Answered by
Science Channel
In anthropology, cultural standardization refers to the
process by which an increasingly technological and interconnected planet
develops an increasingly homogeneous culture. Such a planet might be
one in which everyone plays soccer in their leisure time and eats out at
the same ubiquitous fast-food restaurant. It might be a tidy,
easy-to-navigate world, but it also might be a bit, well, dull.
Luckily, thanks to the persistence of local culture, we're a while away from standardization. And there's too much cultural cross-pollination out there to believe we're all destined to live the same life, the same way. You'll find evidence of a mix of cultures in metropolitan centers -- for example, just look at the variety of cuisine choices in any city. In the U.S., you don't have to work too hard to find Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, American, Italian and Vietnamese fare -- and that's just to name a few choices! Not exactly homogeneous.
Similarly, you might expect a homogeneous world to not only eat the same foods but possibly even end up speaking the same language, and that just isn't happening either. While it's true that there are indeed some languages that are more widely spoken than others -- English and Chinese come to mind -- it's also true that the whole planet hasn't exactly coalesced around a single tongue. In fact, the Earth is still a ball of babel cruising once around the sun every 365 days. Just ask all of the Spanish speakers, or those speaking Arabic, Hindi, French or Italian.
Technology may be an area where the world could be thought to have standardized. But only very broadly speaking. For example, we've standardized around the use of smartphones, but that's where the sameness ends: The phone themselves can differ widely in look and functions. In truth, whatever is considered "standardized" in the tech world seems to be somewhat of a moving target. Did the world standardize on the PC platform in the early- and mid-1990s? It would be hard to say it did, judging from all the Apple systems people used then and, in even greater numbers, today. And that's not even to discuss the army of Linux enthusiasts. Or what about browsers? We've standardized around the use of a browser, but which one to use can spark intense debate. Are you a Firefox, IE, Chrome or Opera person?
Luckily, thanks to the persistence of local culture, we're a while away from standardization. And there's too much cultural cross-pollination out there to believe we're all destined to live the same life, the same way. You'll find evidence of a mix of cultures in metropolitan centers -- for example, just look at the variety of cuisine choices in any city. In the U.S., you don't have to work too hard to find Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, American, Italian and Vietnamese fare -- and that's just to name a few choices! Not exactly homogeneous.
Similarly, you might expect a homogeneous world to not only eat the same foods but possibly even end up speaking the same language, and that just isn't happening either. While it's true that there are indeed some languages that are more widely spoken than others -- English and Chinese come to mind -- it's also true that the whole planet hasn't exactly coalesced around a single tongue. In fact, the Earth is still a ball of babel cruising once around the sun every 365 days. Just ask all of the Spanish speakers, or those speaking Arabic, Hindi, French or Italian.
Technology may be an area where the world could be thought to have standardized. But only very broadly speaking. For example, we've standardized around the use of smartphones, but that's where the sameness ends: The phone themselves can differ widely in look and functions. In truth, whatever is considered "standardized" in the tech world seems to be somewhat of a moving target. Did the world standardize on the PC platform in the early- and mid-1990s? It would be hard to say it did, judging from all the Apple systems people used then and, in even greater numbers, today. And that's not even to discuss the army of Linux enthusiasts. Or what about browsers? We've standardized around the use of a browser, but which one to use can spark intense debate. Are you a Firefox, IE, Chrome or Opera person?
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