Anatomy of Humanity

What is at the heart of the human experience? This is worth discussing, despite the fact that we'll never fully capture the magic of humanity, because we can learn to focus on what matters most.

What I propose in the following is a reconsideration of the human condition from the vantage point of our newest experiences and our most recent fears. This obviously is a matter of thought, and thoughtlessness— the heedless recklessness or hopeless confusion or complacent repetition of ‘truths’ which have become trivial and empty— seem to me among the outstanding characteristics of our time. What I propose, therefore, is very simple: it is nothing more than to think what we are doing. . ‘What we are doing’ is...the central theme of this [work]. It deals only with the most elementary articulations of the human condition, with those activities that traditionally, as well as according to current opinion, are within the range of every human being. Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

As an intelligent species, we care about the truth. Attaining it is our greatest struggle, one intimately linked to our educational journey. We can seek the truth, as Arendt suggests, by thinking about our actions as humans. Deep knowledge-building begins with humanity.

A Venn diagram with 4 circles, reading "Needs," "Capacities," "Conditions," and "Patterns."

All human beings have Needs to be met, Capacities to be engaged, Conditions we exist within, and Patterns we gravitate towards.

We are a collective species, so these elements are universal in many ways, but since we are an individual species as well, our experience is also uniquely singular according to our own, independent being.

By learning to dialogue between what is inclusive for all of us & what is exclusive to each of us, we can become the best human thinkers we can be. According to Socrates, the point of theory & philosophy is to know thyself, and that journey can begin by knowing our humanity.