Direction and Degree; Or, a Response to Nick

Nick asked: Is [homogeny] always negative?

In short, no. As the title of this post would suggest it is always a matter of direction and degree. The implicit assumption of his question, i.e. that homogeny is often negative, I think is correct. However, while most of the homogeny currently in practice is negative, that does not mean that homogeny is, per se, negative.

Direction, I think, is the most important variable. What is the object of homogeny? As Professor Johnson pointed out, a homogenous desire for critical thinking could be positive, what about a homogenous thirst for knowledge? And obviously, degree is important as well. Is there a necessary ill for two people to be homogenous in a specific trait? No, the danger becomes when homogeny accrues a large constituency.

Question: If degree is an important variable for the potential effect of homogeny, what degree becomes negative?