Choices

If every person on earth looked exactly the same—same height, same weight, same hair and eye color, same skin tone, same number of fingers and toes, same curve of hip and shape of nose, same twitch of smile, same dimples and moles—would people still find ways to hate and abuse each other?

We're a messed up crowd never without a reason to pick at, squash, and topple our fellow humans. If we looked the same, we'd still ridicule one another for how we talked. If we spoke the same, we'd scoff at how others walked or danced or ran. If we moved the same, we'd still tear each other apart for having different ideas. If we thought and created the same we'd be dull, dull, dull. We'd have few choices for food on the menu at a restaurant, a limited song list for our ear buds, a lack of patterns for our clothing or designs for our buildings. Life would be a sameness that gave us no meaning. We'd have nothing to talk about, nothing to celebrate, nothing to dream.

Imagine going to a zoo that only had giant anteaters. Fascinating animals, yes, but would people want to keep going back to the zoo all the time just to look at anteaters? How fun would it be to visit an art museum that only displayed paintings with the color red? They would never get any new artwork; it would always be the same canvas pieces with red paint. What if the only type of flower that existed was a yellow rose? My grandmother's favorite flowers were yellow roses. It's comforting and joyful to have a favorite color or flower, but if there were no other options, I'm not sure if would feel as great.

One might argue that if all we ever knew was sameness, we'd be fine with it. But would we be kind? Can we have no purpose yet treat each other well? Why would we choose kindness simply because we were the same? Would it still be a choice? If we didn't have choices, would we be happy?

It's all hypothetical, to imagine a world lacking diversity. What's real are the choices we make. If we really desire sameness, let's all choose to be kind.