Diversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromise.
James Surowiecki
Source: The Wisdom of Crowds, Pages: Introduction: XIX
For as the interposition of a rivulet, however small, will occasion the line of the phalanx to fluctuate, so any trifling disagreement will be the cause of seditions.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
Source: Aristotle's Politics: A Treatise on Government - Page 169