IDIC

The term IDIC is from the Star Trek series and stands for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. It is a spiritual system/thought system developed on the planet Vulcan.

The Vulcan society originally was extremely warlike, so much so that the future of their entire race was in danger when a philosopher named Surak began to stress the importance of logical thought. Logic prevailed, and eventually the Vulcans came to control their emotions (to quite an extreme degree) and thereby eliminated the desire for warfare. Their race was saved, and they went on to becoming one of the most advanced cultures in the galaxy.

That, of course, is Star Trek, which is fiction, not reality. Yet just as many inventions of older science fiction stories have become reality, the philosophy of science fiction can become fact if people wish it to be.

IDIC basically states that we should delight in the differences amongst people, not hate people because they are different. It seems that the human race has found a large number of ways to hate (different sex, color, religion, nationality, political party, social class, etc) and has emphasized hate over co-operation, caring, and compassion. The result has been a world torn by big and small wars, religious and philosophical differences, and alienation of one person from another.

This has taken place on the level of nations, of course, but has also taken place on the level of individual people and on the level of entire cities.

Yet as the planet Vulcan, in science fiction, was facing the destruction of its culture due to warfare, the earth is facing the destruction of its culture due to the effects of pollution, inter-religious and inter-ethnic warfare, and widespread starvation and disease.

The human race is one people; Homo sapiens sapiens. Now what does this specifically mean? Science classifies organisms using a system called taxonomy. The levels used include Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and species. The further down the list you go the more alike organisms become.

At the species level any two organisms of the opposite sex (and assuming nothing is physically or medically wrong with them and they are both at the stage where their reproductive organs are fully functional) can mate and produce a "viable offspring" - a baby. This means any two people on the entire surface of the earth and of opposite sex, etc, can mate and have a baby.

t cannot be done with any other species and us. Humans cannot mate with any animal like dogs, horses, cows, etc, and produce a baby. The other animals are of different species.

Humans are of one single species, period. We are the same kind of animal.

Since Blacks, Whites, Native Americans, Hispanics and Orientals can get together, mate, and have children, then we are one people with the same set of problems- finding food, shelter, clothing, peace, and a chance for our children to have a better life than we have had.

The IDIC philosophy can go far to helping us develop a more positive attitude towards others. To delight in the differences between people does not mean to ignore the differences; rather, it means to acknowledge those differences, to respect the right of other people to be different, and, possibly, to even enjoy the differences. Cultures, for example, can differ in preferences for food, dance, and music. It does not hurt us to at least sample those differences at least once in our lives; we may think the food is too hot or too bland, and we may prefer other types of dancing and music, but we can learn to recognize the right of other people to have different foods, dance, and music, and that those differences do not make them any lower in status as a human being than are we.

There is a term called the "synergistic effect". This refers to putting together two or more items and the result of that combination is something even better than you expected. We can often get the same thing from differences in human cultures; IDIC holds that the result of the "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" is greater than the sum of its parts - a synergistic effect.

Examples:

FOOD: Before the coming of the Europeans to America, Europe did not have the potato. The discovery of the potato and its adding to the diet of the Europeans changed Europe's agricultural economy. Some 60% of the food now eaten in the world had, as its original origins, the Native Americans. Now we can all delight in a wide variety of foods, foods from different societies.

GOVERNMENT: The original idea for the arrangement of our government into three bodies (congress, President, and judicial) really came from the Native Americans who had established the Iroquois Confederacy. We took some of their ideas, mixed in some of ours, and came up with a government that has allowed people various amounts of freedom for over two hundred years.

MUSIC: Rock and roll music was really derived from the older rhythm and blues music. American folk music is really an import from Ireland and other countries. The American folk/pop singer Paul Simon combined his musical style with that of both African and South American groups to produce a new and highly popular form of music.

Architecture, fashion design, and numerous other areas show the influence of one culture upon another, the result being something that often is prettier, more functional, more efficient, etc. than the original form.

Thus, if we took the Vulcan concept of IDIC as a serious concept, and began to live our lives in a manner which recognized the right of other people to have different beliefs and practices than our own, and to recognize that, by combining our beliefs and practices with those of others we may produce something greater than its parts, we would all be forming the basis for a better world for all people.