Our Mission, Our Message

Finally! The Humanity Project has begun fulltime daily Internet operations after more than nine months of preparation, working with three talented web designers. Whew . . . One of our first goals is to better explain exactly what we’re trying to do. We live in an era when many everyday folks are searching for answers to improve their daily life. Which means lots of other well-intentioned folks are offering answers, usually for a hefty price that comes with their new book or DVD or tickets to speeches or whatever. We’re trying to do things differently here at www.thehumanityproject.com.

We’ve just changed much of our website’s welcoming pages, which we call “Briefly, About Us,” to clarify what we’re about. If you’ve read those pages before today, I hope you’ll go back and give them another look. Because when people first hear about The Humanity Project, I’ve noticed, they want to lump us in with pop psychology or the New Age movement. But we’re really something unique, as I think you’ll begin to appreciate if you read our two main sections: “A Human Drama” and “In Detail: The Ideas.” We’re not into speculation based on vague concepts that supposedly will change our life. We are looking for no-nonsense methods, based on tough-minded direct experience, to tackle specific problems many of us face.

For example, think about romantic relationships. Falling in love often includes greatly distorting the truth about our beloved. We grossly exaggerate their wonderful qualities, then suffer later when reality crashes down. I have looked into my own life to question why I do this. What I’ve found, in part, is that by believing someone I romantically love is a more amazing person than she is, I feel better about me. If I let myself believe she’s incredibly smart, beautiful, kind, affectionate, sexy and more – well, if a person like that loves me, then I also must be something special too. As the song says, “Darling, it’s incredible, that someone so unforgettable, thinks that I am unforgettable too.” The romanticized distortions about her also make me feel all the better about pouring my time and attention into such an extraordinary person.

Obviously, knowing more about some of these emotional reasons behind this common experience can help us break our old habits. We can make a conscious effort to see our beloved more realistically and so we can make wiser decisions about whether she or he is someone we really want to involve ourselves with. That’s not pop psychology or New Age theory. It’s clear-eyed real life experience, carefully observed and meticulously examined for meaningful solutions.

There’s a great deal more to this problem of romantic relationships, in my view. I’ll be writing about it in detail in the coming months. But this example may offer a very brief sample of the kind of thing you’ll find here on our website. We hope you’ll come back often. And please, tell your friends. We need your help to get the word out and find a base of supporters. – RSK