplest tasks are almost impossible to him, and still trying to make online friends inspires me.

The smallest improvements to our technological world can change lives.

Even though some people may consider his way of living and making friends unnatural, I feel like it's his only option. Getting out of bed is hassle in itself, his will to live exceeds his want for death because of online gaming.

Let people live; if you do that, your own spirit will have room to grow.

"The of mass men lead lives of quiet desperation"

Our class has been closely following the posts of Roger Ebert through his blog to try and get a new perspective of the "human spirit." One of his most recent posts, http://s3.amazonaws.com/edmodo/msmystrena/roger_ebert__all_the_lonely_people_and_a_meeting_of_solitudes_.pdf,

has really caught our attention.

In his first post, Ebert discusses the benefits of the internet for the lonely people in the world and in the second, he discusses the roots of loneliness and how he can sympathize with everyone who commented and related to his first blog entry.

I only had three words once I was finished reading both posts, and they were "I completely agree."

Think about it. Seriously. Stop and think about the internet and everything technology has made us into over the last 20 years.

What am I doing now? Blogging. Why? To share my thoughts and opinions with the world. To see if there is another person somewhere among the 6.8 BILLION of us who can find a small connection to me and my thoughts. Should this matter to me, or anyone for that matter when we all have other people in our lives that we can have face-to-face conversations with? I mean really, we are all in class together, why should we post this on the "world wide web" when I could clearly express my thoughts while making eye contact with you? Because this occupies our loneliness; the whole interconnected ways of the internet occupy our loneliness and make us feel loved in some moment of time by some stranger 10,ooo miles away.

I feel like everything Ebert said about the connections made should be common knowledge. I feel like these were simple realizations that everyone should make as soon as they experience the power of the internet community. Maybe it's just me, or maybe you have to experience the sense of loneliness to completely understand what I'm saying...

I'll end on my favorite quote from Ebert's second article: "There is no rule that says you must have friends. There is no requirement to be "popular." No one is keeping a scorecard. If living alone makes you happy, you don't have a problem. But if you feel lonely and it's hurtful or bothersome, then obviously you think you have a problem. Only you can say."