In the movie Being John Malkovich, the actor from the film's title enters a portal into his own head. As a result, Malkovich ends up in a fantastical world where every man, woman, and child has his head, and the only thing anyone can say is "Malkovich" over and over again.

As funny or horrifying as this is, I know lots of people who seem to think that the world could be made a better place if everyone were more like them. Here's the mentality: if only everyone decided to vote/went to the same church/listened to the same music/ate the same food as me, things would be better. If only.

When you say it like that, it sounds silly. It's unrealistic. But most people don't say it...they just think it.

I rarely recommend specific book titles to other people. This is largely because our experiences are subjective. The books that have enlightened me and opened my eyes to new things are not necessarily going to have the same impact on every else that I know.

But, when I do offer a book recommendation, it's not because I'm interested in getting the other person to start thinking more like me. I offer book recommendations not to reinforce similarities in thinking, but to recommend a place where I think their brain will be free to run wild on its own terms. I usually hope the conclusions they reach are different than my own.

I don't see a world full of people like me being markedly better than the way it is now. Like most human beings, I have my strengths and weaknesses, most of which exist in a social context relative to those around me. We are people because of other people, and that's based more on our differences than our similarities.

Diversity is something to be celebrated, not feared or eliminated.