Universal Human Psychology, "Bani Adam," and Our Omnicultural Future

“We’re all members of a whole sprung alike from a single soul; when one alone is struck with pain, the rest will feel the sharpest strain; if others’ woe leaves you unmoved, your humanity remains unproved.” (Translation Fathali Moghaddam/Duncan Wu) The above Farsi poem was written by the great Persian poet Saadi Shirazi (1210-1291). Bani Adam literally means the children of Adam. The poem describes the interconnected nature of humankind; we are all parts of the same whole, limbs belonging to one body. When one part of the body is in pain, then all the other limbs also suffer. This can be inter