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What IF planet earth was just : One color, one race, one nation, one religion, one language ?
Does all this diversity in races, colors, religions etc., bring human being to war, hatrated, anger, frustration etc. ? The differences that we all share on this beautiful planet, is it to our advantage ?
Would it not be easier and more pleasant to speak all, the same language, have the same culture, practice the same religion etc. ?
What is your take ? Would you rather live on A PLANET EARTH elsewhere, that it's all the same colors, same culture, same language, same religion etc...If not, why and what do you propose to make OUR planet earth, as much unified as possible within is differences?
Lejan . 30+
Mireille Chéry
Ummm, c'est bon !
Lejan . 30+
If you will guard the soup, I get the 7 billion chairs ... ;o)
Mireille Chéry
Mireille Chéry
@ : To all
Firstly, thank you to each of you for taking the time to put your opinions, suggestions, ideas, solution to this debates.
For the persons I did not reply, it's not that your points wasn't good, I did want to see how many real debaters will actually answered, and by not having me replying to all gave to this debate, close to 70 "real" person with new ideas, refreshing points of views for all to read. Thanks for your understanding.
We all agreed that the differences on our planet earth, have great importance in our lives, mind, spirit and heart...this is why this planet its so great : our differences make us grow, learn, teach, educate, understanding, curious etc., also, we do agree that at times, our differences, can bring the worst of humanity : wars, prejudice etc.
Furthermore, we all agree that part of the solutions is : education, acceptance, respect, understanding, love and embracing the differences of GOD offers us "for those whom believe in GOD!
Now, each country on this planet is in a way, the same : religion, race, language, colored etc., if we put it in the context of the debate, even, within ones country, there is war, violence etc, and they all are of the same nations, so why, there is so much prejudice and hate ? One can only imagine, IF planet earth was all of the same, it would be catastrophic.
Unless, WE as individual decide to do the change within ourselves to : accept, respect, embrace, understand the other cultures, views, opinions etc., even if you don't agreed with it, the importance is to give the liberty of expression, creativity, to take roots and live.
It doesn't matter if you are Jewish, Afro-American-African-Haitian, Asian, American...or any of the other, Nations, because : Courage, strenght, joy, peace, love, etc., these are universal language, that everyone communicate, without having to be of the same race, religion, color. Change is within us to do, to embrace each other differences.
Thanks to all.
Claudia Valdes
I find this subject very interesting. Actually, I was just thinking about this. I lived in a tourist island, where I can see people from all around the world just enjoying their vacation time, and it came to my attention the diversity of races that more often are seen forming a family, and this just brought me the question if one day in the future, we may create a new race just by combining all the existing now. If this happen, how the society will change?
But as your question, If I would like to live in a place where we are all the same, I honestly wouldn't like it. Why? because diversity is what makes the human kind what it is. If you think about it, even in a relationship, both of the persons involved, are quiet different, because they complement each other. We learned about others thoughts, behave, ideals, culture (this very important), etc.
It is true that this very same diversity have created a series of problems between nations, even between people from the same country, but I don't think that uniformity in the society will help much, because the very own nature of the human being. We need to learn from others, if not, growth will not be possible. Maybe, if we get to a point where people are somehow similar between each others, this wont last long, because there will always be someone that will not agree with the rest, and will created another tendency or way of thinking.
What may be the solution? Understand, really UNDERSTAND, that we are different from each other, and that, if I think or act different, it doesn't necessary means that is not correct. Because you don't understand another person it doesn't mean he is wrong. What we need to do is bring back all the values that society has been putting aside, and start being tolerant with others.
Everything starts at home, teach our children about tolerance, diversity and acceptance, and will be a greater society.
Mireille Chéry
Thank you kindly for your input and I hope your vision of this world will come about...it's a great one!
Peace
Lili Cheung
War and hatred are not happend because of the difference between individuals, but it comes from our fear, ambition, envy and selfishness.
A pleasant conversation is created by understanding between each other.
