community

Other people are indispensible to our own existence. It would seem as though we need other people to help us define ourselves even. If we grew up all alone, we would be merely animals and indistinguishable. Because we have other people to teach us how to live in modern society, we are able to build ourselves upon the foundation that is society. It’s funny how if this is true, one’s quest to set themselves apart from other people almost brings them closer to other people. We use what has been found by the generations before us and elaborate on it to find ourselves. It’s almost as though we pick up where our ancestors left off and add our own discoveries to theirs and so on and so forth. Once we’ve had the interaction with other people and have figured ourselves out, we cannot simply just leave humanity behind either. If we look at Tom Hanks’ character in Cast Away, he still needs, even desperately, the company of another person to keep living. He finds a companion in the volleyball Wilson, without which he could possibly perish. Without other people, we lack a wealth of resources that make our lives livable. I remember being told recently that if babies are coddled they aren’t able to develop certain abilities and relations and may even die. Other people are indispensible to our survival, and although some people believe they only rely on themselves and don’t need anyone else to get by, that is simply not true. Some people don’t allow themselves to build connections with other people or rely on them because those people aren’t going to be there one day, but they fail to realize that people come and go and just because one individual isn’t going to be there for the rest of your life doesn’t mean they should be shut out. The human condition is one of community; sometimes we rely on others and sometimes others rely on us.