Evaluation of Cultural, Social and Technological Diffusion in the Modern World

The first 200 words of this essay...

An Evaluation of Cultural, Social and

Technological Diffusion in the Modern World

Brian Daurelle

When two different cultures come together, their better ideas, innovations and ideals tend to mesh into one another. It pertains mostly to technological advances that one people have on meeting another group, that this second group then learns of and takes advantage of. This happens invariably whenever two cultural groups interact for a sustained time; it is particularly acute when developed culture collides with a less developed one. Diffusion is the process of cultural integration by the mixing of ideas and objects. To some critics, this process is a destruction of smaller ethnic cultures and a loss of diversity, driving them to term it 'Cultural Contamination. The following are several specific cases in which such 'contamination' or diffusion has occurred, and an appraisal of its effect on the world.

The great cities in Africa are prime examples of diffusion. The cultural and ethnic diversity there spans a broad range. While the common people may still wash their clothing and get their drinking at a village or personal well, they can also be found talking on cell phones, which have become