Diversity

I saw this great old proverb in the tag line of a colleague's email yesterday, and it made me think about how valuable diversity really is.

If all pulled in one direction, the world would keel over.
-Yiddish proverb

The word "diversity" gets bandied about so frequently these days that I think it has become one-dimensional in its meaning. We now take it to mean only the differences in the color of one's skin.

I think we should go back to a more broad interpretation of this word, and this proverb made me realize why. Think about it: if we all were the same--same culture, same socio-economic background, same skin color, from the same country, believing the same things--we truly would make the world keel over.

My parents used to frequently say, "It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round." I guess that's their version of this proverb, but either way you look at it, I think we're much better off with diversity in ideas, people, cultures, and beliefs.

See you tomorrow.