Ubuntu and the Philosophy behind the Word

Ubuntu is a very old African word that means ‘ humanity to others’. It also means ‘ I am what I am because of who we all are’. Its a theory of African humanism.

Ubuntu is also an open source software platform that runs everywhere from the smartphone, the tablet and the PC to the server and the cloud.  But the origins of the word are interesting and something that the OS has incorporated into its own philosophy. In fact the OS brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

The other day my friend sent me this story through whatsapp  about Ubuntu which went like this :

An Anthropologist proposed a game to the African tribal children. 

He placed a basket of sweets and candy near a tree. 

And made them stand 100 metres away. 

And announced that who ever reaches first would get all the sweets in the basket.

When he said ready steady go...

Do you know what these small children did?

They all held each other's hands and ran towards the tree together, divided the sweets among them and ate the sweets and enjoyed it.

When the Anthropologist asked them why they did so?

They said 'Ubuntu'

Which meant 

How can one be happy when all the others are sad?’

 Ubuntu Etymology

In the Oxford Dictionary  it is  'A quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity.'

Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term roughly translating to "human kindness." It is an idea from the Southern African region which means literally "human-ness", and is often translated as "humanity towards others", but is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity”.

Ubuntu explained

According to Michael Onyebuchi Eze, the core of ubuntu can best be summarised as follows:

'This idealism suggests to us that humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual; my humanity is co-substantively bestowed upon the other and me. Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this otherness creation. And if we belong to each other, we participate in our creations: we are because you are, and since you are, definitely I am. The ‘I am’ is not a rigid subject, but a dynamic self-constitution dependent on this otherness creation of relation and distance'

Since the transition of South Africa to a democracy  Ubuntu was popularised by Nelson Mandela when he became President in 1994. He in many ways embodied the spirit of Ubuntu  throughout his life. 

Later,  Desmond Tutu is largely responsible for popularising the term to English language speakers when he explained it his book by saying :

'One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.’

The word has similar sounding equivalents in most of the South African languages.  In politics its flavour is socialistic because as in  the story above, each of the children got to eat the candy, almost like how wealth is equally distributed in a socialist system.

Even President Obama spoke about Ubuntu at the Nelson Mandela Memorial Service. In a world filled with terror and strife, hunger and poverty, war and racism, Ubuntu is a word and a philosophy that could heal both the masses and the universe.

______________________________________________________

About the Author : Prabhakar Mundkur has spent over 35 years in advertising and worked in India, Africa and Asia.  He is currently Chief Mentor with Percept H, a JV between Hakuhodo of Japan and Percept Ltd in India. He is on the advisory board of Sol 's Arc (solsarc.org ) an NGO dedicated to special education for intellectually challenged children. He is also  a member of Whiteboard ( whiteboardindia.org ) which supports senior management of NGOs in financial management, PR, Communication and HR through pro bono expertise.