The document discusses universal human traits and how perspectives on them differ. It explores three ways individuals can form their own understanding of the world: through education, changing stereotypes, and conviction in human rights. While backgrounds vary, all people share being part of the same world. Education can help overcome divides by teaching shared obligations and values across societies. An open mind and appreciation of diverse cultures are also important for a globalized world respecting human diversity and rights.

1. Liu
Lingzhi Liu
EAD II
Paul Hufker
September 16th
Universal traits among the world
Throughout the entire human history, people have never stopped
debating about the issue of “what universal traits is” . A
universal trait is the term to describe that every individual is
sharing the same cultural background worldwide. However, for
most people around the world their opinions toward “universal
trait”are not balanced. According to the author Ethan Watter ’s
“ Being Weird: How Culture Shapes the Mind “ , Kwame
Appiah’s articles of “ Making Conversation” and “ The Primacy
of Practice” , all of these articles are discussing about the
universal traits but with a different view of it . Though people
may come from different backgrounds, each person has his right
to form their own recognition of the world in three ways:
education, changing perspective of stereotypes and the
conviction of human rights.
Appiah mentioned in his article “ Making Conversation” that
under this diverse world, the key to become “cosmopolitan” is
“globalized”. However, under the current society, it is hard for
people to abandon their own background and fit in the world
stage. The way to better solve this problem is through
education. Education is the key to unlock the barriers between
all odds around the world. “One is the idea that we have
obligations to others, obligations that stretch beyond those to
whom we are related by the ties of kith and kind, or even the
more formal ties of a shared citizenship. The other is that we
take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular
human lives, which means taking an interest in the practices and
beliefs that lend them significance.” One of education's
responsibilities is to teach people how to be responsible citizens

2. in any given society. For example , the existence of law is to
preventing people from making mistakes.
Since the world has never been this globalized before
,changing perspective of stereotype is necessary for diversified
society . “It’s generally agreed that all of us see the world in
ways that are sometimes socially and culturally constructed,
that pluralism is good, and that ethnocentrism is bad.”[920 ] It
is all agreed that currently international interaction play a major
role in all society , thus , it is important to recognize people
from different backgrounds and places . It was found that
where you grew up, and your culture affected how drastically
the illusion was seen. Results reported Americans struggling the
most to see identical lines. Understanding different cultures and
traditions could help you be open-minded in order to become
globalized . It had previously been assumed that Western
culture was a good basis for human similarities. “the very way
we think…makes us distinct from other humans on the planet”
(497). The lack of cross cultural research has lead to wide
misunderstandings about human kind. Scientists must reevaluate
the way they think about the human brain, because it is not as
universal as it was once thought to be.“ To avoid stereotyping,
…...qualities might be. Challenge liberal arts graduates on their
appreciation of cultural diversity and you’ll often find them
retreating to the anodyne notion that under the skin everyone is
really alike.” [921] Within the different cultures and traditions,
the illusion of individuals might be limited under local
humanity. Even though we sometimes did not realize the
limitation , we should not be constraint by it .
In retrospect through human history, the conviction of human
right has only been raised in recent 100 years-- along with the
development of the society, people’s awareness of the value of
human rights have increased as well . With all the discussions
from Kwame Appiah and Ethan Watter , people’s awareness of
their human rights. “Because there are so many human
possibilities worth exploring, we neither expect nor desire that
every person or every society should converge on a single mode

3. of life” (131) In “ Making Conversation” , “ cosmopolitian” is
the keyword through out the whole article. However, the reason
why people to have the confident and strength to talk about this
is because , the higher the education people receive, the deeper
the truth people will dig in, and human right is the answer they
will get. “ .As we’ll see, there will be times when these two
ideals — universal concern and respect for legitimate difference
— clash. There’s a sense in which cosmopolitanism is the name
not of the solution but of the challenge.” not suprisingly , that “
cosmopolitian “ could only be a goal for the curent society , it
would be almost impossible within the 50 years, some human
nature which we were born with could never be pure
scarification , without any selfishlessness .
In conclusion , education could help people see the world,
changing perspective of the ordinary stereotype could bring
people a border illusion of this world , and having a convictin
of human rights gives people confidence to ensure their
meaning of this world. Appiah and Watter are both discussing
the universal traits, about whether people with different
background share similar traits or not . The answer is yes , even
though people with different background , different culture,
different perspective of morality, but we are all citizen of the
same world . “Conversation doesn’t have to lead to consensus
about anything, especially not values; it is enough that it helps
people get used to one another”( 82)