Why is "diversity" automatically seen as being a "good thing"?

I mean, I can understand why biodiversity is important, but I'm speaking generally here. Would the world really end if everyone were basically the same, or at least similar in all the major attributes (like height, weight, intelligence)?

Update: A few people have mentioned the importance of genetic diversity, and yes, I agree with that, I agree that a case can be made for its importance, but I was thinking more along the lines of diversity in general, as a concept. People seem to just lazily assume it to be a "good thing", and very few seem to question whether, for example (and this is just an example), a diverse workplace is inherently good. Why is that? Why the unquestioning acceptance of an idea that hasn't really even been defined properly?

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PalteseMalconFunch · 36-40, T

If everyone were largely the same then you would neither have diversity nor need it.

Diversity is good only because we are all so different. So things affect us differently.

Imagine you’re designing a car. Well you should have short and tall and skinny and fat people working on it to make sure all the controls are adjustable enough to accommodate as many people as possible.

Or you’re designing a government policy, well you’d need people from lots of different cultures and backgrounds to advocate for how it will affect them and then examine the consequences.

When people are so different, you need diversity so smaller groups can be heard. If we didn’t have those differences we wouldn’t need diversity.

Do you remember the “racist motion sensor” thing a few years ago? It was to activate sinks handsfree except it didn’t work on black and dark brown skin. Because nobody who worked on it or tested it had black or dark brown skin. I never dug more into it and maybe it’s apocryphal but it illustrates the point.

That’s the practical reason, the other reason is that people being so different is cool, humans and infinitely complex and fascinating.