Technology and Cultural Connections Assignment - Essay Example

Technology and Cultural Connections Assignment Grade April, 11, Technology and Cultural Connections Assignment How cultural connections help to define and expand definitions of culture.Globalization has facilitated interconnections between cultures. Such connections have led to the rise of hybrid cultures, global system of heterogeneous culture and sophisticated cultural systems. Multinational corporations, global tourism, geographical unities such as European Union and many others, migrations, internet connection such as social networking and ecommerce, global pop culture, emergence of global institutions such as IMF, UN etc, and increased growth of Diasporas have all made it impossible for any given culture to be regarded as stable, coherent or even independent.

Technology, expansive mass media and accelerated communication has virtually removed space barrier. All these have culminated in new developments in individual and social culture. For instance, western culture is oriented towards individual autonomy, independence and differentiation hence, it is more egocentric. On the other hand, much of eastern culture attaches so much value to society i.e. family, community and land (Triandis, 2005). Thus, western culture is individualistic while eastern culture is collective in nature.

Combination of these two provides hybrid cultures and new cultures altogether.2. Role of technology in the history of globalization.Globalization has mainly been facilitated by technological advancements. Simpler form of globalization took place in Mediterranean hundreds of years ago. Technological developments in transport and navigation in this region enhanced commercial activities across borders. Globalization was further facilitated by the invention of Script in communication technology.

Further developments in communication and transportation gave man greater control over space and thus globalization was spread across globe by empires such as Byzantine Empire. Guttenberg gave a big boost to globalization when he invented the printer. This was followed by invention of newspapers, telegraph by Samuel Morse, telephone by Graham Bell in 1861. Other outstanding historical developments in communication technology included the invention of radio by Hertz and his colleagues. All these contributed to conquest of new lands and introduction of uniform modes of trade and standard modes of communication such as English in non English speaking territories.

Other advances in transport and communication technology that gave a boost to globalization included invention of high speed ships and airplanes, television, satellites, fiber optic cable, SWIFT and VSAT (Triandis, 2005).3. The contribution written and printed communication, electromechanical technology, and computer and internet technology made towards cultural connections and globalization.Electromechanical technology refers to things such as radio and television. Computer and internet technology have made it possible to access information on demand.

People are able to interact and give feedback in real-time. Thus, there has been a rise of communities forming around media content. Culture exchanges are bound to take place in such situations that facilitate interactive relationship between media content and the end-user (Triandis, 2005). Internet and computer technology enables people from different cultures to interact by use of written and printed communication like Wikipedia, face book, twitter and other social networking sites that allow people to give feedback.

Technology has transformed print, written communication and electromechanical technology by incorporating all features in a computer and then making all these to be available to individuals from different walks of life from around the globe. This has bled complex cultures and other hybrid cultures in many different parts of the world. 4. The future benefits and ramification of technology towards globalization.Computer, internet and mobile phony technology has enhanced communication between people across the globe through the use of multimedia, blogs and websites.

Apart from expanding activities beyond borders of various countries, globalization eradicates physical space and replaces it with social space thereby increasing contact between different cultural orientations from newly formed social relationships (Triandis, 2005). There are concerns that this trend can end up forming virtual online communities whose activities will no longer be controlled by social restrictions. Business, legal affairs, government affairs, games, love, propaganda, revolutions, art, crime and anything else done in normal life settings is and could take place in virtual spaces and it is certainly impossible to anticipate the outcome of such events in clear terms.

Social movements are increasingly using technology to bring about changes. Though such changes could be beneficial, there are chances that sovereignty of most states could be undermined by technology. For instance, people are conspiring against governments and overthrowing them with little difficulty through the use of technology. This poses a threat to national security of most states especially given the fact that espionage activities can easily be executed online e.g. the wiki leaks, twitter, face book etc.

ReferencesTriandis, C. (2005). The self and social behavior in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review journal, 9(6), 506-520.