Global Culture

How would you determine the degree to which a given person has been exposed to a variety of cultures and can, as a result of this experience, act as a bridge between them? It is not an easy task and for starters I came across a multitude of questions that hint at the variety of factors that should be considered:

• Who would have a better perspective on a given city? The business traveler who visits frequently but for a few days at a time or the immigrant that arrives once a settles for good?
• What influence do people from other places exercise on your perception of their cultures?
• Which cities are the most cosmopolitan and how are their inhabitants better informed about other cultures?
• How many cultural artifacts (books, movies, tv, sites) do you have to consume to really know a particular culture without ever being there?
• How knowledgeable are second generation of immigrants raised in a different country about the culture of their parents?
• What is the relationship between Internet savviness and ability to understand other cultures?

While I have a general idea of what the answers are, I’m starting a weekly poll that will allow the growing readership to participate. Over time, I expect these answers will lead us to produce what will become a Global Culture Index.

There is already a Nation Brands Index which measures the cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of each nation by surveying over 25,000 consumers across the world. With the United Kingdom ranking first, there is no doubt that a Global Culture Index would likely be high for people living in London, but I don’t think the dependency will be linear.

Being able to measure our Global Culture Index is just the first step to organize the wisdom of people to take effective action to balance the influence of globalization.

Call to action: each week, check out the featured poll on the sidebar.