As I observed my surroundings, I couldn’t help but be amused by the irony. Here we were in Thailand, listening to two Thai men play music written by a black man from Jamaica, who himself was a product of someone, “Stolen from Africa, brought to America.” Passionately belting out the lyrics of Bob Marley’s famous “No Woman No Cry” was a white, dreadlocked Frenchman, accompanied by his black French countryman. Yet they both prefer to waive the flag of Brittany, a Celtic region of Northern France, formerly independent before the French Revolution. Meanwhile there we sat, two white people from the USA amongst a company of Spanish, German, French, Finnish and Argentinian guests, all seeking the increasingly elusive authentic cultural experience. I glanced down at the koozie that housed my cold beer. It read, “Full Moon Party” across the top, with a picture of some people dancing, and “Let’s Fun” across the bottom. I can only assume it was the product of a Thai person who speaks less than perfect English attempting to appeal to English speaking tourists.
It was then that I had something of an epiphany. This IS an authentic cultural experience. We are observing the evolution of humanity in the 21st century. If extraterrestrials were sent to Earth today with the mission of studying modern humans, they would likely witness some variation of what was just described. Sure, there are still places you can go that remain relatively untouched by the outside world, but in the age of the internet and airline travel, nobody lives in a vacuum. Every corner of the globe is now connected, and everything is becoming homogenized. And it is not all bad. In fact, it was a beautiful scene we were witnesses to. Multiple continents, countries, political affiliations, religious backgrounds, languages and ethnicities together in one place, sharing food, drink, music, friendship, and happiness.
During our time in Thailand we visited ancient temples, kayaked through limestone caves and mangrove forests, viewed prehistoric cave drawings, sampled strange foods at a night market, traveled by bus, ferry, scooter and tuk tuk, and took a course in freediving on a tropical island. Still we never really found the cultural immersion we thought we were seeking. Instead we encountered other tourists at every turn, there was usually someone around that spoke at least enough English for us to communicate, the food was loaded with cheap processed sugars and MSG, and much of the jungle had been replaced with rubber tree and palm plantations. Sometimes though, you stumble upon something that expands your views in an unexpected way, which is exactly what happened to us that night.
For far too long I have ignorantly thought of culture as something stagnant, something that stands the test of time unchanged. But that is not accurate. Cultures and customs didn’t simply spring into existence one day. Like a living entity, they evolved along with humans themselves, influenced all the while by individual and community experiences in the surrounding world. And of course, the evolution continues. That is what evolution does, it’s constantly morphing, adding and subtracting, keeping that which is functional and discarding the rest.
It is a wonderful thing to maintain traditions and distinctions that make us who we are. At the same time, there is always something to be learned from every person, community, and situation we encounter, regardless of whether the experience is positive or negative. We live in a time where we have the unique opportunity to learn from every civilization that exists or whose previous existence we are aware of. How foolish it would be indeed to encounter another race, society, or individual and not take something away from the experience, not add to your own story from what they have to teach. If our ancestors hadn’t done that, had our species made it this far, we would all be shivering and grunting at each other, naked in the darkness of some damp cave, with no language, clothes, tools, or fire. Yet we are all guilty of dismissing viewpoints that differ from our own. There’s a sense that things should remain just as we see them, even though our view is a tiny sliver of existence, because that’s what we’ve always known. But regardless of how difficult it can be to accept, change is inevitable. By all means, cling to your roots, but don’t forget about the rest of the tree. Climb to the top and peer out over the horizon with an open mind from time to time, and you may just realize there’s always another angle from which to view the world. As with all things in life, the key is finding balance, remembering who you are and where you came from, while also moving forward, keeping an open mind, and learning from new experiences. I will remain interested to witness who among us, if any, can accomplish such a feat as Earth spins into the future.