The Value of Diversity

[DiscoBiscuit]

I find diversity of opinion to be very important.

 

[Tellenbach]

I'm currently reading "Republican Like Me", a book about a lefty who tries to mingle with conservatives for a year in order to understand them better; I applaud the effort. There are very few lefties who openly admit that their world view is mostly groupthink shaped by their peers. The author admits he lives in a lefty bubble and hopes to understand why the other side behaves and thinks as they do. The important and I think very important solution to polarization comes from a 2012 study by a University of Arizona professor.

She gathered 379 undergrads who were political partisans and gave them reading material on a divisive issue (such as universal healthcare) that presented both the Republican and Democrat views. After reading the material, the students were divided into three groups: 1) only partisans from one party, 2) a mix of Republicans and Democrats, and 3) a control group that just sat and watched.

The first two groups were given 5 minutes to discuss their reactions to the reading but were instructed not to share their political affiliations. The results were that after only 5 minutes, even strong partisans were more receptive to the other side.

Democrats became, for instance, more open to drilling for oil and downgraded the attractiveness of alternative fuels. Strong partisans in the heterogeneous group became more open in their thinking than the weak partisans who were in the nonsocial control group. And lest anyone think the influences were purely transitory, Klar followed the "downstream" effects of the experiment and found that members of the heterogenous group continued to express significant preference for diverse political perspectives into the future. In less time than it takes to boil an egg, strongly held partisan views were eroded, and in, in some cases, substantially so.

I guess this is another example of the Mark Twain quote on traveling. You don't need to travel far to get the benefits of diversity; just talk to the other side and get out of your bubble.

Btw, the book completely leaves out libertarians, probably because we don't live in bubbles like lefties and conservatives.

 

[Tellenbach]

Remember the final scene in Rocky IV when Rocky knocked down Drago and the Soviet fans all cheered for the American? That's a beautiful example of the value of diversity. When commies are exposed to the courage and grit of the American boxer, they slowly discard their preconceived notions and learn to appreciate the athlete and ignore all the anti-American propaganda they've been taught.

To quote (approximately) from Rocky "We can all change! You can change; I can change!"

 

[Tengri]

There is intrinsic value in preserving all opinions, regardless of their deemed rightness or obvious faults. The modern era is cosmopolitan and incredibly multicultural characterized by a fixation on and celebration of the individual - more so than in any point in human history. The reason subversive groups like neo-Nazis, repressive religious groups, or counterculture movements are allowed to operate and march is because precedents set by democratic institutions protect their right to exist. On an individual level, people travel along their own twisting road of development with complex personalities and multivalent backgrounds (that supersede race, archetype, and stereotype) toward personal fulfillment and hopefully understanding. Conflict is inherent in breaching agreement between individual minds or communities is the progress of peace, according to Kant. But diverging from this, I would argue that as with morphing language, evolution of culture, and variety in thought, peace is perspective - and that people bring different sides of a truth together, and no opinion, perception, or belief is greater than another.

 

[LightSun]

“Those that don’t understand judge. With understanding comes less judgment. We all fear that which we don’t understand.
We often demonize people or actions of others because in part we don’t know their motives.

Prejudice though is when we judge other cultures, peoples, nationalities, ethnic groups and civilizations other than our own.

There are some where this is completely apparent. Hitler, Stalin and serial killers are doing heinous acts. These absolutely need to be stopped and stomped irrevocably.

Diversity though can be a wonderful thing. We can grow and see things from other peoples perspective and lens of perception. If we are nationalistic, full of pride, hubris and closed minded to see other perspectives, then we will never grow.

Not to the potential we are capable of. If we only hold unto our own mores and norms, we can not see the picture coming from other rich cultures and heritages.

If we can practice tolerance, open mindedness and respect for those others of dissimilar beliefs we can stretch and grow our understanding.

We can evolve to be even greater than our current selves by incorporating and stretching our limited perceptions into a whole new level of understanding.

The danger and holding back of closed minds is that they hold back all of society. Change is often feared. It is thus resisted. There are visionaries who can perceive a bright new reality that is greater than our current status quo.

It is up to change agents to understand these fears. We need to work together and find a bridge of understanding. It is a shame that often times we resist change.

We fear what we will lose rather than focusing on what a bright future we shall receive if we only commit to progressive changes. We are more reactive than proactive.

