COMIT proceeds from the premise that human oneness is a fundamental reality that dominant frameworks of thought do not adequately perceive or express. If humanity is in fact one, then starting from the principle of human oneness should produce research that reveals new horizons of human understanding. The concepts by which humanity understands itself, the methods by which it seeks truth, and the institutions through which it orders its common life must all be reconsidered in light of oneness.

COMIT treats the concept of human oneness as more than a moral aspiration or a call for unity. By human oneness we mean that humanity is, in a fundamental sense, a single people—not despite our differences, but alongside them. Just as the organs of a body are distinct yet inseparable from the whole, human beings and communities are diverse yet bound together in ways that make each person's wellbeing connected to everyone else's. We share a planet, a biosphere, and an increasingly intertwined set of economic, political, and social systems. What happens in one part of the world shapes what is possible in another. No nation, community, or individual can finally stand outside this web of interdependence.

We recognize that this is not a new idea. But we believe it has become newly urgent—and that taking it seriously as an organizing principle, rather than a vague sentiment, can open new ways of thinking about the challenges humanity faces.