We tend to relate only to those who have similar shared experiences to our own - the culture within which we were born and raised. We fear the unknown including people from other communities who may speak, look, dress, think and act differently than us. What seems uncertain is whether the Internet, ease of travel and immigration is making us more culturally homogeneous or more suspicious and fearful of those who have had a different experience than us.
It takes effort to understand others who are not like us. The path of least resistance is to simply remain within the shelter of our immediate shared experience. If you have never experienced civil unrest, war, political corruption, lack of infrastructure or famine, it is difficult to relate to those who have. It is easier to be fearful than empathetic - easier to ignore than engage.
We all share the experience of living on this planet as it spins through the cosmos. When can we recognize that as our shared experience?
Image Source: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/565/earth-the-blue-marble