CHAPTER 9

Familiarity Does Not Breed Contempt

When it comes to diversity and inclusion, the old adage “familiarity breeds contempt” is not strictly true. I would contend familiarity, for the most part, does not breed contempt but it breeds comfort and complacency.

We may become complacent with our similarities, but in reality, we are creatures of habit and do not easily or naturally embrace differences. We prefer to find people who share our values and beliefs and align with our ways of being, rather than trying to stretch ourselves to include differences. We like things to be for the most part predictable with just a little bit of excitement thrown in for good measure. The brain loves to habituate, and we are creatures of habit. We want to know ...

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