Someone Completely Different From You

Longetivity and social relationships Running Parenting Freelancing Autism or introversion

We often hear, in pleas for cultural, national, or humanitarian unity, such conciliatory cliches as "deep down, we're all alike" and "all people want the same things."  In my experience, this is not true.  Granted,  my experience is limited, as I'm not particularly well traveled -- with my body, at least. But if I do not find this to hold true within the limited swath of humanity with which I have had direct contact, then how could it be true in a larger sample? Because the farther one zooms out, the greater variety or heterogeneity is captured, and thus the potential similarities less numerous or more abstract.  I do believe that all beings -- indeed all of existence, including rocks, clouds, stars, and the like -- are suffused with a common "energy." In this sense, I believe that all are one. I also recognize that all humans share certain physical needs: life-sustaining food and shelter being the big ones. Like all living things, humans also, gen...