Cross Cultural Diversity refers to the various distinctions that exist between ethnicity, lifestyles, attitudes, habits, traditions, religions, beliefs, customs, languages, philosophies etc. among different groups of human beings.
Man, by nature, is a social animal. Even during the primitive times, men used to live in groups, and till today we continue to live within groups of our own. Since the world is very large, with great geographical, biological and historical differences between various groups of humanity, so each group tends to create a distinct culture of its own over the passage of time. Within the larger culture also various sub-cultures thrive and prosper.
In Asian countries, this phenomenon of cross-cultural diversity is most easily visible, and in fact it adds to the exotic beauty and uniqueness of Asia as a gigantic melting pot of diverse cultures on earth.
Comparatively speaking, the western countries are more homogeneous in terms of their cultures. But in the east, the cultural diversities are immense because modern life and advancement has still not invaded many interior parts of Asia. The cultures, traditions and customs in these regions have remained preserved and undisturbed by the fast-changing outside world.
As a result, even today if one wants to observe and enjoy the pristine glory of old cultures of humanity, one can discover it easily in Asia. One must also understand that Asia is so large in geographical area, population size and its breathtaking scope, that it is natural that multiple cultures and sub-cultures will co-exist in this complex web of humanity.
The beauty of this diversity lies in its harmonious existence. For instance, in India itself there are over 800 languages, and many more local dialects. Each state has a distinct culture of its own, and the people of each state can be distinguished by their language and accent, their clothing, their food habits, their festivals, customs and traditions etc.
Similarly, Islamic followers across the globe have an entirely different culture of their own. Politicisation of religion has led to cross-cultural clashes between Islam and other religions, particularly Christianity. Otherwise, on a spiritual plane, every true religious follower and believer understands that God is one, so one cannot have disrespect for anyone else’s religious beliefs or faith.
In reality, there are great benefits of cross-cultural diversity in our world. The whole beauty of human civilization lies in its diverse cultures, and the spiritual and philosophical growth of humanity will be severely stunted in absence of such diversities. Learnings become restricted if we all have only a single line of thought and behavior. Since man is a thinking being, so there are bound to be differences in thought processes of different men across the world. And cultures are ultimately an end-product of the thought processes of a society.
Imagine a rainbow with only one color. That would be the bland and tasteless state of a perfectly homogenous human society, where everyone behaves and lives identically like robots. In the final analysis, human beings can never be like machines, and they will always evolve into diverse groups and cultures. Therein lies the beauty of human civilization. |
