“My humanity is linked to yours, because we can only be human together.”
– Desmond Tutu, South-African archbishop
Humanity is the theme chosen among us for this end-of-the-year edition. Why? Maybe because our generation lives in a world of paradoxes regarding this topic. On one hand, we are closer than ever to forming a human group thanks to new technologies: the internet is connecting us all around the world, allowing us to share information, emotions, and solutions faster than ever. We can follow our friends in their adventures and meetings abroad, and be concerned about people we never heard of more easily. But on the other hand, this super fast communication is not creating only friendship and empathy: meant as they are, social media can enhance the opposite: miscommunication, hate speech and dehumanisation. The overwhelming quantity of information blurs the boundaries between human life and statistics; and the speed of data favours quantity over quality for the contents. Can we really be humans on the internet? Can we be linked to humanity nowadays without it?
The words of Desmond Tutu, a South-African archbishop dedicated to the struggle against apartheid, resonate today in a world like ours. Nowadays, we’re more eager to think of ourselves as individuals than as part of humanity – “mind your own business”, some will say. But that wouldn’t be the point: on the contrary, humanity in ourselves cannot be found without listening, looking at, or reading others’ people.
Let your curiosity lead you through our many various topics waiting for New Year’s Eve and 2024. Maybe can you find the little stick men hidden in our pages? Hoping that it will give you fun and good reflections, we wish you all a good reading and great holidays!
Youen Le Bris