It is fear and that fear stops us from traveling to the unknown. One that will expand our reality and as well our quality of lives. That is why we need a leader who understands the fears of their constituency.

Leaders who understand our fears and helps to placate them by offering a greater future. That is if we only combine forces and unite to usher this change together. In order to do that there are essential ingredients.

These being tolerance, respect and open mindedness of other people viewpoints. It is only when we communicate from such a vantage point that we can communicate successfully and bridge the gap to make successful changes.” LightSun

#leader #communicate #diversity #tolerance #openminded #respect #proactive #reactive #change #fear #future

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

 

[Pionart]

The term 'diversity' is often used as a way of destroying true diversity.

I love diversity, I'm a (poly)polytheist, but I'm very skeptical whenever someone uses the term.

 

[LightSun]

It’s personal, I just refrain from using nouns like God, devil, angels, demons, heaven, hell.

Its just these nouns into concepts have been abused by Homo Sapiens. As for God. My personal choice…is Great Mystery.

@Pionart also the term mortality, also fall into abuse.

As for being difficult to read. I apologize, I can be long winded. I had a similar problem with a member called mercurydawn on a site.

His writing had so much descriptive language that it was hard to follow, actually painstakingly. Also I have friends that write continuously but don’t break off and use paragraphs.

I mention it politely but they still don’t break their comments down into more accessible reading material.

What I do is copy their content. I then edit and break down into paragraphs their comments when I paste their work. I just try best I’m able.

 

[Pionart]

It’s personal, I just refrain from using nouns like God, devil, angels, demons, heaven, hell.

Its just these nouns into concepts have been abused by Homo Sapiens. As for God. My personal choice…is Great Mystery.

@Pionart also the term mortality, also fall into abuse.

I agree that those terms are abused.

I personally use them to an extreme degree, because when used correctly, they hold a lot of power.

Morality especially. We need to speak about morality because of how important it is.

Even though I disapprove of Christianity, I approve of their focus on goodness, even if the majority of church leaders are far from good (which is ironic given how much of the gospels are about criticising religious leaders).

I think one needs to be very careful when speaking of things like the gods. I'm in a position to do so, but even I need to be careful.

When an evil person talks about such things, it can be very destructive, because of the forces they're playing with.

I encourage EVERYONE to have a focus on being a good person. Even if most people don't know what goodness entails, merely believing that it's of utmost importance is enough to begin the work of turning from evil towards goodness.

We need to talk about such things, and talk about it openly. It would be so great if society as a whole could come to understand the true meaning of these terms.

As it stands, truly good people are greatly discriminated against. They should be the ones leading earth's way, but instead earth is led by the most evil of people who are leading earth to its doom.

Unfortunately, this has been the way of earth since its beginning. But it has gotten worse.

 

[LightSun]

I have always liked Marcus Aurelius quote, “Whether heaven exists or not, I will live a virtuous life and be a person of character. When I die, heaven will take care of itself.”

I know we can’t really change people. Moreover we don’t have the right. This is part of my philosophy I’ve incorporated.

“I am responsible for my own thoughts, feelings and actions irregardless of others or the situation.

I will not return negative energy with negative energy.

What I do and say is a reflection of me. What they do is a reflection of them.”

I can’t stand the finger pointers. I don’t care for when theists bash non-theists, non-theists bashing theists, republicans bashing democrats, democrats bashing republicans as infintum.

People are they way they are due to their belief systems. They are not going to change for our benefit.

I say and really mean this. I don’t care for what a person believes in or not. As long as they have positive energy.

We need each other to make a difference. Let’s work together to make this a better world.

 

[Pionart]

@LightSun I agree with that quote. Goodness doesn't do what it does out of reward, but simply to create benefit for all.

Do note that you want others to have "positive energy". So, you're still taking part in us-vs-them judgement by requiring that.

And I approve.

It is actually right to try and change others, but only if you're changing them for the better. I abhor brainwashing.

It is our duty to be good and to encourage goodness in others.

To fight for what is right, even at detriment to oneself.

I believe in karma, so there truly is justice.

But humanity will be destroyed before justice is done.

So we the just walk a sorrowful path.

 

[Coriolis]

View attachment 27152

Replace "equity" with "Christianity".