Mireille Chéry
Cheers
Debra Smith 200+
Uniformity is not my dream and I delight to live in a multicultural, multilingual country too.
Barry Palmer 50+
It seems that almost everyone agrees that a world with less diversity would be less beautiful and less pleasant, with the one possible exception that it might be more peaceful. I watched a talk recently in which the speaker described herself as having the color of chocolate. I just love that phrase. It would be such a pity to have world where noone had the color of chocolate.
I think that Mireille's point, that diversity dwells within us, is very insightful. A more peaceful world, with less outer diversity, may provide the freedom to allow our inner diversity to blossom abundantly. A single language might make the world less interesting, but it would certainly facilitate the fast exchange of ideas.
Unfortunately, I think that Peter Lindsay's point is the most applicable. Whether we like it or not, the world is fast becoming a monoculture. The worlds languages are disappearing at an amazing rate. I have studied only two languages other than English, but I learned that there are concepts that cannot be translated. This means that a vast amount of knowledge is being lost, likely forever. By letting these languages die, we could be setting back human progress by centuries.
Mireille Chéry
I love my chocolate color, and furthermore, I certainly don't see it as a problem or negative as society (some people trying to stigmate it), so for me, it's not the outside colored or the outside world views that bother me, IS THE INSIDE WORLD of any human, the heart translate our views for the world outside to see, to like, dislike, love etc.,
If human can see this world with the eyes of their heart, mind you, they have to do the work from within (change their heart for the best that it can be), well, I believe deep down in my heart, that world that we are leaving now with all is beautiful diffences: language, religion, colour etc, would be monotone, without loosing is colors and differences, hence, no violence, wars etc...why, the heart don't have prejudice, we put it in, consciously or not!
Think about a child for a moment: they don't see colors, language etc., they just don't see it right, because they look at the world, with the eyes of their heart, and they embrace all this diversity. So i'm praying for all of us, to have the heart of the child that we use to have. This beautiful planet is a playground, we can only play,if we have a heart of a child....I love to play!
Thanking you for your response...it touch my heart!!
Peace
peter lindsay 30+
Mireille Chéry
peter lindsay 30+
Ever been woken by a crying baby at 2am or had the phone ring in the middle of your favourite TV show?
Mireille Chéry
I understand the crying of a baby or TV show analogy...kind of : best of both world, or you can not cook a cake and eat it to..!
The corrolation of our differences is all people want this diversity in our world, and in the same time, nobody is doing nothing to put a stop to the indifferences that some manifest by war, hatrated, violence...because of our differences.
When will start to look with the eyes of your heart, only then, I deeply believe that will be able to even pronounce "Mamihlapinatapai or mamihlapinatapei".
Thanks for the word Peter!!
Peace
Brian Flick
Your question makes me think of a book I read and really liked in elementary school. Its called "The Giver", and its about a world that is color-blind. There is one person called the Giver who has the knowledge of "colors" and he ends up mentoring this child who SPOILER ALERT...
gives the knowledge of color to the whole world.
The concept is similar because people who see everything rationally do not always get why things are so beautiful in the world.... you might need to read the book to understand what I'm getting at, but it has stuck with me for 10+ years.
Empathy is definitely lacking here on Earth but I would like to believe the situation is improving.
"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, uses that something to support their own existence."
-Frank Zappa
Mireille Chéry
Improvement is need it and is being done...I hope to see a glimpse of it, in my life time.
Peace
Verble Gherulous 20+
However, it does seem quite apparant that the ethnic differences are indeed the basis for most conflicts. When studying history, although you may come across the veneer of wars based on ideology and religion, scratch the surface barely and wars are almost always fought because of economic reasons, which are based on the judgement that one race or ethnic group has a more "valid" claim to those economic resources than another ethnic group.
Thus it is not our diversity, so much as our inability to be mature enough to realise that another ("them" as opposed to "us") have as much right to resources as we do ourselves. Were we to extoll the virtues of other ethnic groups as much as we do our own, we would begin to take to our hearts that true understanding would alleviate this inherent mistrust.
