One of the defining elements of New Humanism is its grounding in human experience rather than belief. Silo placed inner experience at the core of this worldview. He urged individuals to discover meaning through reflection, meditation, and self-transformation. This perspective profoundly reshaped my way of seeing the world. It is one of the most powerful and liberating shifts in how we can understand ourselves and others.

Ask yourself: when you say human beings are “rational” or “violent,” are you speaking from belief—or from experience?

In my experience, people are neither consistently violent nor purely rational. They are far more complex, shaped by context, emotion, and the moment. Yet we often rely more on taught or promoted beliefs than on our own lived reality.

The balance is off—we believe too much and experience too little.

Take democracy as an example. When you speak about democracy as a value, are you talking about an idealized concept or your actual experience of it? How do you participate in it? What are the results? Does democracy work for you, in your life and your community? Is U.S. democracy the same as democracy in Germany?

The global crisis we face today is not merely political or economic—it is, at its core, a crisis of belief. Belief systems are collapsing.

Many people believe in the Nation-State but no longer trust their governments. They believe money will solve everything, yet depression, anxiety, and suicide rates are rising in wealthy countries. They believe in “family values,” yet more and more choose not to have children. A majority in the West identify as Christian, but few practice their religion. People believe military power will bring peace, but experience—from World War I to Afghanistan—tells a different story. Politicians promise jobs, yet even when those promises don’t materialize get re-elected. Many claim to value hard work, yet seek to work as little as possible. Some still deny climate change—even as their communities suffer from floods, fires, hurricanes, landslides, and heatwaves.

Why is direct experience so rarely acknowedged or valued? Because society teaches us to believe first and forement in money and prestige. External validation is prioritized over internal understanding. We’re taught to defer to credentials and socially-accepted “truths” rather than trust our own observations. The consumer economy reinforces this—we buy solutions instead of developing skills, consume content instead of generating ideas, and seek instant gratification over learning through trial and error. Most critically, direct experience can’t be packaged or standardized. In a society valuing efficiency, the messy process of learning through direct engagement appears less valuable than consuming pre-digested information.

Consider free speech. Do you really believe in it— and, more importantly, do you actually practice it? Are you using your voice or do you defer to what is commonly agreed upon? Are you helping others find and use their voices?

Many believe volunteering is a waste of time. For me, it was the single most important investment I made in my life. Nearly everything I know about myself, much of what I have, the people I know across five continents, and my most meaningful place in the world came from my decision to dedicate a large part of my daily life to humanizing the earth.

The Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text on which Gandhi wrote a book-length commentary, includes this powerful passage:

“Be intent on action, not on the fruits of action; avoid attraction to the results and attachment to inaction. Perform actions, firm in discipline, relinquishing attachment; be impartial to failure and success—this equanimity is called discipline.” (2.47–58)

The world doesn’t need more belief systems—it needs people grounded in lived experience. People capable of reflecting, communicating, and advancing meaningful proposals. People who understand that the transformation of society begins with the transformation of our inner world.