5/29/2002: Spidering American culture

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by jaguar

Western culture often overrides and degrades other cultures yes and try as i might i can't see the relavence of that jefferson quote, we're not talking about IP laws here you know.The point is that in the process of 'development' local cultures are often lost in a wave of new imports that can override local customs, ideas, society strcutures and cultures in a bad way.

The point of the Jefferson quote is that culture/ideas/memes are not physical things and many of them can occupy the same mental space at the same time. When two cultures come together, they both emerge from the experience somewhat changed. As communications among the people on the planet becomes more and more frictionless, the more crosspollenation, blending and crossover happens.

This is not a process that anybody can *do* anything about, other that attempt to keep the two cultures completely separate, and that's just not gonna happen, so you might as well get over it.

Japan resisted contact with western culture for centuries. It worked for a while, but ultimately crossiver happened, and I don't think either of the parties to the exchange are the worse for it today.

"[O]verride...in a bad way" is both a distortion and a value judgement, Jag. It's not *your* job to apply some mutant Prime Directive protect the 'ignorant savages" from what we laughingly refer to as "western" culture. They're free to take from it what they like.

And again...one culture doesn't *override* another; there's plenty of space for stuff to blend. You''ll have to look a little deeper than the typical media article to see the process, though.