What Kind of Diversity is Actually a 'Strength'?

On this episode of Common Sense Soapbox, the gang wonders if diversity will help them solve a puzzle. Seamus explains that it depends on how the gang conceptualizes diversity.
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CREDITS:
Written by Sean Malone and Seamus Coughlin
Animated by LtAmazil, Adamdonk, and Emily Slatt
Voiced by Seamus Coughlin and nosoup4knowles
Layout by Jaime Velasquez, Trevor Smith
Produced & Edited by Sean W. Malone
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LINKS:

[FishyFishaz]

Abother great video. I have gotten in a few debates recently and this will hopefully make me seem for reasonable and eduacated on the topic.

[corruptuser]

"Ok, let's create a D&D party. We will be a diverse group of humans, elves, dwarves, half-orcs, halflings, etc. But we will all be Rogues. And we will have the same stats. Oh, the gnomes and halflings are vertically challenged, so we are going to house-rule them as normal sized. And the elves' racial advantage of "darkvision" and proficiency with bows is going to be removed, as well as dwarves' extra bonus to fortitude checks. Yup, everyone will be exactly the same with the same starting stats and class, but all will have cosmetically different races. We are going to be the most powerful, wellrounded team ever!"

[TheAdmiralMoses]

"Is he gonna help more because he's a dude?" *Shuts Florida man up so he can't respond* lmao

[jonsku]

"We need more diversity here!"

"What kind of diveristy would be applicable for making higher quality products or otherwise help make profit?"

"Applicable? Profit?"

[segevstormlord]

The people who push "diversity is our strength" not only focus their meaning on the most superficial kinds of traits to be "diverse, " but also actively discourage diversity of ideas. If you're not in agreement with their philosophies, you're anathema.

[thomaspetrucka]

“Diversity is our strength” is a harmful platitude that excuses bias and ignores common sense. But people treat it like it’s foundational without thinking about what they’re saying, and it’s frustrating.

[skotnica]

Natural diversity can be beneficial. Diversity for diversity's sake, so far, has always provided negative results.

[HitchensRAZR]

Europe itself is diverse --- diverse languages, cultures, religions, philosophies, histories, traditions, customs, schools of economics, various governments from monarchies to barely any government, ranging from slavers to Slavs, former communist societies to aspiring communist communities ---- _yet somehow we've been suckered into believing that if you put a group of European or European descendants into a room you will somehow NOT have any diversity or diversity of experiences. It's blatantly absurd, whites are treated like some monolith_

[dreamwolf]

Still remembering when the VA hospital i worked at, hired an Afghani Shiite Muslim doctor, and were genuinely shocked when he refused to treat any patient who wasnt Muslim.

[b.delacroix]

Pretty simple. In my experience, "we need more diversity" means "not you."

[froniccruxis]

One of my titles at work is a consultant as well as being an engineer and manager. Diversity of thought(not race or ethnicity) is what improves a team but cohesion is an absolute requirement.

[astroboy]

I heard one point in this video before and I completely forgot it.
"If all races are equal, why does it matter to have diversity of races in a group?"

[markcrawford]

The way Seamus just covered up Florida Man's mouth. 😂

[mcblaggart]

Offended alligator is done helping with this puzzle.

[Gottaculat]

I'm old enough to remember when diversity was more like adding a little spice to life, unlike now where it's taking a dump in the melting pot and refusing to hop in.

Case in point, when I was a little boy in the early 90s, my oldest friend (been friends with him for 35 years now) invited me over to his home to play Ghostbusters (was hugely popular around 1989-1992). We were only 4-years-old, and when I entered his home, it smelled weird, and there was this strange wooden elephant man statue with a bunch of extra arms. I was like, "What's that?" and he's just, "That's Ganesh, one of our gods. We're Hindu." I was like, "And what's that smell?" To which he said, "My mom's making curry for dinner." I asked, "What's curry?" He said, "Spicy soup." Then I said, "Oh, okay. Let's go play Ghostbusters now!" So we played Ghostbusters, because that's what was important in our lives.

When dinnertime rolled around, my friend was very excited for me to try his mom's curry. She, on the other hand, sees a little white boy and is like, "I don't know... it's probably too spicy for you. I could make some chicken noodle soup for you if you want." I insisted on the curry, because if it's good enough for my friend, it's good enough for me! She served me a bowl of authentic Indian curry, and while it smelled weird, I took a sip. Then I devoured the whole bowl and asked if it's okay if I could have more. Her face was as joyful as a woman's face gets, that someone loves her cooking that much.

From then on, she was more than happy to make curry for us when I was over.

I also learned a bit about Indian culture, and while it's not for me, I have a decent understanding and appreciation for it. Then there's the other indians, as in redskins, which I learned a TON about in Indian Guides. We learned about dozens of tribes across the Americas, and even went to indian reservations to hear the elders speak stories that have been passed down orally for thousands of years.

America in the 90s was just different, man. Diversity was more like a person's back-story which wasn't really relevant to the main quest; it's just there for flavor. When everyone is on the same quest, with the same end goals, diversity works. My friends and I came from all sorts of different backgrounds, and while interesting, it didn't matter, because we're Americans first, and American values supercede the cultural values. One nation under god and all that. We grew up proud to be American, knowing in this great country, your race didn't matter. Didn't matter if your family were rich or poor, what mattered is what YOU DO, what you bring to the table. If you think you're worth more because of some irrelevant attribute like race, sexual preference, or whatever, you're an idiot who brings nothing to the table if that's your best offer.

[DavidM_GA]

Unity is our strength. Shared culture, language and values is our strength.

[childebrand]

When diversity trumps experience, we all lose.

[GuretoSefirosu]

Forcing diversity causes bad things, up to and including hatred. My thing is that we shouldn't care what somebody looks like or what's between their legs. If they can do the job best, I'm hiring them. The rest of that stuff is for home and personal time.

[ShadyDoorags]

The reason why different sexes and races are often touted as diverse is because of the belief that these traits will define you life experiences.

[michaelman]

I love Seamus saving Florida Man from taking that conversation in a VERY different direction.