Lesson 4-4: Ideology & World View, Part 5: Causes of Cultural Difference

We consider four factors that are suggested to contribute to cultural difference. (1) Geography. Different climates and ecologies, e.g. temperate woodlands versus tropical forests, may lead to the development of different values and ideas. The culture of the North-West Quadrant (Europe to the Near East) was able to advance faster than that of other regions because it connects with land both east-west and north-south, whereas the Far East and Africa are each bordered on one side by the relatively empty South-East Quadrant. (2) Energy. When fire was people’s main energy source, they spent a lot of time around the campfire telling stories, leading to rich mythologies. When coal power took over from human labour, it prompted the abolition of slavery, in turn producing far-reaching changes in social institutions. The quest for fossil fuels shaped scientific interests, which again fostered new worldviews. (3) Disease. Just as the Covid pandemic led people to self-isolate with social distancing and bubbles, so the prevalence of disease in the most highly populated parts of the old world may have encouraged the development of tribalism as people restricted interaction to their immediate social groups. (4) Demography. Dense populations, in which most people were strangers, led to clan-based social structures, in which people relied on their own kin-group for support and expected to be left alone by other groups. This resulted in habits of multiculturalism, whereby many cultures lived close together, each minding its own business. Conversely, sparse populations, in which strangers were few and far between, led to values of independence and generalised reciprocity, recognising others not by their clan but simply as fellow human beings. This resulted in universalism or monoculturalism, whereby strangers would be welcomed but expected to conform to the prevailing culture. Problems arise in today’s highly mobile world when people from one cultural paradigm settle alongside people from the other cultural paradigm.
This is part of 'Module 4: Cultures and Civilisations' within the lecture series 'An Introduction to Theoretical History'.
Course textbook: An Introduction to Theoretical History by Marc Widdowson (Amarna Ltd, 2024, 584 pages).
E-book: https://tinyurl.com/3hp8t8mp
Print book: https://tinyurl.com/92puak75