metaphysical correction and refocusing

Reality exists. We each perceive reality in our own way. Part of reality existing is each of us existing as a self, distinct from other selves. Another part of reality existing is that all of us, every human, is human. This feels very fucking obvious, but I point it out because I think it's not obvious for a lot of fucking people. The culture we live in discourages us from recognizing the unity inherent to humanity. It divides us.

​One of the basic principles about philosophy I learned at Columbia is that it thinks that the whole world should be divided into categories-- categorization is part of humanity's nature. I think this is only one part of reality. One view is like a tree branching off in a million directions and another view is one we haven't nurtured much. It's like looking at a sparrow, a pigeon, an eagle, and an owl and extrapolating that they all have wings, beaks, eyes, two little legs, and a similarity best approximated as "bird." Yes they are all different, but they are also all the same because they're birds. It's all about what level you're looking on and our current society wants to keep us as low as possible. Without a sense of greater forces acting on us, how would we be able to fight them or even attribute our problems to them? ​