There are five musical notes in a pentatonic scale. It is by far the most common scale found in music because these five notes work great together no matter how, when, or in what order they are played. Musicians around the world rely on these five notes to create harmonies regardless of the musical genre.
There are three primary colors- red, green, blue. They cannot be created by mixing any other colors. When these simple pigments are mixed together they can produce a multitude of hues to represent our imagination and the world around us.
There are five cardinal tastes- salty, bitter, sweet, sour, savory. Yet in combination they create an incredible array of flavors to delight a palette for more than a lifetime.
There are five basic senses- touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. Decades of research has now shown we have far more such as proprioception- the ability to know where we are in space, and vestibular- the ability to keep us upright. But these five form the building blocks. This is how we send signals to the brain to help us understand the world around us. They are all imperative to our survival and impact the decisions we make daily.
There are four seasons to a year. A period defined by its special climate conditions of light, temperature and weather patterns. They follow each other as regular as clock work, each flowing from one to the other. Each depending on the previous season to usher in the next one.
The theory we are all linked in some way to each other by no more than six degrees of separation seems preposterous. It was popularized by the now famous movie of the same name. The idea being that we are only one degree away from those you know, two degrees from everyone they know… and so on. But in June 2006, The Washington Post printed a story about researchers at Microsoft who studied over 30 billion electronic conversations of 180 million users in multiple countries. This covered the equivalent of half the world’s instant messaging at that time! They considered someone to be an acquaintance if they interacted at any point. This showed that 78% of the time it took just 6.6 hops or less to connect 180 billion different pairs of users.
We all require the same basics to survive- food, water, air and shelter. These haven’t changed since the beginning of mankind. In order to push beyond our boundaries and visit new places we either had to bring food, shelter and water with us or hope to find them along the way.
The majority of humans have five basic body parts- head, neck, torso, arms and legs. They may come in different sizes and shapes but the basic functions of each is the same.
There are six questions we all need answers to- who, what, when, where, why and many add how, when deciding any issue. They are the framework we use to define our actions and circumstances.
In a world of almost 8 billion souls the amount of differences is minuscule compared to all we share. Yet the breathtaking offshoots these few differences engender is infinite.
We see it all around us in different cultures, languages, foods, music, artwork, religions… But at their core they join us together in a breathtaking tapestry that stretches across continents and oceans.
The magnificent combinations and progenies shouldn’t be the focus that drives us apart but rather the starting point that encourages more radiant sparks to be generated in a firework of diversity. As a species we have always sought out new avenues of life and been driven by our desire to expand our universe. Complacency and routine are rarely comfortable. Most look to “spice” it up with endless varieties of tastes, colors, sounds, experiences and connections. They serve to extend our reach. But they can only be accomplished with the strength and support of our base.
A base we all share.
