@YARNLADY
“Sorry, but I have to disagree with that. If everyone likes washing clothes on rocks at the river edge, no one will ever invent the washing machine.
If everyone like to sleep from sundown to sunup, no one will every think of going to the stars.”
Well, why would everyone liking the same things have to mean they all like those particular things, and not more productive things?
If nobody would like washing on rocks and everybody would love exploring and working together to solve the big problems, the human species could advance so much faster.
See below.
“Even speaking different languages leads to different ways of thinking about something. For instance, the way to create words and meanings in German is different from the way we do it in American English.”
Not really. The idea that a different language causes a different view on the world is a myth that has been thoroughly debunked.
Steven Pinker gave an excellent summary of the case in his book, The Language Instinct. I’ll summarise his points if you want a brief version of the details.
Secondly, given that the only differences lost would be in the language itself, the world would definitely be a better place if everyone could understand each other. We’re already starting to glimpse a future with one world-wide lingua franca – just yesterday I talked to a Chinese and to an Israeli person in English, even though none of us knew the other person’s mother tongue. Isn’t that amazing? I think that’s amazing.
Though I’m also a language nerd and I’d be bored if there were just one language. But I probably also wouldn’t be a language nerd any more.
Thirdly, what does language have to do with anything? This is about what people like, not how they talk.
“Also, the only way for everyone to like the same things is for everyone to know everyone, and no one live in an area where the food and climate is different. If everyone lived in a canyon with a stream through it and they liked staying home, they would never discover the wide open plains or ocean shore.”
You’re still assuming a whole lot of things that aren’t given…
Another way for everyone to like the same things is through genetic engineering and putting a stop to natural genetic mutation. That way we could even pick what things the new humans will like. There would be terrible ethical issues with engineering people like that, but if we were to do it, none of the problems you mentioned need arise at all. They could be made to all love hard work, exploration, investigation and types of food that are healthy and guaranteed not to run out.