And yet it moves

I took inspiration from this quote from Galileo about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, despite the semblance to be the contrary, to depict similar reasoning I made in the past days. I have been in Rotterdam for the past month, and my greatest surprise was the easiness of finding common ground with people from different cultures and interests. In fact, it is simple to think of reasons why the world shouldn't work: people have different ideas, values, characters, and priorities. I find it astonishing how things work smoothly in reality: from having a functioning sewage system to having fun while partying together.

I find this realization powerful and liberating. Previously I had the tendency to consider myself particularly fortunate to have friendly people around, and I was afraid that leaving it would imply finding a worse environment. This was not the case, and the experience of this first month showed me that the world is filled with both friendly and nasty people, but the friendly ones are the great majority.

I experienced this realization particularly at Eurekaweek, the introductory week of the Erasmus of Rotterdam university. I advise you to watch the short theme video because it provides a fresh perspective on the attitude one can have on opportunities around this time.

In conclusion, there is undeniable common ground between humans. If we are still here after plagues, wars and earthquakes, then we should be more confident in humanity, similar to the certainty in the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

Luca Bisi