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Rejoice in the variety of humanity
Wednesday, 7 December 2005
The world would be boring if we were all the same. It's an old idea, but one that many seem to ignore. Humanity is a vast swirling mass of difference. Just when you think you understand it, someone comes along and shatters that illusion.
This is something to rejoice about. The infinite variety that you find in the faces of the world is one of the true miracles.
You should allow yourself to be exposed and open to this diversity. Differences in race, culture, taste and opinion are there to be explored. You may not agree with everything you see and hear, but in most cases you should be happy that it's there.
Of course, humanity has a wicked side as well. Crime and violence are inexcusable, and this is the side we should shun.
But apart from this dark aspect, you should be tolerant of the views and behavior of others. Allow people the freedom to search for their own happiness. You never know, they may well find something that makes your own life richer.
It amazes me how many people find this view abhorrent. They wish the world was a grey likeness of themselves. They ridicule those who see things differently. Those who don't share their own tastes are obviously stupid, they think.
But it is they who are stupid.
Speak to people and take an interest in what makes them different from you. Allow their ideas and tastes a chance. Listen to their views about what makes them happy, and try to apply it to your own life.
Just look at what humanity has achieved. Some thousands of years ago we were dropped naked on this planet in the dust. And look around you to see what we've built out of that dust.
It is the explorer in us that has created the wonderful knowledge, art and technology that we enjoy today. Often those that started revolutions in human knowledge were looked upon as stupid, dangerous or just plain wrong. But the explorer in them persisted and gave us what we have today.
If we refuse to acknowledge that it may be others who hold the truth, no matter how strange to us. If we refuse to allow those who differ from us to explore their differences. It is then that we will freeze in time. Without variety, progress stops.
And we will all be poorer for it.
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