Cultural Diffusion: Causes and Effects

All right, let's talk about contemporary causes and effects of cultural diffusion, and there's not a few, so buckle up. If you're ready to get them brain cows milked. Let's get to it. Before we talk about cultural change as a result of diffusion, you have to understand something very important. Cultural ideas and practices are socially constructed. In other words, cultural ideas and practices don't come down from heaven as it were, fully formed and given to humanity. Instead, different groups of people develop ideas and practices that define their culture over time and together. For example, in the United States, our sense of self is highly individualistic. Or to put it another way, my goal as an individual is to achieve my own goals and grasp whatever makes me happy. But in Japan, there's... sense of self is highly communal. They want to achieve the goals of the community and grasp whatever leads to the flourishing of everyone they're connected to. And look, neither one is right or wrong, they're just different. But the point is, the varying cultural concepts of self are the result of social construction over time. Oh, and hey, if you want note guys to follow along with this video, then check the link in the description. Okay, now that you understand that, let's consider the contemporary forces that affect cultural change, and those forces can either be small scale or large scale. On a small scale, cultural ideas and practices can change because of travel. And since it has become way easier to travel in the last few years, we've been able to create a lot of new ways last hundred years or so, many people are able to visit other cultures. And when they do, they bring those experiences home with them and maybe that contact alters the traveler's own cultural ideas. And there are lots of similar examples on a small scale. But let's focus more on large scale forces that affect cultural change. And I've got two big categories for you. First is globalization, which when being defined is the interweaving and growing dependence of peoples throughout the world on each other economically, politically, and socially. Now this process has developed quick, fast, and in a hurry thanks to two global world wars in the 20th century, the rise of multinational international businesses, and advanced communication and transportation technologies. And here in the 21st century, globalization has progressed at an even crazier speed because of the rise of... digital technology. Okay, now the second large-scale force affecting cultural diffusion and change is urbanization, which describes the phenomenon of the increasing size and influence of cities across the world. Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities, and that percentage is increasing rapidly. And the reason this affects cultural change is because one of the chief characteristics of cities is their diversity. People from all different cultures and backgrounds are packed together and therefore they are exposed, whether they want to be or not, to cultural ideas that are different than their own. Look at how many different religions are represented in New York City. Like suppose your Uncle Cletus is a- Baptist and he lives in a rural area where dang near everyone else is a Baptist. If he moves to New York City, then he's going to have to interact with people from all different kinds of belief systems. What in the fresh heck is a Buddhist? Okay, so we've established that globalization and urbanization create the conditions for cultural diffusion and change, but how does that happen? Well, I got five ways for you and all of them are examples of concepts we learned way back in Unit 1, namely time-space convergence and its waning impact on distance decay. Now, the first way these processes come to bear on culture is through media. For example, films created in Hollywood are released all throughout the world. the world. And the thing is, those movies aren't just stories told through a visual medium. They are actually freighted with American values. One of the highest grossing movies of all time is Top Gun Maverick, which as a child of the 80s makes my heart glad because, you know, I feel the need for speed. Anyway, in America, the film grossed about three quarters of a billion dollars, but in all other countries combined, it grossed about 1.5 billion dollars. If you haven't seen it, it's essentially the story of a US Naval pilot named Maverick who breaks all the rules and does things his own way and is tasked with training a new generation of pilots for an an exceedingly dangerous mission. And you know, apart from it being a great story, can you imagine what foreign audiences think when they see this film? Not only are they witnessing the height of American individualism, but they're also seeing a gaudy display of American military might. And that's a powerful message that Americans probably don't even pick up. up on, but audiences across the world very much do. Or you can see this in the popularity of Japanese anime or the growing popularity of European soccer. Football, sorry. Anyway, the second way these processes affect cultural change is through technological changes. And probably the best example of that is the internet. This communication technology has given everyone with access to it the ability to interact instantly with cultural ideas different from their own. For example, the viral spread of K-pop in the last decade has diffused contagiously thanks to social media. What began as a distinct South Korean musical style has now become a global phenomenon. The third way globalization and urbanization affect cultural change is through globalized politics. At this point, 193 countries are members of the United Nations, which is an international organization that exists to maintain global peace, social progress, cooperation among nations, and uphold human rights. And one of the UN's projects aims to uplift the role of women and create gender equity throughout the world. But there are many countries whose culture dictates the elevation of men above women, and that's often because of various religious beliefs. However, with the enormous political influence the UN wields, it is able to put pressure on those countries to modify their culture. their cultural ideas about women. And the fourth way you need to know is economics. Because of the outsized global economic influence of the United States and Europe over the last century, the world has largely adopted the economic system of these regions, namely free market capitalism. In other words, any country that wants to do business on a global scale needs to adopt, at least in large part, Western economic principles. And then the fifth way these processes come to bear on culture is through social relationships. And again, we can see this in the UN's push to alter the relationships between men and women throughout the world. Okay, now the last thing you need to understand is the effects of this increasing culture. cultural interaction, and there are two main ones. The first effect comes in the form of cultural convergence, which describes the result of different cultures adopting common cultural traits so that they become more alike than different. As communication technologies decrease the relative distance of the world's various cultures, one serious consequence of this convergence is the loss of languages. As dominant languages like English and Chinese become more and more indispensable for global communication, it can create the conditions for small indigenous languages to become endangered, and in some cases, extinct. And remember that language is not just vocabulary incentive. syntax, but it carries the culture of a people. And the growing phenomenon of cultural divergence has become a threat to about half the world's 7,000 languages. And if those languages cease to exist, so too will the cultures that they care. And then the second and opposite effect is known as cultural divergence, which describes the result of different cultures interacting with one another and becoming more distinct as a result. For example, the large Amish population of the American Northeast has been exposed to all the technologies that we've already mentioned. But instead of adopting them and surrendering the cultural traits that make them unique, they have rejected those technologies in order to to uphold their cultural traditions. Okay, click here to keep reviewing for Unit 3, and click here to grab my video note guides, which are great for students who don't like reading their textbook, but still want to get the content of this course firmly crammed into their brain folds. And I appreciate you hanging out, and I'll catch you on the flip-flop. Heimler out.

