Blog 13

The first learning objective we had to complete was to define cultural diffusion. Cultural diffusion is the process of spreading cultural traits from one region to another. This is just the general definition of cultural diffusion, however. There are five types of cultural diffusion that can occur. These are expansion which is when an innovation is created in a specific area and stays thriving in that area, but it spreads to other areas as well, relocation which is an idea that moves into new areas but leaves its original source of the innovation behind, hierarchical which is when an innovation moves from larger to smaller areas, not looking very much into the distance between these places, contagious diffusion which is when innovations and ideas are spread by person to person contact, and finally stimulus diffusion which spreads based on its connection to another previous innovation.

There are examples of cultural diffusion both in history and today. One historical example of cultural diffusion is the columbian exchange. This was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries. The columbian exchange led to many different things being spread from one place to another, causing cultural diffusion. A modern example of cultural diffusion is the contagious diffusion of the slime trend. This trend began when one person posted a recipe for the gross and squishy toy, and it went viral on the internet. The slime spread to everyone and soon enough it was being made all over the world and even sold online and in stores.