?How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of goodwill! In such a place even I would be an ardent patriot? Albert Einstein.

Why start with diversity or if you wish variety? Well, diversity is a main feature of the living world, unlike all atoms of any given element or all robots which may be all exactly alike. To help us along, let?s define Human Nature as ? the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans?.

Traits such as: all humans are fundamentally ?selfish and competitive? (John Locke and the Mauritian supporters of A+) or all humans are ?social and altruistic? (Karl Marx as well as most religious teachers, which may explain why Marx was against religion!). Recent research in biology, genetics and cultural anthropology suggests that humans may be both. We embody a constant and complex interaction between our genetically inherited factors (?nature?) and socio-cultural factors (so called ?nurture?). In short, nurture can be changed, nature cannot. Nurture, however, can take control and civilise (but neither eliminate nor even frustrate) our basic natural instincts such as the search for living space, food, sex, security, status, the fight or flight reaction, the urge for growth, development and adaptation, the search for knowledge and skills to achieve the above, the need to discover and know why we are here, the meaning of life itself and respect for those who can guide others. Using alternative language, one may ask ?Is human nature rooted in instincts, or are human thought and action shaped more by learning than instinct?? Is human morality a natural sense shaped by human evolution, or does morality require a freedom from natural instincts?

According to the Biblical statement ?Man is made in the image of God?, we are all of the same nature; according to this biological one from Judith Harris ?no two alike?, there are as many variations of humans as there are individuals (currently running at 6 billion). Both can of course be true, the former addressing the nature of the soul, the latter addressing the genetic composition of man the biological being.

<B>Unique or in six thousand million editions?</B>

Recognising the divine in each human person and in the whole of humanity emphasizes the ?essentially relational character of human nature and affirms human dignity, potentiality, creativity but also dependence?. Recognising each one?s uniqueness (a biological truth, except in the case of true twins from the same fertilised egg, and in clones) emphasises liberty, equality, democracy and opens the way for enrichment through sharing of diversity.

The subject of the nature of Man is so vast, the number of authors so numerous, the views so conflicting that any endeavour to cover the subject is a very tall order, with success not guaranteed! Since human beings have (specially in this day and age) a regrettable tendency to be less in touch with one another than they might be or wish to be, an aim of this series of articles is to seek an enabling space, a forum for constructive discussion, criticism and suggestions on various approaches to the understanding of people as individuals, as groups, as nations. And perhaps throw additional insight on to the variety of humanity going under the generic name of ?Mauritians?, for world literature on the subject is vastly dominated by Europeans, Americans and Asians, with little from Africa and even less from the SIDS, which we are. But we are moving ahead, with a vibrant and diverse free press, as well as the numerous publications under Mauriciana during these last two decades (1985-1995,1996-2006). Mauritius being a prime example of human cultural diversity co-existing happily on a tiny bit of land (the mini-United Nations as some of us like to say), any in-depth studies of our ?coexistence-in-diversity? is bound to be of interest-and even serve as model-for the world. Finally, may I propose to you a short test that may reveal (to yourself) something about your own thinking process regarding diversity, i.e. how do you react to differences between people?

Test yourself (adapted from work by ex-President of Education Commission of IUBS, Pr. G.Schaefer)

Basic question: Do you like and strive to be different or do you prefer to be like everyone else?

Do you enjoy the variety and individuality of all living beings on earth, especially human beings, or are you happy to stick to your own kind and to those you know?

Do you welcome diverging views, wishes and tastes in your spouse, siblings, children, family, peers and colleagues, local community, nation or would you prefer one unanimous opinion which would make life easier?

Do you make a clear difference between ?kinds? of people (variety) and their ?worth?(esteem) or do you amalgamate the two?

Do you have the courage to try-out and adapt to changing situations or do you prefer to cling to old, well-tried rules?

Why are tolerance and a genuine opening to others important? For one thing, in this globalised world, no country, no city, no local community anywhere in Europe, Africa and Asia (and of course in the new world of the Americas) are homogeneous and mono-cultural. That of course is an excellent state of things for the world, being given that (biologically) genetic homogeneity is dull and leads to degeneration, while new strength arises from cross-fertilisations. Comparing multiculturalism with mono-cultural peoples, you just have to take a look at the top cadres employed for example by the UN and multinationals to see the value of personal ease in multi-cultural and multi-lingual environments.

Rousseau saw a fundamental divide between society and human nature: man is good by nature, but is corrupted by society. No doubt that the immates at Auchwitz would have disagreed with that statement; and so would have the Rwandan Tutsis when they were rounded up for massacre, the villagers in Darfur when they see Janjeweed hordes coming at them and countless other groups! The assumption of the inherent goodness of man or at least of his trainability to bring out the good in him is at the very heart of the process of Education, provided it is tempered by both the understanding and acceptance of diversity.

Let us pursue the exploration!

<B>Dr. Michael ATCHIA</B> [email protected]</I>