Cultural ideas and practices are socially constructed. In other words, cultural ideas and practices don't come down from heaven as it were, fully formed and given to humanity. Instead, different groups of people develop ideas and practices that define their culture over time and together. For example, in the United States, our sense of self is highly individualistic.

Or to put it another way, my goal as an individual is to achieve my own goals and grasp whatever makes me happy. But in Japan, there's... sense of self is highly communal. They want to achieve the goals of the community and grasp whatever leads to the flourishing of everyone they're connected to. And look, neither one is right or wrong, they're just different.

But the point is, the varying cultural concepts of self are the result of social construction over time. Oh, and hey, if you want note guys to follow along with this video, then check the link in the description. Okay, now that you understand that, let's consider the contemporary forces that affect cultural change, and those forces can either be small scale or large scale. On a small scale, cultural ideas and practices can change because of travel.

And since it has become way easier to travel in the last few years, we've been able to create a lot of new ways last hundred years or so, many people are able to visit other cultures. And when they do, they bring those experiences home with them and maybe that contact alters the traveler's own cultural ideas. And there are lots of similar examples on a small scale.

But let's focus more on large scale forces that affect cultural change. And I've got two big categories for you. First is globalization, which when being defined is the interweaving and growing dependence of peoples throughout the world on each other economically, politically, and socially. Now this process has developed quick, fast, and in a hurry thanks to two global world wars in the 20th century, the rise of multinational international businesses, and advanced communication and transportation technologies. And here in the 21st century, globalization has progressed at an even crazier speed because of the rise of...

digital technology. Okay, now the second large-scale force affecting cultural diffusion and change is urbanization, which describes the phenomenon of the increasing size and influence of cities across the world. Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities, and that percentage is increasing rapidly.

And the reason this affects cultural change is because one of the chief characteristics of cities is their diversity. People from all different cultures and backgrounds are packed together and therefore they are exposed, whether they want to be or not, to cultural ideas that are different than their own. Look at how many different religions are represented in New York City.

