Over standardisation

In our current system, there seem to be an obsession to standardisation. Medicine must be given in standard dose, products must be standardised so that each and every one of them has as little difference as possible, standard university entrance exam, standard crops and so on.

Admittedly, there are advantages to standardisation, such as accuracy of scientific testing, matching components in production of items (such as car parts, we don't want car parts that can be assembled) and so on.

However, when standardisation is applied across the board in all aspects and in all industry, it can mean problem. One size doesn't fit all. This is the reality. So, let us take a look at where over standardisation may be an issue.

Medicine/Health
It may be good to standardised synthetic or extracted medicine, this will be helpful for the doctors and pharmacists in deciding dosage. However, it will become problematic if there is a view of standardised patient, i.e. all patients are taken as same and equal in all aspect. Prescription given without taking into account of the history of the patients can be disastrous.

Another possible issue is the lost of the art of herbalism. With the need to standardise all dosage and active ingredient, herbalists who use non-standard dosage/application are discredited as "unprofessional". But unbeknownst to the some of the critics, to the herbalists a synergistic and holistic approach is more important, i.e. observing the patient as a person and customising the dosage according to the the person and condition of the disease.

Agriculture
The standardisation of crops have led to the extinction of many varieties of wheat, corn, potatoes and so on. This is an excerpt from National Geographic:

Food varieties extinction is happening all over the world—and it’s happening fast. In the United States an estimated 90 percent of our historic fruit and vegetable varieties have vanished. Of the 7,000 apple varieties that were grown in the 1800s, fewer than a hundred remain. In the Philippines thousands of varieties of rice once thrived; now only up to a hundred are grown there. In China 90 percent of the wheat varieties cultivated just a century ago have disappeared. Experts estimate that we have lost more than half of the world’s food varieties over the past century. As for the 8,000 known livestock breeds, 1,600 are endangered or already extinct.

Why is this an issue? Nature made all species in many varieties because this is an insurance against species-wide extinction. By having varieties, a species can have varieties that can stand drought better or more able to withstand pest. These different qualities help keep the species as a whole alive.

By culling off many varieties, we run the risk of having one crop species being wiped out if we are faced with some environmental or biological threat.

Dull Life
Imagine, how much do fashion, tech hype and so on force some sort of standardisation onto us? If someone is not following the current trend, they become an outcast! We are expected by the society to be the same, from the way we dress to the way we behave. This is not the way life is supposed to be.

We need to be more accepting of differences. Each of us have different social and education backgrounds, as well as genetic make ups, giving rise to very different perceptions and behaviours. We have to be learn to respect the differences, if we want to live in peace together without sacrificing our individuality.

There are many other areas where over standardisation can become an issue. We need to learn to take the middle path, knowing when it is good to have standardisation and when not to have it.