Differences
I have been extremely hesitant to wade into what's going on right now, but there's a lot of hate going around. From everyone. Every direction. So here's a bit of truth. We need each other. We need to hear different voices, opinions, and ideas. We need to hear about different peoples' experiences.
What we can no longer be is so threatened by a view or belief that's different from our own that we retreat to hate and ignorance. This is an unpopular opinion, but I've found that the more angry or defensive someone gets about having their beliefs and views challenged, the less confident they are in those beliefs. So in order to challenge myself and my beliefs and in order to solidify them, I'm going to be presenting some views that hopefully challenge us all as a society.
Recently one of the YouTube channels I follow, DamiLee, did a video on a Japanese robot cafe called Dawn. Humanoid Robots Are Taking Jobs—But This One’s Giving Them Back This video brought me to tears. In the end, the video was about giving people hope, and purpose, and even a future, through robotics.
At this cafe, robots called "OriHime" are controlled by people who would not otherwise have the ability to work due to various disabilities. From their website:
"Our“Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β” is a permanent experimental cafe operated by OryLab Inc, where people who have difficulty going out for various reasons remotely operate our avatar robots OriHime and OriHime-D from their homes and hospitals, to provide services.
We aim to achieve a new form of social participation through the use of technology.
Please visit our cafe to see what the future has to offer for all of us.
Come and join us!" AVATAR ROBOT CAFE DAWN 2021
But back to the original video. One of the concepts that Dami highlights is called the "curb cut effect", which is the concept that features or functions put in place to help one group of people often end up helping a wider portion of the population. In other words, by being inclusive of one group, we end up helping others as well.
“Having a choice is what puts everyone on an equal plane.”
Towards the end of the video is a screen with photos or avatars of individuals whose lives have been changed because they now have an opportunity and a choice to interact with a wider society that would normally never be open to them. They have a purpose that may not have been possible for them to visualize before. This is inclusion. This is what we should all strive for.
Inclusion is more than just a letter in a three-letter acronym. It's about viewing everyone as worthy of having a choice. It's about seeing everyone as a person with a unique perspective, thoughts, and feelings. It's about seeing value in all people, not just the ones who look like us, think like us, believe like us. Inclusion enriches our lives and relationships and allows us to meet people we may never have met otherwise.
I encourage you to check out Dami's video and the cafe. And if you're ever in Tokyo, maybe find time for a visit. And finally, take some time to consider how you can practice inclusion in your own life.
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
’Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she
With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’”
