Arturo, this is a really interesting perspective. Thank you.
Overall, my sense is that this specialization is harmful to fecundity. Yes our creations may be more streamlined, smooth, efficient, and scaled but we are poorer (less full of life) for the lack of diverse, local, and specific centres of cultural production.
It’s like an old growth forest that’s been cut down to create a field of wheat. Maybe the wheat has a lot of calories and has been turned into a hyper efficient way to create biomass. But, the lack of biodiversity ultimately makes it fragile, not to mention lacking in beauty.
Hey Ben great thought piece! I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to globalization's impact on cultural innovation.
I do think, however, that cultural innovation, much like technological innovation, has become more specialized and more streamlined, and is become less diverse and localized. I think whether that's good or bad is up for debate.
I spent quite a bit of time tracing the origins of cultural innovation, whether it's aesthetics, architecture, culinary or management methodologies, it seems to me that even in present day, the majority of cultural innovation still happens in a handful of cities like London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Milan, Miami and Tokyo. What is different between the present and the past of cultural propagation, is that cultural trends now propagate so fast that within two years the trends set in the world's alpha cities have propagated to pretty much every corner of the earth.
It could be construed as a dangerous phenomenon considering this means less glamorous local cultures got work cut out for them just to stay alive and not be drowned out. But at the same time, hey, if the local cultures are strong enough, it could very well make their way to the alpha cities and then propagate out internationally. Latin Music and Muay Thai are great examples of local cultures that gained international prominence.
The reason why I don't think this "homogeneity" is not necessarily a bad thing when the global community can engage in common activities historically only celebrated in Latin America and in Thailand. This streamlining of cultural growth potential makes innovation faster, but yes, by sacrificing diversity.
Anyway it's an interesting topic. looking forward to reading more from you! Take care!
Arturo, this is a really interesting perspective. Thank you.
Overall, my sense is that this specialization is harmful to fecundity. Yes our creations may be more streamlined, smooth, efficient, and scaled but we are poorer (less full of life) for the lack of diverse, local, and specific centres of cultural production.
It’s like an old growth forest that’s been cut down to create a field of wheat. Maybe the wheat has a lot of calories and has been turned into a hyper efficient way to create biomass. But, the lack of biodiversity ultimately makes it fragile, not to mention lacking in beauty.
Hey Ben great thought piece! I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to globalization's impact on cultural innovation.
I do think, however, that cultural innovation, much like technological innovation, has become more specialized and more streamlined, and is become less diverse and localized. I think whether that's good or bad is up for debate.
I spent quite a bit of time tracing the origins of cultural innovation, whether it's aesthetics, architecture, culinary or management methodologies, it seems to me that even in present day, the majority of cultural innovation still happens in a handful of cities like London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Milan, Miami and Tokyo. What is different between the present and the past of cultural propagation, is that cultural trends now propagate so fast that within two years the trends set in the world's alpha cities have propagated to pretty much every corner of the earth.
It could be construed as a dangerous phenomenon considering this means less glamorous local cultures got work cut out for them just to stay alive and not be drowned out. But at the same time, hey, if the local cultures are strong enough, it could very well make their way to the alpha cities and then propagate out internationally. Latin Music and Muay Thai are great examples of local cultures that gained international prominence.
The reason why I don't think this "homogeneity" is not necessarily a bad thing when the global community can engage in common activities historically only celebrated in Latin America and in Thailand. This streamlining of cultural growth potential makes innovation faster, but yes, by sacrificing diversity.
Anyway it's an interesting topic. looking forward to reading more from you! Take care!