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## 1.7 Global Cultures ### Cultural exchange and communication The spread of cultural ideas has always been closely tied to the development of transport and communication because these are the things that allow people from different cultures to meet and share their thoughts and experiences. As t...

## 1.7 Global Cultures ### Cultural exchange and communication The spread of cultural ideas has always been closely tied to the development of transport and communication because these are the things that allow people from different cultures to meet and share their thoughts and experiences. As the means of transportation and communication improved, new ideas spread more quickly and travelled further. The extensive road networks created by the Persians in the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, and later by the Romans, show the effect of such changes in transportation. Communication helped create these empires and then allowed their culture to influence territories across large areas of the world. ### Key word - global culture Technological advances in air travel have had a huge impact on the way people and goods travel. As shipbuilding and navigation improved and allowed for safer journeys over greater distances, so ideas from even more widely separated cultures were exchanged. The speed of transportation methods increased with railways and motor vehicles. The invention of the telegraph in the 19th century introduced almost instantaneous communication across long distances. Today, there is a global network of computers and telecommunications devices that allow for information to be instantly available around the globe. ### Impacts of global cultural exchange The spread of cultural ideas in the past occurred through conquest and colonisation, or as a result of relationships formed around trade and commerce. The way cultural ideas spread today is very different and their area of influence is now truly global. Much cultural influence today is passed on through media such as television and the internet. In some respects, this huge exchange of ideas is to be welcomed. People around the world can connect in new ways and create new social networks. This can help people from different groups understand one another. Positive ideas such as universal human rights can spread, along with global values that drive the ideals of ending poverty and preventable childhood deaths and ensuring that everyone receives a primary education.