Introduction to Sociology

GLOSSARY

countercultures: groups that reject and oppose society’s widely accepted cultural patterns and values
high culture: the cultural patterns of a society’s elite
popular culture: mainstream, widespread patterns among a society’s population
subcultures: groups whose members share a specific identification, apart from a society’s majority, even as they exist within a larger society
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  Modification, adaptation, and original content. Authored by: Scott Barr for Lumen Learning. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
  
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  Pop Culture, Subculture, and Cultural Change. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@12.1:TuMX8swj@6/3-3-Pop-Culture-Subculture-and-Cultural-Change. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49
  

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT

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  Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures: Crash Course Sociology #11. Provided by: CrashCourse. Located at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50AV7-Iwc&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMJ-AfB_7J1538YKWkZAnGA&index=12. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
  

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Cultural Change

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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  Explain the role of innovation, diffusion, and globalization in cultural change
  

Cultural Change

As the previous hipster example illustrates, culture is always evolving. Moreover, new things are added to material culture every day, and they affect nonmaterial culture as well. Cultures change when something new opens up new ways of living and when new ideas first enter a culture.
In the 21st century, most of us probably think about the latest gadget as promoting cultural change, but technology is not merely a product of the modern era. Technology is the application of science to address the problems of daily life. For example, fire and stone tools were some of the first technologies because they changed how people lived. From the first calculator, invented in 2400 B.C.E. Babylon in the form of an abacus, to the predecessor of the modern computer, created in 1882 by Charles Babbage, all of our technological innovations are advancements on previous iterations. All aspects of our lives today are influenced by technology. In agriculture, the introduction of machines that can till, thresh, plant, and harvest greatly reduced the need for manual labor, which in turn meant there were fewer rural jobs. This led to the urbanization of society, as well as lowered birthrates because there was less need for large families to work the farms. In the criminal justice system, the ability to ascertain innocence through DNA testing has saved the lives of people on death row. The examples are endless: technology plays a role in absolutely every aspect of our lives and in many ways has led to cultural change.