Are Cultures more homogeneous today?

Some would argue that cultures around the world are becoming more homogeneous, especially given current globalization trends. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I would have to disagree. If we were to think that cultures around the world were becoming increasingly homogenous, we would have all have, according to what Hess says in “Science and Technology in a Multicultural World”(p10), similar if not the same “way of life”. We would all have the same way of thinking, of seeing the world and the opportunities it offers. In my opinion this is false. In fact, each culture has its own unique intricacies, quirks that make them sometimes strange and exotic to an inexperienced outsider.

Most of us who experience new cultures are subject to what is known as “culture shock”. A culture shock occurs when we have to adjust to a different culture other than our own. We often have to adjust to new routines, foods, and new environments. I have lived most of my life in Cambodia, a place where everything is cheap. You’d be able to buy an amazing noodle breakfast for a maximum of two dollars. But when I arrived in Chicago O’Hare International Airport, I spent seven dollars on an ordinary chicken sandwich. I’m a person who loves to eat, and I just felt my first painful culture shock: Food is expensive here.

If cultures in today’s globalized world were more homogenous, culture shocks would be unheard of. People from any given corner of the world, would have the innate ability to transition to a new culture without any adjustment period. Furthermore, if cultures were in fact becoming increasingly similar, we wouldn’t be in a ENGR 103, a class in which we will be given the chance to better understand “the history, culture, and people of various regions”(ENGR 103 syllabus, course objective 2), and to make ourselves more marketable in the globalized era of today.