Does a society's degree of multi-culturalism affect its willingness to accept new ideas?

Question

Potentially, societies that have accepted strangers into their midst have adopted a mindset such that they are willing to accept not only strange cultures, possibly their ideas too. So multi-cultural societies might be readier to adopt new ideas.

On the other hand, there may be backlashes in some societies. Apparently, subgroups within the sometimes majority may feel threatened. And possibly the majority group in the society may feel that their way of life is superior, since obviously the immigrants admire it enough to move there.

Can you cite some examples of societies which support your hypothesis?

"Reality" - I'm actually asking a question here. Apparently, you can't distinguish between asking a question and making a statement.

Given that you apparently have a very low tolerance for new ideas, can you describe the personal traumas which have made you want to insult people who wonder about their world?

Scrapendrock - Interesting answer, because I was originally thinking of Japan as a counter-example.

I think part of the problem here is the difficulty of measuring a society's willingness to accept new ideas.

It is interesting to think of the Meiji Restoration, wherein Japan adopted many Western ideas, as well as the adoption of Western ideas after WWII.

Perhaps Japanese society is predisposed to only adopt new ideas all at once, as opposed to any continual experimentation.

Answer 1

Well to answer both your questions, I believe that the degree of multi-culturalism obviously affects the willingness of a society to accept new ideas.

I believe the more people that live in a multi-cultural society there are, the more they are willing to accept differences simply because they live in a society that is exposed to different people and cultures.

On the other end of the spectrum we have a very closed society like Japan, I believe there fear due to there lack of multi-culturalism has a negative affect on there willingness to accept new ideas.

Japan would be part of my answer to your second question, and obviously the United States would be an example to the contrary.

Answer 2

Coming from a 'rainbow nation' where we have 11 official languages alone and many more I might as well answer this. I am from South Africa. I think this mixture of cultures exposes the various groups to influence and inspire each other in a good way, especially where there is harmony between the different groups. It could even create fun.

But it could also create confusion. And where racism feasts, which you will always get everywhere, it could complicate matters mainly due to disrespect and failure to understand each other's cultures and rituals. And by that, refusal to accept "new ideas" from other cultural groups in a-midst.

My point is you will get both, the good and the bad results. It is just a matter of co-operation between the groups and the will to make it work. This is probably where individualism counts.


I do agree and must add that I think our country is one of the most open-minded countries in the world I have compared it to. I think our nation is so ready for new ideas and open for it too. Perhaps we are hungry for a new beginning? I think mainly the reason is that we are used to being open-minded because of the circumstances, having the all-spice in one jar. We have no choice. Therefore we have developed a curious nature and want to adopt new ideas and new things.

I am experiencing this in all aspects all over the country, eagerness to learn new things about each other as well as other nations from other countries and new developments in the world. We also like to inspire to create and develop those new ideas ourselves!

Thank you for this question.

Answer 3

you additionally can point out each and all of the amazing foodstuff we've been given from multi-culturalism. We does not have pizza. That on my own is well worth it. We get the appropriate foodstuff from international. the yank custom is almost a filter out. It filters out the crap some cultures eat, and the solid stuff turns into Americanized. i does not have it any incorrect way.

Answer 4

Can you?

I'm not saying the question was not interesting, it is.

One might site the United States as a majority that feels threatened by its subgroups, however since the country was founded by subgroups I would want to quantify from which prospective you would refer to as the majority, men, European, christian, straight, poor.

In looking at countries that have a state religion one might say that the majority might feel threatened about a new and different religious group they know nothing about.

Majorities IMO tend to only feel threatened when they have no information about the sub-group or have received misinformation such as the U.S. and Islam. Otherwise majorities tend to be quite open to new groups and ideas.

Answer 5

I live in Long Beach and work in L.A., and I do think people here are much less ignorant, and more accepting of things such as homosexuality, inter-racial dating, alternative religious beliefs, etc. than Sacramento, CA, which is where I'm originally from.