From the early morning news to the late night talk shows, from the morning to the evening newspapers, if there is one thing that the hosts and the writers mostly talk about is the failure of people in appreciating the uniqueness of their fellow human beings- the uniqueness that makes them different. But, why is it so? It's strange since we, human beings, seldom prefer monotony. There are innumerable instances in our daily lives where we feel bored due to a lack of variety in the proceedings, but are often forced to do certain things we won't do otherwise for either job purposes or financial reasons. When we welcome variety like fresh air, why is it that many of us do not appreciate people who are different from us in terms of caste, creed, religion, gender, nationality and point of views? But, then, do we not learn we should respect each other from the very early childhood? We do. So, where does the problem lie?
In my opinion, the problem lies in trying to find the sameness in the difference. Let me explicate what I have just said. I feel that when we wish to identify the extent of our similarities, we depreciate the fundamental differences in ourselves. The fact that there are certain core characteristics that make you YOU, and that there are certain essential qualities that make me ME is often forgotten. We can only adapt to something different when, mentally, we start accepting the difference. Unfortunately, we rarely learn that without external pressure.
Instead of teaching kids that 'we are all the same', we should teach them that we are all different and that is a good thing. In the traditional way of things, a person goes through several experiences which conditions one's mind to generalize everything. However, if we let kids experience the uniqueness of individuals, the chances are that they would start appreciating the qualities that make one different from another.
What do you think?
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