firuz mustafa
(Essay)
Great culture of a small world: globalization
Globalization has been influencing not only material and moral world of the human being, but also perceptions and knowledge of human generations, formed during hundreds, thousands years. Man of XXI century already has to view processes and events taking place around him from a different angle. Globalization created as the latest achievement of science as if should cross-scientific conclusions and data prior (prior or before) it. Now not only our perceptions related to the results existing within time and space, but even our knowledge and perceptions about the very time and space have been changing.
Already neither the time is “the time” of the last century, nor is the space. More rightly, time and space stay in their original-outward existence; however, the said perceptions, “grounded”, accepted by us in the traditional way during many centuries, have acquired a new importance. Today together with the real time and space “virtual” time and space perceptions have made their “presence” known. In fact, it itself is a reality, existence and, willingly or not, we have to reconcile with this existence, reality.
Now globalization has been influencing all spheres of our life. The renovation of previous economy by new ideas has been accompanied by great leaps. Nor the perception “previous” has been replaced unconditionally at all parameters by the “post”. The industrial has already handed over “its post” to the postindustrial. Now also the “neos” and innovations in scientific-philosophical currents have been loaded by the latest and “post” terminology: realism has been turned into post-realism, modernism – to post-modernism, romanticism – to post-romanticism… Such radical changes have been made not only in the social-economic-moral, but also political spectrum of the life; thus, in many countries political management forms, as well as territorial unites have been replaced with new qualitative and quantitative forms. The socialist “camps” have already been destroyed, the Soviet system has been delivered to the archives of history; now the Soviet space has become the post-Soviet one.
It seems to us that despite a wide scope globalization, relatively big obstacles accompany its influence on our moral life. And it is not accidental: the human life itself (in a broad sense) bears a conservative feature. However, in spite of all these “conservative” features, globalization has been continuing to influence on all “stages” from ordinary standard of living of people to their wide activities fields.
Globalization brings to the human life not only pleasure and easiness, but also pain and anxiety. Besides moral-national-religious features, even personal features are pushed aside and get broken gradually. Now all seemed to have been sentenced to live with similar thinking and moral principles.
Modern communication means made people interdependent. A new “world” has been established on computer monitors – this is a “virtual” universe.
At first glance, the human being has taken turned himself a captive of his own creation. Willingly or not, he gets afraid in front of the new creatures, even having to experience a fear; he is felt to be in need of a new “editing” of the old habits he got used to.
The new negates the old.
The man is afraid of his own negation.
***
Already a “new” search has been added to searches for “energy resources” in nature, more truly, on the Earth planet and outside it. In fact, this “new” one is old according its essence. Simply, this turning of the “new oldness” turning into an object of research assumes urgent importance in XXI century. This inexhaustible “energy resource” is the human brain, more truly, consciousness, thought, cognition, excreted by that brain.
The sciences studying the human brain proved long ago that in spite of racial distinctions the brain structure of people on the Earth (as well as other organs) has little differences from each other. The main difference is in quantity of convolutions of brain, more truly, in informative loading of these convolutions. How much “loaded” brain is, so much energy it is considered to have.
Another discovery of the new science draws attention: with the increase of brain possibilities, the growth of “loading” capacity the circle of human life also widens. So to say, big information=long life. In other word, big information=long life=big energy resource. While in the history before Christ life expectancy was around 40-45 years, now it is increased nearly two times. Thus, to express it in words, our capacity to receive information has increased two times. But the problem is not settled at all. The question is that in comparison with the epoch mentioned as an example by us, information volume has increased hundred (may be thousand) times.
Big information, first of all, means bi culture. People who are bearers of this information are going on to construct their “brick” walls of their “time house” using their historic experience. There is a formula yesterday- today-tomorrow. Culture is such a phenomenal event, that here a human action and human morals interlace, their interrelation becomes unbreakable.
Scattered about different world poles, peoples and individuals of their origin, turn into participants of the same process independently of one another in many cases. In the present state it is not a difficult problem to understand the essence of this event: technical-communicative means have created the same objective base nearly for all to think “similarly”. In the present state the point is yes past period: such a time, when constant, intensive, direct informative relation between different people was impossible. And the links existing between people in that period amaze us willingly or not even today. From this point, scientific results, discovered by Norwegian researcher T. Heyerdal draws attention: it appears, that the cultural specimen created by ancient people, regardless of tribes and space of their origin, took care of one and the same idea. It is true, Heyerdal had to search the root of this “similarity” in “the great transmigration”. But in our opinion, the interesting side of this problem is not the idea set forward by the scientist, but the result he discovered.
***
Globalization has been continuing to influence on not only economic-social-political processes, but also on the entire cultural-moral world of the human being. The phenomenal stimulus crosses the old ones. From this feature, languages are not exception.
At present there are two thousand five hundred (2500) languages in the world. However, the future existence of these languages is in danger. As it is known, ancient Greek language, Latin, Aramaic, Sanskrit, Assyrian, ancient Persian, Celt and, etc. languages passed to the “pantheon” of “dead” languages. It is necessary to remind that many of these languages were “buried” in not so remote past at all. For example, not so big time has passed since its falling out – it was a living language all in all five hundred years ago.
Leaving of languages the historical and cultural scene is observed also now. Representatives of many Turkish languages residing in Russia and Ukraine face such a danger. For example, now totally 600 people speak Karaim language.
As is known, 6 languages are selected major every-day languages in the United Nations: English, French, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. Then, what lies ahead for other languages? (There is a competition going on among the “selected” languages.) It is necessary to note that in our life Internet influences both on the development and regress of languages. In fact, the “internet languages” are formed from the “selected” ones.
When speaking about the influence of globalization on culture, it is impossible to pass by different processes of disharmony and concentration. Already existing facts are asserting the reduction of national-moral values to “a common denominator”. Now anyone’s creation (in individual and public understanding) does not belong to him only. “I” and “we” have become similar, becoming equivalent of each other. Now the formula I > we ((or I < we, as well as I + we) is being presented on a new range; this formula can be presented in the form I = we.
The influence of Internet on our life continues to bring new “reality” unknown to us in the past. The name of this reality is “virtual”. Virtual reality goes on to present a reality as an unreal phenomenon. Willingly or unwillingly, we have to accept the new “reality formula”, to agree with its existence.
The new arising processes result in the process of formation of new layers of culture, even their coming up to the surface.
***
It is a truth that globalization in culture passes through the integration processes of cultures. But to which sides will domination “scales” ”bend” in the present integration? (In that case the point is, for example: the cultural-literary synthesis, joining small and big cultures). The question is the danger of possible melting away of culture of small peoples. The point is the local “cultural” islands of material and moral cultural sources, forming and developing for many centuries, facing the fear of sinking in the great civilization “ocean”. Now this “fear” continues to reveal itself also in many fields of arts creation. It is possible to bring many samples related to associative feeling causing such kind of “fright” in samples of painting, sculpture, music, prose, poetry, theatre and movie.
In fact, the root of the new civilization “fright” goes deep – at least half a century back. “The bell ringing”, the “alarm drum” played for the first time in Europe soon echoed all over the world. Since that time on a radical difference of views has arisen on the counter-poles – between globalists and anti-globalists.
But the idea – “thought” existing by itself does not solve anything. The fact is the “practical” globalization dictates its will nearly in all fields of human life.