Once, I had a coworker who hated hearing people speaking Spanish in Wal-Mart. When pressed, it turned out it was because she couldn't understand what they were saying. It made her fearful. When I explained that what they were saying was usually the same thing she would say to a companion in Wal-Mart (do we need soap? What cereal would the kids like? etc), her apprehension lessened. It is mutual understanding that gets us past our fear.
I am a big proponent of mission trips and study abroad programs and think they should be requirements for graduating high school and college.
Because, to be perfectly honest, that Lithuanian pharmacist who gets me my prescription wouldn't be half as beautiful if her accent were as plain as my American Midwest accent!
Mwenjew Wewngwa
anshul singh
Branislav Ivkovic 20+
Mireille Chéry
Cheers
PS: Beautiful pics!
Branislav Ivkovic 20+
Just to add, I believe that everything bad happened/is happening in this world just because some people have a notion that their life is more important than the lives of other people. I was taught (thanks mom!) to believe that in this life, the only thing we actually 'have' is each other...
Mireille Chéry
Cheers to your mom!!
Take great care!
pranoy sundar 20+
If it were all the same everywhere, then maybe it would've been easy .....but at the same time, boring and not beautiful.
Mireille Chéry
I certainly agree with all saying that it is way more beautiful with our differences...for me the differences are from within us, within each of us...that want to beleive that.
The color, religion, language would not matter really, because we could love, care, embrace everybody, every religion, every language...if inside of us we see all the beauty and the power that come with all that differences.
We have see people with the eyes of our heart, not our physical eyes...
Love the rainbow comparaison...indeed, it is quite beautiful!
Peace
teja nikhil
Mireille Chéry
Now, I will say again , the differences is not by our color, religion, language etc., that we can actually see, but rather, the difference of our heart...even if we are all the same culture, colour, etc...if we can still see as being different as a catalyst to war, anger, hate etc...it does not matter if we live on this planet as it is, or reivente a new one, suggested on this debate.
The differences in within us, in our heart...change your heart, and embrace and value our differences as powerful, and we all, so in need of it!!
Cheers,
Robert Winner 50+
No I am not infavor of this idea. We are not perfect. I do like or condone the hate. But all in all .... long live the difference.
All the best. Bob.
Lindsay Newland Bowker 50+
There can be no unity , in the capital U sense of unity, without diversity.
we grow stagnant and complacent when we sit only at the camp fires of those who shre our values, our culture, our beliefs, our traditions. It's a kind of intellectual and cultural in breeding and will have the same end result as in breeding in nature.
Colleen Steen 500+
If planet earth was just one color, one race, one nation, one religion, one language, I think/feel that it would not be as interesting. It is a choice in every moment for us to see the differences with hatred, anger, frustration...or.....as a gift.
In my perception, we are all more the same than different. We all share the same planet, breath the same air, drink the same water...we all share the same feelings...sadness, happiness, frustration, contentment, joy, humor, discontent, etc. In general, we all want to love and be loved. The differences are an advantage when/if we choose to see it in that light...it is a choice:>)
The differences are the gifts we give to each other. It is by connecting with people throughout our world that I have learned more about our world, other people, and myself. By exploring the differences with an open heart and mind, curiosity and unconditional love, I have discovered how much the same we actually are, and that, to me, is a gift:>)
Mireille Chéry
This is what I like about this debate, people actually see that differences, diversity is a strenght and is powerful...that we should embrace it, not condamn it and having a bunch of prejudice, because of some lack of some sort.
Yes, our different make our planet much more enjoyable, pleasant etc., so the ultimate choice we should make, should be going towards saving it, share it, and love it...We (human) should have a common goal, objective, all over the world, stick to it, and make it happen : Respect and protect our diffences...
