Does the Global Village Have an Idiot Too?

The phrase "global village" has been used in the last few decades to impart the idea of technology working as an equalizing force around the globe. As cell phones, computers, interactive media, and satellite communications have evolved, this equalization has had set-backs not considered or foreseen by many in the developed world. The cultures of more traditional societies are often not set up to accept this vast new set of knowledge and skills, resulting in conflicts new or buried within those cultures. In the article "Do We Really Want a Global Village?" author Stephen Talbott addresses and elaborates on these ideas with the foundational belief that technology should start with the local culture, learning to live in and adapt to its' norms, and then help development occur from within the cultural matrix itself, to avoid destroying the beauty of the culture.

There are numerous examples of how technology caused more headaches than it solves. For class we watched the beginning of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy and were shown how the emergence of a technology not requested by a native peoples (Bushmen of the Kalahari) distrupts the very fabric of the society. The rest of the film (which we did not view for class) revolves around this idea of native vs. developed societies, with a white researcher who has learned to live in harmony with the native peoples struggling to win the heart of a woman who is still deeply entrenched in the developed world, and with the Bushman's odyssey to return the technology to the gods while being exposed to many developed technologies.

In the articles for class dealing with moral obligations to developed countries, the ecological impact of evolving technologies was directly addressed (Nichols article). Within the past two years, knowledge and concern about harmful and toxic wastes from used electronics have been brought to the forefront of the public debate through articles in TIME, National Geographic, and Newsweek. With growing fuel costs and the drastic changes in localized and global weather patterns, going "green" has become not just a focus but also a positive emotional ad campaign. People world-wide are beginning to look at their carbon footprint and to make companies who create the goods they purchase do the same. The idea of waste is even prevalent in the Gods / Crazy movie: the forced technology acquisition was a glass Coca-Cola bottle thrown out the window of a prop plane as trash, representing the oftentimes negative ecological impact of developing technologies.

Talbott's article stressed the importance of working with native cultures to establish development systems for technology. This sounds great on paper, but the idea is often not accepted by developed cultures. From the banning of Greek and Roman technologies in the Dark Ages to the novel Heart of Darkness and its film interpretation Apocalypse Now, many in power in developed cultures have an innate distrust of native societies who do not have hierarchical power structures. Those who have gained power by controlling or benefiting from evolving technologies fear societies where this type of power is minimized or non-existent; it strikes at the very heart of the power-broker's elite place in developed society.

When a society begins to become dependent on technologies, they seem to loose the ability to adapt to their culture and ecology and instead attempt to control it. A good example would be world-wide water use. Moving bodies of water (rivers and streams) do not run straight and naturally go through cycles of flood and drought. As humanity develops technology for food production and transportation, it wishes to continually improve. To best accomplish this result, the rivers need to be straightened and dammed, their wetlands drained, and channels cut in for irrigation. Water for consumption and waste removal has gone through cycles of failure and success based on human location and population size. Humans have even controlled water underground, mining aquifers for water with little to no consideration of its effect on the basic structure of Earth's crust. All these changes are seen as good until the ecosystem(s) become so imbalanced that they cause a change in the environment of humanity; when this happens, societies will mobilize to again change nature to what will benefit them most, even if it means nature's original state.

The idea of a global village is a positive one if the implementation of introduced technologies takes into account the native peoples, ecosystems, and cultures they are intended to benefit. A paradigm shift in benefactor power will also be necessary, an area which may prevent the idea from every truly coming to fruition. Developed countries need to stop viewing developing countries with a paternalistic "work in progress" mentality, but instead view those developing cultures as equal residents on this planet who may or may not wish to participate in developed countries' technological gains. Developed countries need to accept the decisions of native cultures and not force technologies on these peoples "for their own good."

The global village affects the K-12 classroom as the world flattens. Immigration (often based on war or need) is evident throughout America, with inner-city schools experiencing dramatic changes in acculturation and learning while trying to deal with persistent poverty and extensive bureaucracy. The idea of teachers being the "heart of society" by giving students pure knowledge as well as life skills is wonderful, but often becomes messy when dealing with students' home lives, lack of funding, and mandated testing. Developed countries need to learn how to work through these problems before trying to "start over fresh" by establishing education systems in less-developed countries. These problems are overwhelming in developed countries; they could bring a developing nation to its knees.

The emotional idea of the global village is an essential component of K-12 classrooms. Our students must have a deep and broad understanding of cultures throughout the world in order to function as literate, competent, motivated and involved members in the society of their future. This job rests not just on education through the schools but on media: students need to be shown what is beyond the white ethnocentric traditional culture of America and how it can and will impact their lives. Evolving technologies, usually involving various forms of media, are currently the best way to connect students with these ideas, and keeping them engaged will ensure their vested interest in the outcome.