The Humanity Project

Each of us makes waves. As we move through our lives, we create ripples in the world around us. Good ripples or bad ripples, ripples that help make others into something more or ripples that make them less somehow. Some of those ripples even may grow into large waves of influence. In a real way, that’s what the Humanity Project’s philosophy of shared value is based upon — the notion that we’re inextricably connected to one another in countless ways throughout every day. When this group talks about using cooperation and social connection to solve problems (see our mission statement in the right-hand column), our idea reflects a deeper reality of human life. Our daily actions, as well as our thoughts and feelings that result in later actions, do affect other people in the real world. When we help others, for instance, those who see this positive behavior are more likely to do something constructive themselves. (Ever seen that TV commercial where one person’s good deed inspires many other good deeds, one after another? Good commercial — and very real.) By creating an awareness within us about this connection with others, and caring that it’s constructive rather than destructive, we improve our own lives — and improve society. In effect, the Humanity Project suggests that individuals become much more aware of the waves we make around us. And then learn to care that those waves have a chance to move others in a good direction. We can do this at the same time we address our own needs and wants, of course. There is no conflict involved with helping ourselves in a manner that lifts others too. This group believes that’s actually the best way to help ourselves anyhow. Shared value is an empirically based philosophy, rooted in experience that anyone can see for themselves. Part of this experience is simply the way each of us impacts other individuals, for good or ill. We make waves, even though we rarely see how big those waves become or where they end up. But we know from our own lives that the waves made by others affect us, often very forcefully. Why not try to send out the most helpful kind of waves we can generate?

Tags: human values, Humanity Project, philosophy, positive psychology, psychology, shared value, teaching human values, The Humanity Project

This entry was posted by Bob Knotts on Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 at 9:51 am and is filed under Our Programs, Sharing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.