One of the central concepts of history is the notion of change over time. Rarely in history does one find an element that remains in the exact same form, manner, etc. that it was established in throughout time. Oppositely, it is almost the case that historically, elements of history never stay the same and changes (usually) drastically as the time, setting, and humanity progresses. History depends on its surroundings, and consequentially, those surroundings are the main contributing factors that alter the history to such an extent. These factors include environmental status, technological status, overall exposure to the greater world/humanity, the people associated, the history of the people/location/environment, etc. Although, the factors are unique and different for every moment and individual in history. They also change. So, we have this conceived notion of changes over time as a result of the surrounding environment.
One of the outcomes of a continual change over time historical diffusion. As history changes, the humanity involved in it changes as well. Historical diffusion is the process of influence and creating. One cannot escape the history they are living in simply because it is impossible to escape their lives (except for resorting to death). Regardless, the history creates the environment that one lives in, therefore the history makes a profound impact on the individual just like if an earthquake struck, most, if not all individuals living at the time would be impacted; its not a choice, but the history is simply involved in their life and the effect is widely felt. Anyways, when living in the present, history occurs, therefore influencing whoever is present at the time. Historical diffusion is exactly that; “growing up” in a time when concepts, beliefs (in this case), technologies, etc. are being presented to you, directly or indirectly. Either way, the influence is felt and is unavoidable. It goes to say that humanity, in a way, is a product of the environment which they are involved in/exist in. When one is historically diffused, which happens almost every day throughout history to the present day (and in the future), they become a newly shaped individual, community, or ultimately a new form humanity that is an outcome of new, revolutionary history. It is not copying history, its intaking it individually and soon projecting it/redefining it to establish something completely new, to redefine history itself. It is an ongoing cycle that will never end as long as history is in play (which will continue for a fairly long amount of time). Returning to the concept of change over time throughout history, realistically, everything that makes up humanity today isn’t that much of a difference than it was since the earlier periods of history, it is just incredibly more elaborate, expansive, progressed, and added on to than it was when it started; either way, the progression of history and humanity as a whole are both distinct outcomes of the complex process of influence and creation, otherwise noted as historical diffusion.
An example of historical diffusion in the more modern part of history rather than Akhenaton can include the establishment and revolution of mobile technologies, something that really took off in the past five or seven years. Smart-phones initially began with the amazing invention of the Iphone, marketed by Apple in early 2007. Everybody demanded it. There was no kid, adult, or community that did not have any inclination to go into a store and test it out, or just buy one right off the bat. It was chaos; the way humanity operated mobile and how it connected with each other was changed forever. Little did we know it, a few months following the original, Apple had already announced plans to reinvent and create the Iphone 3G. It was everything that the Iphone had, and better. Clearly, other phone companies were loosing a lot of business and popularity as Apple took over the mobile world. As a result of this and the profound impact that the Iphone made on humanity and technology, other phone companies started up in the competition to create the first generation of smart phone technology.
As soon as we know it, all other phone companies start shooting out other lines of phones comparable to the Iphone. In the past four years alone, Apple has made four new versions of the Iphone, while other phone companies combined has produced between eighty and one hundred different models of phones that can do the same, if not more than the Iphone. Regardless, all of the other phone companies diffused off the sole idea and concept that Apple proposed and had so much success with. Each company took the ideas and influence from the original smart phone inventor, Apple, and reshaped its concepts and principles to form an adaption of their own, thus creating the new lines of smart phones. By doing this, they gained eminence and much success, all as a result of diffusing through/modifying Apple’s historical achievement. The companies did not steal the principles of the Iphone, but rather were influenced by them and projected/redefined them to establish the new generations of smart phones that further revolutionized the world of technology and mobile functions; just like how Akhenaton revolutionized the world of religion and influenced a new generation of religions for the world to be marveled by and participate in, redefining the way humanity perceived religion. The new generation of Iphones and smart phones redefined the way humanity perceives technology, and changed how humanity operated, ultimately changing the history of humanity’s interaction with technology and each other. That’s what cultural diffusion does; on a larger and smaller scale alike, it transforms history to create a new future.
No comments:
Post a Comment