Diversity of Human Experience

Sean Porter - System Earth - Spring 2007

The diversity of human experience is all about empathy and understanding. It requires an understanding of the "human condition." It can only be enhanced through interaction with people who are not in the same situation as ourselves. We must be attentive to the differences between our own lives and the situation and experience of others. This understanding naturally enhances our ability to effectively compromise with the people around us and live in a comfortable, healthy environment.

In our quest to become educated about the world around us, we must emphasize the connection between the things that happen and the different viewpoints and experiences that people have. Our success in this world depends in a large part on working effectively with other people. This task is much simpler when we have the perspective that every person experiences things through the color of their past experiences. Once we understand this, we can more readily work with people because we can see where they are coming from in disagreements and make more effective compromises.

Progress

I have enhanced my appreciation for the diversity that surrounds us, although I feel that I already possessed a greater than average empathy for the value of other's experiences thanks to my parents encouragement of this trait. I also have been forced in my life to empathize with the feelings of others, in order to help heal the wounds that I had helped to inflict upon my family.

While I think I started out ahead of the game in my recognition of the human condition, I know that I will never have a full picture. I will never be able to know the viewpoint of every single person, so I must continue to keep an open mind and look for new sources to expand my experience of other's experiences.

Assignments

Identity Collage
This assignment was great because it forced us to examine our own experience of the world, and the connections we have with all the things and people within it. We also were lucky enough to see the creations of all our classmates. For me, that was one of the best experiences with respect to the diversity of people's experiences.

Class Discussions
The class discussions were the other aspect of the class that I felt most clearly addressed the goal of diversity. We got to hear the opinions of our fellow classmates and we were often discussing the situation or views of other people with even more varied experiences. It is astounding the amount of diversity that can be found even within the relatively limited segment of the population that is priviledged enough to be able to afford a college education.