I came across a really thoughtful piece written by an author I’d never read before and I think it is worth sharing.
Certainly from the beginning, strangers could be dangerous. They could be part of a raiding party, or loners thrown out of their own tribes for breaking some critical taboo. We probably have in our genes a long-held and deep-seated wariness about The Other.
But over time this has been countered by another human trait, consciousness, and the obvious insight that we are all in this world together. For all our cultural and linguistic differences and personal quirks, people on this planet are pretty much alike. We’re all breathing the same air, living under the same sky, and loving our families in the same way. We even share a lot of the same DNA.
The principle “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” has turned out to be not only wise and generous, but self-protective as well.