Would the world be a better place to live if there was only one culture?
It seems to be straightforward, but it's hard to get your head around because it's hard to imagine... Would the world really be a better place if everyone was born into and had the exact same culture?
Yes, it would be...
Side Score: 8
|
 |
No, it wouldn't...
Side Score: 12
|
|
|
|
|
That's assuming the reason people are in turmoil is because of differences. I would argue that people's differences are only used an excuse for the turmoil desired by the few. Do the Taliban hate us because we're different? Or do they hate us because they themselves are angry, and their leaders use us as a scapegoat for that anger? I would suggest all cultural turmoil is not a result of the differences among cultures, but something "sick" (there may be a better term) within a culture itself. Germany's economy was devastated after WWI, this was a result of reparations, which were the result of their own actions (ignoring that reparations were obviously a bad idea in retrospect) but they did not try to take over the world for this reason, leaders took that anger the people felt, and focused it on jews, gays, and anyone who wasn't white. This is what gave them power, the creation of cultural turmoil. I would use Glenn Beck and Rush's recent reverse racist rants. People learned long ago it's very easy to whip angry people into a fervor, by focusing it on someone different from them. I believe that if there were only one culture, not only would the world be more boring, but people would figure out some other differences to kill eachother over. Side: No, it wouldn't...
2
points
|
A global monoculture is not only boring, but deadly to our survival as a species and to our growth as individuals. Just as life "favors" biological diversity, so does human life favor cultural diversity. Culture defines the boundaries of what we can and cannot think, how the world is to be perceived and meaning attributed to it. Nothing is more dangerous to us as a species or as individuals than setting inflexible boundaries around what can and cannot be thought, what a thing does and does not mean. Monoculture squelches innovation, encourages stagnation, fosters repression, and is all-too-readily annihilated by its own errors. A single culture "getting it wrong" may kill itself off, and perhaps that is a historic tragedy - but a global culture "getting it wrong" is catastrophic. Lurking behind the inherent problems of a monoculture itself is the equally pernicious question of whose culture the monoculture should be. Into what round holes should all of us square pegs be forced? And what shall be the penalty if we rebel? Humans, both as individuals and as a species, thrive on diversity and innovation. Our cultural and historic "setbacks" are quite frequently the products of a monolithic culture attempting to wipe out such innovation and diversity. Monoculture is antithetical to diversity and innovation - and it is diversity and innovation that fuel our growth both as individuals and as a species. Side: No, it wouldn't...
the question was not about changing the present world in which we live, it was refering to, If the world had always been one culture from the start. In this case,yes it may of been better, but who knows.As far as what you are saying in regards to monoculture,to try to do so now in an already established world, yes you are right. Side: Yes, it would be...
Tough one... Better in which way? For sure it would be safer, people would agree more, not discuss so much... But is this actually better? Is this our only aspiration, to have everyone agreeing and thinking the same? I think it would be not only boring, but also our technological achievements, which make life more interesting, enjoyable and longer, would take much longer to be developped, or maybe never reached at all... We need diversity of thought. The more different points of view there are in the world, the closer we can get to the real truths about the world, and make it better for all of us. (Whatever better means...^^) Side: No, it wouldn't...
"For sure it would be safer" I would argue it would not be safer. Human psyche isn't simple, but it's not too complex either, and people don't really hate those who are different, they hate something about themselves, then blame those different for their own shortfallings. Even if every human on earth were cloned twins all raised in similar circumstance some would figure out something to hate about their twins. Side: Yes, it would be...
OK, I agree with you, people might always find a reason to disagree. I just think that in your world full of twins, if they find something to hate about each other, then they will automatically create different cultures, no? Separate themselves in groups, with their different ideologies, their different values and principles... I don't see culture just as history and tradition, but as something in constant change, continually reinventing itself. So I guess it depends on how you interpret the question... I saw it as a world somehow permanently having only one culture, where everyone shares the same view of the world. Side: No, it wouldn't...
|
