Greatest Unifying Moment

[nbcrusader]

What do you think has been the greatest unifying moment for all peoples?


I was watching a DVD of the Apollo 11 mission. When they landed, it seemed that all people forgot about their differences and watched in awe as man reached the moon.

Has it happened before? Will it happen again?

 

[verte76]

I think that might have been it. People all over the globe watched the same thing. Amazing.

 

[pax]

Possibly the Berlin Wall coming down...?

 

[anitram]

The vast majority of people in the world did not have a TV when the first man landed on the moon.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I agree with the wall coming down.

 

[BVS]

Hands down "The Macarena"! Everyone danced that dance.

 

[Pearl]

And now a lot of people can't stand it. So that's unifying!

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

LOL ^^^^.

The one that pops into my mind at this moment is back when I watched that "Tribute To Heroes" thing a couple weeks after 9/11. There was this part in there that showed places around the world that were mourning with us. The whole world kinda seemed to be calm for a moment. It was really nice.

Can't say I'd disagree with the wall coming down, either. .

Angela

 

[melon]

What do you think has been the greatest unifying moment for all peoples?

The internet.

Melon

 

[Kieran McConville]

I don't think there is one. 'The whole world stood still/watched/laughed/choose your superlative' is utter bollocks.

I doubt most of Africa gave two shits about the moon landing. Or the Beatles, or whatever other baby boomer 'moment' we're supposed to be getting excited about.

Melon, the Internet is a good suggestion, but it's also a tool for mass conspiracy (eg. al quada) so I dunno about unifying moment. I love the Internet but it sometimes seems to me that it's a living example of the phrase 'misery loves company'.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

There isn't one. What people usually mean when they ask this question is "what united people living in the West" not "what united all people?" Certainly a man landing on the moon might have been something which people in the West were fascinated by, but the majority of people living in south-east Asia or sub-Saharan Africa won't have been aware that it was happening, much less thought it was a unifying moment for humankind.

With regard to the internet, I think sometimes there's a tendency, as there is with globalization as a whole, to overestimate its influence. The internet has been influential to those who have access to it, but we shouldn't forget that a large proportion of the world's population don't have access to a telephone line, nevermind a computer and the internet.

 

[Salome]

the big bang

 

[AcrobatMan]

out of the various options, the one by NBC is greatest unifying moment..

give me more options

 

[BVS]

There isn't one. What people usually mean when they ask this question is "what united people living in the West" not "what united all people?" Certainly a man landing on the moon might have been something which people in the West were fascinated by, but the majority of people living in south-east Asia or sub-Saharan Africa won't have been aware that it was happening, much less thought it was a unifying moment for humankind.

With regard to the internet, I think sometimes there's a tendency, as there is with globalization as a whole, to overestimate its influence. The internet has been influential to those who have access to it, but we shouldn't forget that a large proportion of the world's population don't have access to a telephone line, nevermind a computer and the internet.

This is why I didn't take my answer seriously, because I don't think is anything. I think Melon may be onto something, the internet may be the closest we have. Although there are many who don't have access the power of the internet still reaches out to them, for example take a look at what the internet is doing for Africa, it's allowing many that wouldn't have the info or the means to do something...it's probably the closest we have right now.

 

[nbcrusader]

There isn't one. What people usually mean when they ask this question is "what united people living in the West" not "what united all people?" Certainly a man landing on the moon might have been something which people in the West were fascinated by, but the majority of people living in south-east Asia or sub-Saharan Africa won't have been aware that it was happening, much less thought it was a unifying moment for humankind.

As you progress further from information sources, you will naturally see a decline in awareness. We forget that in the 1960's, most peoples got their information by radio, not by the fancy televisions we have today. The reach of the radio reports was fairly large.

I see the internet as a tool, not as something that would give us one focus.

 

[nbcrusader]

I think most of the world (or western world) celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall. But remember, in that event, one group lost.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

As you progress further from information sources, you will naturally see a decline in awareness. We forget that in the 1960's, most peoples got their information by radio, not by the fancy televisions we have today. The reach of the radio reports was fairly large.

So you would suggest the the majority of people in the world were both aware of man landing on the moon and saw it as a something which acted to unify all humankind? Or was the reach of radio reports only large in the context of the West?

 

[Angela Harlem]

Russia lost when you landed on the moon.

:touche:

 

[nbcrusader]

So you would suggest the the majority of people in the world were both aware of man landing on the moon and saw it as a something which acted to unify all humankind? Or was the reach of radio reports only large in the context of the West?

The former.

 

[nbcrusader]

Russia lost when you landed on the moon.

:touche:

I'd say the Soviets lost much earlier, perhaps during the Gemini program. By that point, we had shown we could consistently launch men into space, dock with vehicles in space and conduct space walks.

The moon, of course, was the grand prize.

An Apollo-Soyeuz tried to establish a mutuality in space exploration.

 

[LoveTown]

I dont know about the world but I really do think that 9-11 unified Americans, at least for a while. I remember being on campus that day...it was quiet and still, which was so eerie for a bright sunny september day. The semester had just started and normally the campus is buzzing the first month or so of classes. The faculty set up every tv on campus in different buildings so people could watch. We all just huddled around, watching, crying and comforting each other.

I had to go get my parking decal that day to prevent getting a ticket for parking in the student lot. In the office there was a student crying, everybody embracing her....her brother worked on one of the floors of the WTC that was directly hit with a plane.

It was a supremely sad time but it seems we all slowed down our busy lives for a while and took the time to care for each other and to be nicer to one another....so, it was definately a unifying moment.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

The former.

Can I ask what information you base that judgement on? Do you have any information regarding how widespread access to radio or television would have been in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, rural areas of China and India, or many countries in south-east Asia?

 

[pax]

Okay, let's not get too contentious here. I think the intent of the thread was just to get some ideas, not to win any ideological battles.

 

[elfyx]

Wait - isn't this our religions have been waiting for? A saviour to unite all of humanity? And, the consensus is that the initial coming of orreturn of humanity's savior hasn't yet arrived?

Or is it even possible to unite humanity? Most religions even during revelation isn't meant to unite humanity, but rather divide and seperate the wheat from the chaffe. The only exception to this maybe being some of the ancient prophecies and new age spirituality which suggests all of humanity will shift into a higher, uniting consciousness.

In my mind, the *only* thing that will unite all of humanity is the only thing that ever can: love. And what event would be big enough, and reach every man, woman, and child in every four corners of the earth, to light the spark of unconditional love within each human soul? And, what does that say about free will?

Just my ramblings.

 

[melon]

I think most ideas of "unity" are mostly some romantic idea where we all expect that we will someday agree on everything. After all, I think we are a world weary of uncertainty sometimes, but, with that, it will never happen. The human mind is too complex to have universal agreement, and even in the few times that there have been some form of unity, it has generally been out of less-than-ethical means, such as the means in which the Catholic Church maintained its dominance in Western Europe for 1500 years. Unless we are prepared for equally brutal and autocratic methods, "unity" is a crap shoot.

Melon

 

[verte76]

Perhaps unity *is* more of an abstraction than any sort of concrete reality.

 

[nbcrusader]

elfyx alludes to a different type of unity, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess.

But until then......

 

[pax]

How about when the U.S. Olympic ice hockey team defeated the Soviets at Lake Placid?

Just my sentimental favorite.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I see a pattern developing here with you Americans and the USSR....

 

[Salome]

hmm, the internet as the great unifier vs Free Your Mind