Peace
Bharath Kumar Kunjibettu 10+
I too agree with Colleen, Coming from a land of so many cultures which honestly I am not so aware of . I might find it boring to interact on everyday basis with a person who follows the same culture as I do (maybe I would be excited seeing that person for the first time ).But personally , I have had so much fun interacting people from other religions (among my friends) .
Not to mention after giving my opinions on TED , the interesting opinions I have received from different people from different countries only justifies that there must be diversity in cultures.
Our focus must not be in having one religion ,one language, one nation etc but in trying to spread the vision of global peace , harmony , love , humor , discussions and that is what TED is all about
hope it helps .
Regards,
Bharath
Mireille Chéry
Yes you are right, global peace, harmony, love, humor...this is the common goal for the planet to achieve..TED is doing a great job, for sure. I respect it so much...but each human being should do their parts and contribute to it...so it can become global.
Why our differences/culture put us in such a "family feud"...all this culture is great and I embrace it for sure and love it...but in the same time, people kill in the name of religion, colour, language...so if all the same, I'm wondering if it will not solve these major issues that our planet is going through right now...
I love my sushi, just love a shishkabab, smoke meat, dancing salsa, belly dancing....
Peace
Bharath Kumar Kunjibettu 10+
coming to your question "Why our differences/culture put us in such a "family feud? why people kill in the name of religion? ... it is just a myth, recently a terrorist was captured in India and he has made headlines through out our country and he confessed that he was very poor that he had to choose this path ... It is a very complicated network of criminal organizations to make them divert people or media to make the confess that criminals kill in the name of religion.
Usually poverty becomes a reason behind crimes.
So we can't come to conclusions the it is difference in culture causes difference in opinion, it is simply the need for discussion which people are not able to find time out of their busy schedule...
The only way to solve such problems is create awareness so much so that our vision of City 2.0 is very near to all cities in across the globe..
Cheers,
Bharath
Colleen Steen 500+
I agree of course, with global peace , harmony , love , humor. I also agree that discussions on TED are helping to facilitate those goals.
I believe the main reason for crime is lack of awareness. I totally agree with you Bharath, that we need to create awareness to achieve our goal to resolve some global issues. If people truly understood that we are more the same than different....if we all recognized our interconnectedness, we could not violate the rights of others, because we would be aware that we are also hurting ourselves.
Mireille,
If you eat too much sushi, shishkabab, and smoke meat, you won't be able to move enough to dance the salsa, or belly dance....
Remember...balance:>)
Mireille Chéry
Funny lady you are dear Colleen...indeed balance is key, I believe I am doing so : eating lots, and dancing it away...
Peace
Colleen Steen 500+
I've had wonderful connections with people throughout the world simply because I was open to it. A young women on the bank of the Nile in Egypt. We made eye contact a couple times, then smiled, she motioned for me to follow her and I did. She brought me to her home....a mud hut in a small village, where I met her parents, her brother and sister. They gave me tea, I sat by the fire in their home with them and we had a chat! They spoke Arabic, and I speak English, so I'm not really sure of how the conversation evolved, except communication is a large percent (65%?) body language. Communications of any kind are a large percent acceptance.
When we can accept others, it opens up a beautiful new world for us, and I would never deny myself that opportunity:>)
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes..."
(Marcel Proust)
Bharath Kumar Kunjibettu 10+
Regards,
Bharath
David Hamilton 50+
Men and women are different enough to spend a lifetime eternal conflict anyway : p
Mireille Chéry
Diversity is within, actually all is within. If I want to be a 6 feet tall, blond, bomshell, well I don't have to physically be blond or 6 feet tall, but within I can be exactly that, by acting the part...whatever or whomever you want to be, is inside us...so colour, religion, language as we know it, as no purpose, it's irrelevant, hence the actual fact, even if we were all the same colour, religion etc., its only boring, because people decide to actually defined it, categorised it, deform it, when in fact, it doesn't even exist.
