
Why Diversity Matters - bbnet1
https://medium.com/swlh/this-is-why-diversity-matters-50706073dd3d
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classicsnoot
I think it is very telling that none of the seemingly scientific claims or
measurable assertions in this piece have any citations. "Diversity of (x)" may
cause opportunities to arise, but Diversity itself, in this piece, could
probably be replaced with "better pay," or "better work conditions," or any
thing that most people believe to be good. It is an interesting piece because
it reinforces the ascendant commoner ideology of the US: stuff i like is good,
and here is a list of bullet points as to why good stuff is great."

EDIT: grammar

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deogeo
Seeing how crucial diversity is to the success of the US, it's a wonder how
places like China, Japan, or Korea manage to get anything done.

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wahern
Seeing as how we're _already_ a diverse place and considering our _nominal_
cultural ideals of equality of opportunity, internalizing a common narrative
about how diversity is intrinsically good would seem like a good way to
achieve the latter given the former.

The superficial logic is largely irrelevant; it's just the typical
unsubstantiated post hoc rationalizations we all engage in every day in
support of our own self image. One can recognize and accept this while still
appreciating the beneficial role of the narrative. Doing so seems requisite to
help mitigate the unintended consequences--privileged groups buying into the
narrative make it clear that they have a stake in how the narrative is
translated into substantive policies. Tying to shoot it down by arguing that
there's no evidence that diversity is beneficial would seem to me to be more
likely to result in far worse unintended consequences, on the whole, as
regardless of the cold _logic_ it would as a practical matter legitimate worse
kinds of prejudice. In fact, if _everybody_ internalized the narrative of
diversity it might lead to increased homogeneity, which if you believed that
less cultural diversity would be better (e.g. permitting more trusting social
norms) would make it a paradoxically more rational choice.

