I-Thou Encounters vs I-It Experience and Use by Martin Buber

This is a deep idea.

Watch this Buber in 10 Minutes video: https://youtu.be/16Cr82mLhkw

and Read this short Wikipedia entry to prepare for this Meetup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_and_Thou

If you are intrigued, read a good translation of the original short book here: https://archive.org/stream/IAndThou_572/BuberMartin-i-and-thou_djvu.txt

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“Buber's main proposition is that we may address existence in two ways:

1. The attitude of the "I" towards an "It", towards an object that is separate in itself, which we either use or experience.
2. The attitude of the "I" towards "Thou", in a relationship in which the other is not separated by discrete bounds.

One of the major themes of the book is that human life finds its meaningfulness in relationships.

Buber explains that humans are defined by two word pairs: I–It and I–Thou.

The "It" of I–It refers to the world of experience and sensation. I–It describes entities as discrete objects drawn from a defined set (e.g., he, she or any other objective entity defined by what makes it measurably different from other entities). Fundamentally, "It" refers to the world as we experience it.

By contrast, the word pair I–Thou describes the world of relations. This is the "I" that does not objectify any "It" but rather acknowledges a living relationship. I–Thou relationships are sustained in the spirit and mind of an "I" for however long the feeling or idea of relationship is the dominant mode of perception. A person sitting next to a complete stranger on a park bench may enter into an "I–Thou" relationship with the stranger merely by beginning to think positively about people in general. The stranger is a person as well, and gets instantaneously drawn into a mental or spiritual relationship with the person whose positive thoughts necessarily include the stranger as a member of the set of persons about whom positive thoughts are directed. It is not necessary for the stranger to have any idea that he is being drawn into an "I–Thou" relationship for such a relationship to arise. But what is crucial to understand is the word pair "I–Thou" can refer to a relationship with a tree, the sky, or the park bench itself as much as it can refer to the relationship between two individuals. The essential character of "I–Thou" is the melting of the between, so that the relationship with another "I" is foremost.”

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This Meetup will take place on Zoom. RSVP before the Meetup starts to get the Zoom link.

This event is organized by the 52 Living Ideas Meetup group in New York City: https://www.meetup.com/52LivingIdeas