Peace
Richard Kroll
In the spirit of a thought-experiment: I do not think "as unified as possible" is an option. The most powerful nations will always resist submission to international systems (e.g. undemocratic UN structures, the International court of justice unrecognized by USA and others, etc.) Therefore, perhaps decoupling, rather than unity, is a possible path. Unfortunately would be only possible through a drastic reduction of the world population (e.g. four generations of one child families, massive die-offs due to famine, disease, or environmental destruction etc.). A reduced world population coupled with decreased globalization and migration would not only decrease external exploitation (source of conflicts) but would also help increase local self-sufficiency, and strengthen local identity and culture.
Gracia Gay Garcia
As far as reducing or eliminating war, hatred, anger, frustrations, etc., these are matters of the heart that will manifest themselves whether we are a one world planet or not. It is the heart that envies, that hates, that desires war to gain power, resources, and control. The planet that can eliminate the evil desires of the human heart will be the planet that can remove the negative attributes we all seek to rid ourselves from. Christianity teaches that we are a fallen world, and I believe that we are, therefore it will take a conversion of our hearts, not our differing cultures, to tame the tide of war, hatred, anger, etc.
Linda Taylor 50+
Rosa Park 500+
I would like to thank you for posting this excellent question!
Mireille Chéry
You are so right, creativity it's at the base of it all. Human are program to create. Our planet can not exist with out it, and because of the beauty of our differences, we can create indefinetly...this is where all the power reside, in the creativity of our differences OR in the differences of our creativity.
I really appreciate your input and the beauty of your heart...you are quite beautiful too. Thanks Rosa!
Mireille Chéry
First, I would say, words like "disgusting" as no place on this topic, or TED platform. This is a debate, an open one, lets share and learn from each other in a civilized manner, please. Thank you.
Now, most of all the comments, I did agree with. Some because it open my mind to see something else and some, just because we are on the same level of thinking. As and Afro-Haitian woman, I often ask myself why do people categorized me in a "coloured" state of mind or view? Because, for me I don't see my "colour", meaning, when I'm walking outside going about my business, my eyes are looking outward, so I don't see myself. Even when I look in a mirror, I don't see myself as a "coloured" person, I see myself as me, a human being on this planet that have a purpose, choices to make, and change to become the best that I can be etc Even as a child, I did not comprehend why my supposely "colour" had a "negative" connotation to it...actually, even now...but that's another debate.
On the other hand, when I was in Haïti, I came to Canada at the age of 7, I can only see looking outward, just Haïtian people, my mind did not gravitate to think other cultures actually existed, so for me, their was no mention of "coloured" or listen to so many bad terms attached to any "coloured" or others cultures. It's only when I came to Canada and learn more about different cultures and see other nationalities, hence the "coloured" of the skin being pejorative. One would think in a "civilized" and "educated" nation, it will be more encline to acceptance of differences, on the contrary, these prejudices are stronger?
All the differences, should be a great opportunity for all of us, to embrace, learn, and share, I'm all for that.
I want to live on a planet where our differences make us all strong & unify.
Andrew Wiggin
My one question is, what does this culture look like to you?
Andrew Wiggin
Obey No1kinobe 50+
There are plenty of ideas out there that enrich the human experience that cultures can borrow from one another.
Mohammad Tauheed 500+
We are different so we are interesting to each other.
R H 20+
Zdenek Smith 100+
Yes I agree but why culture and language need to be unique as well? They seem to divide people than unite them throughout the history?
"Celebrate diversity."
Yes we can celebrate diversity and individuality and new trends and differences. Again I don't see why we need cultural constraints that we sometimes inherit?
R H 20+
Zdenek Smith 100+
I think without cutlures we will have more freedom and see more variety without any historic constraints. Without culture people will still find new trends, do things differently and think differently?
Adam Cross
If war were not profitable we would see endless peace.
peter lindsay 30+
Adam Cross
peter lindsay 30+
Obey No1kinobe 50+
The same things make us all happy and sad.
Music is part of the happy side.
Mireille Chéry