Diversity. Some pundits seem to use the word as if it were something dirty, to be spat out of the mouth like some disagreeable food. But is it? Let's take a look at some examples.
Nature loves diversity. Why? Because diversity improves the chances of survival. As soon as a species enters a new environment, nature begins to adapt and change the species. If the species could not or does not adapt, it becomes extinct. In addition, the more species there are, the lower the chance that a single disease will make extinct all life.
Through many years of famine and pestilence, many farmers now know this. Clear cutting the existing diverse vegetation and planting only one crop, year after year, brought a bountiful harvest. For awhile, anyway. But wise farmers found that rotating crops to something else or inter-planting other crops (i.e., increasing diversity) could reduce or prevent the probability that the land would turn fallow. The Irish potato famine is an example of what happens when only one strain or species is planted and disease wipes out the entire crop. If multiple species were planted, some might be killed by disease, but the chances that all would be is reduced. Hence, it seems critical to our very survival to ensure diversity.
Through many years of using Microsoft Windows, many users now know this. Having only one operating system brought many benefits. One could become well versed in one system and transfer this knowledge from job to job. Developers could concentrate on one system, rather than many, when creating applications. But this lack of diversity makes it easier for viruses to wipe out huge numbers of PCs, all at once. Some even envision a coming perfect storm where entire industries or even countries could be felled in one swoop. Hospitals, air traffic control, navigation, communications, among others could come to a halt. But having multiple operating systems, some that are substantially different from Windows, can prevent problems such as this. Again, it may be critical to our very survival to ensure diversity.
Through many years of political correctness (from both the extreme left and the extreme right), many in society now know this. A society locked into one way of thinking, acting, or being is a society ripe for disease. Whether mental, spiritual, or even physical, disease will always, in time, rip though such a culture laying waste to entire regions. Again, it may be critical to our very survival to ensure diversity.
That said, it would be just asincorrect to go to the other extreme. For example, a community that cannot communicate amongst its members, because there is no common language, cannot survive. But even then, here in Hawai'i, as the various ethnic groups came here to work, a kind of mishmash of Hawaiian, English, and Asian languages sprung up so that everyone could communicate the basics. There was no need for a law to mandate a common language, it just naturally sprang into being through pure necessity. But it was made richer by incorporating the words from these regions into one.
To me, extremism, whether for or against diversity, is not consistent with nature. Wise men do not fool with Mother Nature because bad things happen when you do.
Have a Great Weekend, Everyone - Aloha!
