Will Current Technology Eventually Eliminate Cultural Distinctions and Traditions?

Question

Do you think this change will be good or bad?

Answer 1

No, if anything, I'd say current technology has allowed a greater preservation of cultural distinctions and traditions than ever before.  

Sure you have the homogenization of world culture,as more people are exposed to more cultures, but you also have the preservation of traditions through cheap digital storage.  If anything, it is easier to preserve "traditional" culture as it is all recorded, relying on memory just slowed change, it never stopped it.

Communications and travel allow more immigrant groups to keep in contact with original countries than ever before.  It used to be other cultures had no choice but to partake of "American" culture, now they can get 20 channels of pop culture from their own country.

Or to take another example, look at how cable, the internet, and cheap computers have allowed dozens upon dozens of sub-cultures to flourish.  The Media used to be a bottleneck, now that bottle neck is broken.  You used to have to go to the compound in person to join a cult, now you can do it on line.

Contact introduced change, the technology just makes that contact consistent.

Answer 2

Interesting question.

It seems to be going that way doesnt it?

I mean, pure cultural traditions are all but gone now, what is there, has in most cases been somewhat "standardized"

I doubt if it ever goes totally away but with global communication and no populations groups are ever isolated, it is inevitable that blending will occur.

My son in law is Alaskan Eskimo and he siad they have lost a lot of their older traditions, even though they try to hang on to as many as they can, it is that way in cultures everywhere.

It is in my opinion, sad, when we lost individuality, both as individuals and as cultures were are poorer for it.

Answer 3

The emergence of the Silk Route , The Sea Routes and eventually the faster modes of communication and travel have made the world smaller and smaller. It is well possible that the combination of all these factors together can create cross blending of Races and Religious groups, first among closer groups and then the next closer affinity groups and so on. Once the Black Hole type gravity sets in  a totally new Human Siciety free from today's divides will emerge.Join me in praying for that to happen early.

Answer 4

no, new ones will develop

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Answer 5

Yes eventually.  Increased communications & the need for a common language to conduct trade with will tend toward one language.  Cultural distinctions tend to melt into the big pot where some are picked up by the population at large & others are discarded as obsolete.  

I see this as a mixed blessing where people will become more likely to conform & less likely to clash on their main beliefs, but lose their individualism & ability to think "out of the box."

Answer 6

I sincerely doubt it. If you look at how people cross-culturally deploy and interact with new technologies, you'll see a really broad range. In fact, it looks like people generally take whatever new technology comes along and incorporate it into their lives in a way that makes sense culturally.