Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: The point of diversity

[William New (williamnew]

The philosopher Durkheim noted that people associate into groups for  
two different reasons, which he called Herrschaft and Genossenschaft.

We either come together because of our similarities and shared  
interests (e.g. a chess club, a common language), or we come together  
because of our differences and organic interdependence (e.g. a  
marriage, an economy, an ecosystem).

Many people initially enter partnership/co-housing thinking it's going  
to be all shared interests, but that is only true to a degree.  
Eventually, we start depending on each other for our differences/ 
diversity, which is in the end a much richer and stronger model.

Wm