'I am because you are'

That’s ubuntu: The belief that we are defined by our compassion and humanity toward others.

A spirit of togetherness. Of our ability to work with one another and achieve more. An acknowledgement that no action one takes affects only the one.

From the Nguni languages of Zulu and Xhosa in southern Africa and with no English equivalent, ubuntu has various translations (and mistranslations), so describing it conceptually is perhaps easier:

Ubuntu is understanding the purposes of human kindness, humanity and compassion toward others. Ubuntu recognizes “I am because you are.”

It’s only a word, but language can change or help define our perceptions of the world, ourselves, and one another. Sometimes, words have the power of ethic.

Ubuntu is complex and yet simple, referring to the inextricably interdependent connections among all humans. Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu said ubuntu was the foundation of his non-violent anti-Apartheid efforts. He called it the “essence of being human. A person is a person through other persons.”

Never mind the touchy-feely for a moment; the idea is also practical. No one can survive alone; whatever our efforts toward independence and responsibility, even the farthest outlier and most-secluded hermit still uses what others produce (food, tools, roads, clothes), and both feels and creates impacts connected to others (wafting smoke, impacts on groundwater, adding or taking away resources, etc.).

Think about the physics. Life is movement; each action (even breathing) moves molecules, which push and change the movement of other molecules, which in turn move others until it reaches the next person, and in turn the next, and so on.

It’s natural for all living beings to direct those movements — whole body, food intake, activities, whatever — to create positive effects rather than harmful ones. Under the philosophy of ubuntu, that extends further; with interconnectivity the maximum benefits for each person couldn’t be fully realized if someone is ignored in the equation. It’s like leaving out a factor in a math equation, or an element of a problem that doesn’t get solved. Success in life would thus be best reached by considering impacts on affected communities beyond self.

Recognizing that we are all bound together in ways invisible to the eye, that there is a kind of oneness to all life and humanity, it makes sense to act with as much consideration for life around us as possible.

The idea is not self-sacrifice so much as recognition of effect, and that rights don’t go in just one direction. This is the foundation of laws and notions of morality. Rules in schools and workplaces. The best among those are not designed to be merely restrictive, but mutually beneficial.

It’s never good to favor one part of self at the expense of another. If all life is connected, “self” is a much-broader term.

Later, a look at the physics behind this idea of interconnectedness (is it true?), with the help of a physicist and former North Idahoan.

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network who wishes she could see the infinite movement of subatomic particles. Email sholeh@cdapress.com.