We exist only in relationship to others
We cannot exist apart from each other. Everything is relative in the sense that my existence is not separate from yours.
We exist only in relationship to others. Our actions can be described only in their context. My existing requires you, and so forth. We are not separate, we define each other. The external world is as much you as your own body. —Alan Watts, *Out of Your Mind
- previously: the external world is as much you as your own body
- see also: the limits of the individual are porous — no effort is completely independent from the efforts of another
- see also: at every level we are a web of interdependencies — at the macro level and the micro level, we are inseparable from each other
- see also: the boundary is a meeting place — and not so much a rock hard line as a wiggly one
- connect to: the idea in taoism that other’s actions are determined by your behavior