Welcome to the Future of Diversity

A recent viral YouTube video shows the making of Japanese candy commercial featuring the cast of the AKB48 band. But here's the jaw-dropper--the center band member, Eguchi Aimi, a beautiful young woman who embodies the similar expression and poses as her group, is not real. She's a virtual being, a composition that results from select bodily features of each of her group members. Coverage for this story even noted Aimi's features as the "perfect" pickings from her peers. But in learning that one's "reality" isn't fully true, one can't help but 1) applaud technology's new abilities, and 2) feel an eerie sense that makes one develop a need to question the truth in everything seen.

That being said, if we are capable of creating a matrix within our lives, what exactly determines what goes into it? How do we discern what is real from what is created? And if we can, do we even want to know? Is this a situation where "ignorance is bliss"?

In a case where social standards place preference upon certain "norms," where is the distant future of diversity going? Are we becoming a large melting pot that will eventually simmer into a uniform creamy soup? Is this what we are aiming for? Will diversity continue to exist? This is the question that Diversity Week 2011 will seek to answer.

Let's take a step into a hypothetical situation. Now we know that the field of genetics has advanced enough that we are able to map out out genes and calculate our chances of developing a certain disease or illness; and we have even gotten to the point where we can grow bodily tissue in vitro. Let's take a spin on that and say that in the future, we can grow complete and fully functional organs that eliminates the need for organ donors. Need a new heart? We'll take a few or your stem cells and pop out a new thumper for you in 2-3 months. Is your liver failing? No worries, your new one just matured yesterday! Now what if instead of fixing, we also act proactively and eliminate the need to ever fix. Say we choose the attributes in our children that will allow them to thrive and be the best they can. You know what, I always thought that blonde hair was gorgeous even though I'm a brunette--let's make our daughter Caucasian, blonde with green eyes...but add in a splash of hazel. Make her tall and intelligent with a musical inclination. Genetic diseases? Why on Earth would I want to give her my husband's colorblindness?

See what happened there? If given the choice to put together our "perfect" child, who would choose to give them genetic disorders that as a society, we have deemed as an abnormality? Who would actively choose to bear a child with cystic fibrosis, dwarfism, Angelman syndrome, or cri du chat? While there are a few individuals who identify themselves with their genetic disorder, there are also the few who reject the notion that they choose to abort their baby or give their child up for adoption because of it. Returning back to the hypothetical situation, we come back to the case of societal-deemed norms. If these norms are so ingrained in us that the majority of females always seek the "tall, dark, and handsome" men to sweep them off their feet and males are so apt to fawn over females who are slim, full-chested, then what happens to everyone who doesn't fall into that category? Given the choice and ability to choose all the "perfect" attributes, would we unknowingly eliminate all the attributes that made us unique? Would we effectively erase diversity?

Will our conformity force us to redefine what makes us who we are? We are excited to present you a look into diversity in the future this fall as the focus of our 2011 Diversity Week workshop lecture series. Guest speaker, Dr. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist, will introduce you to his hypothesis on the world as we know it in the not-too-distant future.

--------

Holly Tran, Staff Writer, is currently a junior at the University of Rhode Island majoring in Biological Sciences.