Could any event unify Humanity?

Question

Johnslat- you said it from the first.

MJR- you make an extremely valid point, but the states of the US, and the countries of the EU have similar cultures. I wonder if economic unity can unite territories with extremely different beliefs and ideas.

ClaireDePlume- amazing.

Answer 1

Division is an operation that can easily be expressed in terms of the underlying (and more fundamental) Addition Operator. And yet ironically enough, the more we keep adding to this precious Universal Equation (some might go as far as saying Disease) called Humanity, the more dependent on the division operator's actions we become! The jungle's survival of the fittest rule has never left us [my dear redheaded friend], it has merely mutated into other forms, mimicking civilized behavior (e.g. religious beliefs/fanaticism, the modern caste system based on social class and one's inner hunger for the almighty buck, etc., etc.) In fact, it remains the Golden Rule, built into the very genetic code of Humanity's evolutionary path. It is, if you will, the evolutionary equivalent of the Law of Conservation of Energy. Evolution just doesn't happen under static conditions, it needs agitation, it needs the constant dynamics of change and contrast; it follows its own code of conduct that is not only beyond Good and Evil, but also inherently anti-unifying. Do you honestly think that The Humanity has a chance in He!! to unify over an Alien invasion?! … Sure, we might stop our infightings for a few months or so, but soon enough the "X-factor operators" amongst us will decide they're gonna make a few bucks out of them, or use them as allies against other countries, or declare that they really are Jesus’ long lost cousins or Mohammed’s nieces or something, .... well, you get the picture. … NO - humanity, BY NATURE, can NEVER be completely unified; unless the Aliens give us ALL a lobotomy and alter our very genetic fabric to a point that we are no longer humans (or any other ANIMAL than we know of, for that matter). :-)

BTW: The beauty of it all remains the fact that we really don’t have to turn into a unified and mindless robotic state reacting to an overwhelming force du jour , before rejecting war, incessant greed, and fanatic acts of inhumanity! SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS A DROP OR TWO OF GOOD WILL, A DASH OF HUMAN DECENCY, AND A TOUCH OF COMMON SENSE … Have fun my friend, while we still haven’t been plagued by any all-encompassing “unifying” force!

Answer 2

yes. Economic unity.

Think about how the States of America are united. Open borders, common laws. State boundaries are lines drawn in the sand, not truly important to most people. the States handle their own affairs, no state attempts to impose legislation on another state. For matters that affect all of the states, there is a central authority, the Federal Government. Trade is free between the states, Utahns don't complain about outsourcing to Colorado or Nevada.

And the United States is peaceful. The prospect of a war or secession of states is laughably distant. Sure there is Iraq, but that is more an affair of the Federal government (which Congress didn't even approve of in the first place!) Beyond the national guard which has to seldomly step in for certain matters, most U.S citizens will go their entire lives without meeting a soldier.

Consider that after the American revolution, the states saw themselves as autonomous nations, not as pieces of a whole. The federal government was set up more as a moderator between the states than a central authority.

We are seeing the same thing in Europe, too. Europe is more united now than it has ever been in its history. The nations keep their identity but benefit from the unity.

The United Nations has nearly 150 members, making it the closest thing to a global human empire that has ever existed.

The answer is trade. Trade will bring us together. Trade has already made war an economic impossibility between China and the United States, and increasingly distant between the United States and Europe. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, we are increasingly moving towards an unpolarized unity, built by trade, were people hold the citizens of another country in the same regard that American citizens of one state have for another.

Answer 3

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."
John Lennon, "Imagine"

The previous respondents agree that Humanity would unite in order to face a common enemy. We can see how well that's worked in the relatively small population of the U.S. against this nebulous common enemy that so many traumatized, even broken Americans call "terror."

It is possible to generalize that to state that Humanity would unite to achieve a common goal, whether negative or positive. But if you think about it, we can't confuse governments with the people living in their country. The vast majority of the world's population is struggling desperately to find enough food and water to stay alive. Lofty goals such as a fight against the extinction of humanity take a distant second place in that situation.

Lennon's lyrics speak to a Utopia where individual expression is suppressed. I don't believe that's the answer either.

Uniting with a common goal isn't really about unity, is it? That kind of unity requires that we learn to get along despite our differences.

I submit that Humanity will only unify when we have evolved beyond our lack of flexibility in accepting what is new or different.

Answer 4

I believe anything would yes.

Take a look at what has happened in our history on a smaller scale.

If something like Hurricane Katrina, 9-11, Hurricane Andrew, floods, and famine can bring communities and a single nation together, even for a short time; imagine what could happen if there was some sort of global event.

It's human nature to check mortality and to connect with others when such things happen; albeit it doesn't always last; however, that's human nature too. We easily forget as we get busy with our lives from "moving on".

Answer 5

I constantly puzzled what could have got here approximately if Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon (Henry's first spouse) could've had a son and consequently Henry could have not seek for an annulment to marry somebody else. If this had got here approximately, then it could have never brought about the separation of the Catholic Church and the formation of the Anglican Church (which become later the Christian Protestant church). yet having reported that, there is often different issues that i could prefer to alter approximately historic past, like the Holocaust, the Chilean "Disappeared", the South African Apartheid, Slavery, a number of severe profile assassinations, 9/11, etc.

Answer 6

Humanity is unified. tell me , do you have anything against anyone in Ethiopia or India or Japan? No. The fact that vast distances are inbetween it is not possible to see this unification in action .
But what actually divide the humanity are the small number of people who preach religion , who are politically clever and who want all the wealth to themselves. . It is this small minority of people who create these disunification. And they are here to stay.

Answer 7

An alien invasion. A major world plague. A meteorite of comet about to hit the earth.

Or anything that affects all of humanity.

Answer 8

Well, maybe an alien invasion or a really big kagger party. Just don't flirt with another guy's date at the party or we'll have to start all over again.

Answer 9

Yes. Giving up individuality.

A collective can function (the sum is greater than the parts) where there is no autonomy by the individual members. Most of us have been taught otherwise.

Imagine how much of your individuality you would be prepared to sacrifice for unity.

Answer 10

humans would behave like a family altogether when there is a common external enemy like some alien invading force or some natural catastrophe of phenomenal scale which threatens the whole of humanity.