No Diversity No Creativity

There can be no creativity without diversity. Combining two or more of the same thing gets more of the same thing. It takes the combination of two or more different ideas or things to create something new. The greater the diversity of ideas, things, experiences, and cultures the more opportunity to create.

Without the culture of India, two thousand years ago coming up with the concept of zero, we would not have higher math and accounting. I took a thousand years after the arrival of the zero in the numerical system before it reached Europe. At that time the Roman numeral system was in use and it didn’t have a zero. Without the zero we would not have the binary code of one’s and zero’s and computers.

English is a borrowing language. Of the English language 29% comes from Latin, 6% from Greek, 29% from French, 26% from Germanic languages and 10% from a broad mix of other languages. So, when we demand that people speak English, we are equally guilty of not doing the same.

The Arab culture developed math beyond arithmetic. This culture developed algebra. Without this and other higher math we would not have developed technology. Algebra is an Arabic word. They developed the algorithm. And most of the word today uses Arabic numbers.

The list is endless. Those who fear diversity and learning from others, are trapped. Our most faithful tradition is change. And even change is changing.