Cultural diversity is what can define the differences between both different peoples and cultures. The environment in in which people reside in can shape their life styles and culture. Many of the indigenous people throughout the world have spent thousands of years familiarizing themselves with their environment as well as discovering the resources to define their lifestyles. Many of them have developed different religions and languages based on the environment and location they live in. In my mind I believe that both cultural diversity and biodiversity are very closely related in importance. In many areas because the people and environment have been together in unison for so long the loss of one can detrimentally affect the other. The reason many cultures are lost can be because of their inability or failure to adapt to the change in biodiversity. If a culture relies on a specific organism and that organism is lost, they are either expected to change their life style and culture or risk surviving all together. The loss of both a civilization and an environment can result in the loss of both language and culture.
In the Ted talk Wade Davis talks about how every two weeks a language is lost because one of the elders pass away and are no longer able to teach it. While this is a direct loss for the culture since the culture and biodiversity can rely on each other it can be a loss to the environment. Many indigenous civilizations have heavy roots in specific environments. The food they eat, the clothes they wear, the customs they have and even the language they speak, and their religion or belief system they have can all revolve around the environment and location they live in. People living in dryer areas must have proper clothing derived form their environment to protect their skin. However people living in colder areas need proper shelter and clothing to protect them from the cold. Those who live along the coast are more likely to live off of the marine life while those inland are not. Languages and beliefs can also be developed based on where a civilization lives. Those who live in the snow many have more words for snow in their language than people who live in the desert. Like Davis noted in the Ted talk he stated the differences in the belief systems like Christianity and Buddhism. He stated that the Buddhists believed that the Christians prayed under God while they danced until they because Gods. However the Christians may believe otherwise. He also used the example of how the environment can play a role in beliefs such as a kid in the Andes believing in spirits and a kid in Montana believing in a bed of rocks. Both valid beliefs derived from the environment that would be lost if the environment was lost.
Many people believe that having one universal language would possibly combat the loss of cultural diversity. However having one universal language would result in the loss of all cultural diversity because we would not have the quirks gained from having different languages and cultures. This also would not work because of the different views of every culture I do not believe that one language would ever be decided on. Overall I do believe that the government should be taking more interest and steps to preserve their original indigenous cultures as well as the environment. Today we heavily study countries like Rome, Greece, China, and many others as well as the cultures that resided in those areas. I believe that the smaller cultures should be preserved just as well. Not meaning that we have to study them as we do with the countries stated above but meaning that they should be noted and preserved in some way for the remaining people of that culture and so that if they do dissolve, their legacy will be left and not gone with them.
APA Citations:
Australia's Cultural and Linguistic Diversity. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/1301.0Feature Article32009–10
Davis, W. (2013, February 1). Dreams from Endangered Cultures. Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures - t-858430
In the Ted talk Wade Davis talks about how every two weeks a language is lost because one of the elders pass away and are no longer able to teach it. While this is a direct loss for the culture since the culture and biodiversity can rely on each other it can be a loss to the environment. Many indigenous civilizations have heavy roots in specific environments. The food they eat, the clothes they wear, the customs they have and even the language they speak, and their religion or belief system they have can all revolve around the environment and location they live in. People living in dryer areas must have proper clothing derived form their environment to protect their skin. However people living in colder areas need proper shelter and clothing to protect them from the cold. Those who live along the coast are more likely to live off of the marine life while those inland are not. Languages and beliefs can also be developed based on where a civilization lives. Those who live in the snow many have more words for snow in their language than people who live in the desert. Like Davis noted in the Ted talk he stated the differences in the belief systems like Christianity and Buddhism. He stated that the Buddhists believed that the Christians prayed under God while they danced until they because Gods. However the Christians may believe otherwise. He also used the example of how the environment can play a role in beliefs such as a kid in the Andes believing in spirits and a kid in Montana believing in a bed of rocks. Both valid beliefs derived from the environment that would be lost if the environment was lost.
Many people believe that having one universal language would possibly combat the loss of cultural diversity. However having one universal language would result in the loss of all cultural diversity because we would not have the quirks gained from having different languages and cultures. This also would not work because of the different views of every culture I do not believe that one language would ever be decided on. Overall I do believe that the government should be taking more interest and steps to preserve their original indigenous cultures as well as the environment. Today we heavily study countries like Rome, Greece, China, and many others as well as the cultures that resided in those areas. I believe that the smaller cultures should be preserved just as well. Not meaning that we have to study them as we do with the countries stated above but meaning that they should be noted and preserved in some way for the remaining people of that culture and so that if they do dissolve, their legacy will be left and not gone with them.
APA Citations:
Australia's Cultural and Linguistic Diversity. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/1301.0Feature Article32009–10
Davis, W. (2013, February 1). Dreams from Endangered Cultures. Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures - t-858430