A Postmodern Moment: Understanding Culture

Connected



When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” --John Muir

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.” --Yasutani Roshi

Everything in the universe is connected. Sages, poets, philosophers, theologians and, now, scientists understand the interconnection and interdependence of all living and non-living entities, of all phenomena.

In the March/April 2003 issue of Utne magazine, Philip Slater writes about a “gradual but massive collision between two competing cultural systems,” systems he calls the Culture of Division and the Culture of Connection. According to Slater, “The Culture of Division is based on boundaries and seeks to uphold and create them. The Culture of Connection seeks to dissolve them.”

“Connector culture is characterized by a preoccupation with linking—people, concepts, places,” Slater continues. “It seeks to recognize commonalities and promote democratic decision-making.”