Many of us have been in a classroom that has a large jar filled with something (jelly beans are classic) and each student is asked to guess the correct number.
Scientists have studied this practice and discovered that the way to get the best answer is to poll all the students and take the average. Not just ask the best student in math. Not just average the AP or honor roll students, but everyone. Scientists have further recognized that without the individual voting and polling, this process unfolds in nature with groups of animals where it is called “swarm intelligence.” Birds, bees, etc., interact in real time to make decisions as large groups.
As an advocate for public education, I often use this as an example for why it is imperative for us as a community to give the best possible education to all of our students. If we want to solve the problems that plague us – disease, the degrading environment, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. – we need all of our minds educated to be in a position to create solutions.
The situation goes beyond education, however, because health, home life and even life itself are highly dependent on matters beyond our control. Poverty, race, gender and other similar factors are all major indicators of a person’s access to education, clean water, food, safety and job mobility.
Thus, it is counterintuitive to think that making equal access is simply “helping others.” We are the others. If we restrict access to education, health care, jobs and other opportunities to those we like, or who are like us, we lose the incredible possibilities those “other” minds can create. Forget that our lives will be enriched in countless intangible ways. It will literally improve quality of life for all.
Different can feel alien and uncomfortable, but whether it’s leaving home for the first time to go to school, or reaching out a hand, opening a door, or standing up for someone who doesn’t look like us, it can lead to life that is better in ways we can hardly imagine. Let us act on this every day and insist on it in our policies at every level.
(Maureen Redmond-Scura lives in Concord.)