ModerncultureandancientculturaldifferenceEverythingisrelative,culturaldifferencebeingnoexception.Culture,asthetotalpatternofhumanbehavioranditsproducts,overstepsgeographicallimitsandhistoricalconditionsinmanyways,anditischaracterizedbyitsstrongpenetrativenessandfusibility.
Theadvancementoftheglobalizedeconomyandtherapidityandeaseofmoderncommunication,transportation,andmassmediahaveresultedinaneverincreasingexchangebetweencultures,unprecedentedinscale,scope,andspeed.Consequently,anincreaseinuniversalityandareductionindifferencebetweenculturesisaninevitabletrend.Itisnosurprisetoseephenomenacharacteristicofonecultureexistinginanother.Asaresult,somepeopleevenfearthattheworldwillbecomeadullplacewhenallthedifferentnationalitiesbehaveexactlyalike.
Nevertheless,the“culturalsediment”formedthroughlong-rangeaccumulationisnottobeeasilyremoved,andtheculturaltraditionhandeddownfromgenerationtogenerationshowsgreatconsistencyandcontinuity.Theculturesofdifferentregionsandnationsstillhavetheirowndistinctivepeculiarities,andthereforesignificancestillneedstobeattachedtothestudyoftheindividualitiesofdifferentculturesagainstthebackgroundoftheiruniversality.