I recently watched a TED talk with renowned film director Shekhar Kapur, who spoke about two concepts that he believed were the essence of humanity. First, humans become the stories we tell ourselves. Kapur argues that we humans know we exist because we tell stories about ourselves and end up living out the things we tell ourselves. Second, Kapur theorizes that the Universe is one giant contradiction and humans spend our lives looking for harmony and unity. When you think about it, looking for harmony is what musicians do, as well as architects and mathematicians, and mediators who try to bridge divides to settle disputes. Trying to find harmony or common ground with people in conflict is the first principle of mediation.