Like suppose your Uncle Cletus is a- Baptist and he lives in a rural area where dang near everyone else is a Baptist. If he moves to New York City, then he's going to have to interact with people from all different kinds of belief systems. What in the fresh heck is a Buddhist? Okay, so we've established that globalization and urbanization create the conditions for cultural diffusion and change, but how does that happen? Well, I got five ways for you and all of them are examples of concepts we learned way back in Unit 1, namely time-space convergence and its waning impact on distance decay.

Now, the first way these processes come to bear on culture is through media. For example, films created in Hollywood are released all throughout the world. the world. And the thing is, those movies aren't just stories told through a visual medium. They are actually freighted with American values.

One of the highest grossing movies of all time is Top Gun Maverick, which as a child of the 80s makes my heart glad because, you know, I feel the need for speed. Anyway, in America, the film grossed about three quarters of a billion dollars, but in all other countries combined, it grossed about 1.5 billion dollars. If you haven't seen it, it's essentially the story of a US Naval pilot named Maverick who breaks all the rules and does things his own way and is tasked with training a new generation of pilots for an an exceedingly dangerous mission.

And you know, apart from it being a great story, can you imagine what foreign audiences think when they see this film? Not only are they witnessing the height of American individualism, but they're also seeing a gaudy display of American military might. And that's a powerful message that Americans probably don't even pick up.

up on, but audiences across the world very much do. Or you can see this in the popularity of Japanese anime or the growing popularity of European soccer. Football, sorry.

Anyway, the second way these processes affect cultural change is through technological changes. And probably the best example of that is the internet. This communication technology has given everyone with access to it the ability to interact instantly with cultural ideas different from their own.

For example, the viral spread of K-pop in the last decade has diffused contagiously thanks to social media. What began as a distinct South Korean musical style has now become a global phenomenon. The third way globalization and urbanization affect cultural change is through globalized politics. At this point, 193 countries are members of the United Nations, which is an international organization that exists to maintain global peace, social progress, cooperation among nations, and uphold human rights.

And one of the UN's projects aims to uplift the role of women and create gender equity throughout the world. But there are many countries whose culture dictates the elevation of men above women, and that's often because of various religious beliefs. However, with the enormous political influence the UN wields, it is able to put pressure on those countries to modify their culture.

their cultural ideas about women. And the fourth way you need to know is economics. Because of the outsized global economic influence of the United States and Europe over the last century, the world has largely adopted the economic system of these regions, namely free market capitalism. In other words, any country that wants to do business on a global scale needs to adopt, at least in large part, Western economic principles.

And then the fifth way these processes come to bear on culture is through social relationships. And again, we can see this in the UN's push to alter the relationships between men and women throughout the world. Okay, now the last thing you need to understand is the effects of this increasing culture.

cultural interaction, and there are two main ones. The first effect comes in the form of cultural convergence, which describes the result of different cultures adopting common cultural traits so that they become more alike than different. As communication technologies decrease the relative distance of the world's various cultures, one serious consequence of this convergence is the loss of languages.

As dominant languages like English and Chinese become more and more indispensable for global communication, it can create the conditions for small indigenous languages to become endangered, and in some cases, extinct. And remember that language is not just vocabulary incentive. syntax, but it carries the culture of a people.

And the growing phenomenon of cultural divergence has become a threat to about half the world's 7,000 languages. And if those languages cease to exist, so too will the cultures that they care. And then the second and opposite effect is known as cultural divergence, which describes the result of different cultures interacting with one another and becoming more distinct as a result. For example, the large Amish population of the American Northeast has been exposed to all the technologies that we've already mentioned. But instead of adopting them and surrendering the cultural traits that make them unique, they have rejected those technologies in order to to uphold their cultural traditions.

Okay, click here to keep reviewing for Unit 3, and click here to grab my video note guides, which are great for students who don't like reading their textbook, but still want to get the content of this course firmly crammed into their brain folds. And I appreciate you hanging out, and I'll catch you on the flip-flop. Heimler out.

Transcript for:Cultural Diffusion: Causes and Effects

Transcript for:
Cultural Diffusion: Causes and Effects