Leveling of Culture

A journey across the United States from Central Texas to San Diego left me less intrigued than I expected, particularly as I roamed the bay area around the beautiful city of San Diego. The boats, yachts, battleships, cruise lines, shops, restaurants, furs, joggers, families, and the homeless all shape the incredibly energetic and distinctive culture of San Diego, California. I fell in love with the city and realized that given the opportunity I would sincerely enjoy living in San Diego.

Yet part of me became disappointed as I visited with the people, those indigenous to the area, those native to San Diego, those whose behavior, style, preferences should be unique to the area in some way. I discovered that their responses and their actions were eerily similar to my own. We recognized each other not by geographical region but by our humanness. We laughed at the same humor, grew concerned at the same problems, responded in the same basic ways to events, ate the same kind of food, and seemed to look for the same things in the environment.

Of course some of this could be attributed to being humans as opposed to creatures from other worlds, but is it possible that our culture is becoming as one? Are we inadvertently, slowly, assiduously blending our worlds into one world culture?

It began with communication that developed into some common languages as the printing press came into vogue and books became the norm. Eventually this moved to the Pony Express, the telegraph, telephone, radio, television, email, and now a proliferation of instant communication and media through the Internet. All of these events and more have led to a breakdown and leveling of culture. We find ourselves in a precarious but joyful position of knowing how people across the globe react to stimuli. We tend to laugh at the same things, cry at the same sentiment, and love in the same way. This is due to our assimilation of cultures via the media which governs our lives.

I am not proposing an abolishment of media, and I am not even convinced there is anything negative, but in some ways it disappoints me to discover very little that is new and actually to see myself in a region that is 1200 miles away. At the same time, it is also comforting in the same way that returning home to our favorite blanket is security. We travel to unknown lands only to find they are known. We look far and seek the new but find ourselves looking in a mirror. The mountains and valleys of human differences are but plains leveled by the media of instant communication, giving us an awareness of the collective whole.

I contend that as we become more cosmopolitan and oddly unified, we lose and gain certain qualities. One argument for the continuation of cultural connectivity is that it is the mark of a refined society. Contractarianism becomes central to behavior regardless of geographical location. Yet, in some ways, those qualities unique to regions could get lost, thereby losing the charm and uniqueness that make a culture defined.

I do have to believe, however, that regardless of how "refined" we may become, cultures find a way to retain their individual identity and their independence. It remains to be seen what qualities last and what qualities disappear.