Adaptations of Culture

Adaptations of Culture
One major characteristics of culture is its being
adaptive. It can be said that culture has existed
whenever human beings have lived in group life. Its
origin as a whole is simultaneous with the origin of
the society. However, culture vary greatly from one
society to another, from one period to another, and
to lesser degree, a culture may vary internally from
one institution to another.

Four Principal Ways in which culture
adaptation occurs
Man is one, but cultures are many. This is so since
there are any factors involved in the process of
culture adaptation. According to Joseph Fichter,
here are four principal ways in which this process of
culture adaptation occurs:

Four Principal Ways in which culture
adaptation occurs
Parallelism refers to the independent development of a culture
characteristics in two widely separated cultures. There is no historical
evidence that the use of the wheel, or the arch of buildings, or of
domesticated dogs, pigs, and other animals was originated by one
people in only one place. Even in the modern world, the same
mechanical invention or scientific discovery occurs in places that are
very far apart.

Diffusion is the much more common process of
patterns and traits passing back and forth from one
culture to another. Examples of these are behavior
patterns, food, customs, religious practices, rituals,
festivities.
Four Principal Ways in which culture
adaptation occurs
Four Principal Ways in which culture
adaptation occurs
Fission is a process that can be traced historically when a long
established society breaks up into two or more independent units.
For instance, the various tribes of North American Indians, the
Eskimos, and the Appalachian hill folks, the Aetas of Zambalez, the
Manobos, the Igorots of Bontoc province, the Dumagats of Palanan,
Isabela, and the Baluga of Bulacan are examples of people who have
broken away from their cultures origins and have developed different
internal culture traits.

Four Principal Ways in which culture
adaptation occurs
Convergence is the fusion of two or more cultures into a new one
which is somewhat different from its predecessors. Examples of this
process may include the Norman invasion of England, the fusion of
the Moorish and Spanish cultures, and the convergence of Roman
and Cermantic traits.
Adaptations of Culture
As described by Fichter, diffusion and convergence of culture are the
two most important forms of adaptation in the modern world. The
physical intermingling of people from different backgrounds has
increased tremendously because of both forced and voluntary
migration. People transport with themselves the behavior patterns
from their original culture. More important than physical
intermingling, however, is the rapid communication of ideas from
one culture to another.