It should be no surprise that exposure to other cultures is beneficial in life, whether it be to learn more about the human condition, behavior, a new language, history, and many, many other reasons. In particular, if we realize it, we draw inspiration from different cultures worldwide on any given day. Originating early in human consciousness, culture stemmed when we had both excess amounts of time and brainpower to create. Early humans who made cave paintings had a lot going on during the day with hunting and gathering, but once they came across different caves, they left their mark that their distant descendants could see. While we often understand cave paintings as a part of early human culture and consciousness, they proved more than just simple handprints on a wall; they proved they were just as complex as their descendants. Even though they may be long gone now, their legacy exists solely through their art. It's the only thing that has stood the test of time.
Early nomadic cultures generally depended on the group of humans that were in the pack and what environment they frequented. Because our species originated in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa (most likely Ethiopia or Kenya), and it was a matter of gradual evolution, our species expanded from there on out for hundreds of thousands of years. As humanity expanded to new locations, it adapted to the location it called home; especially once the agricultural revolution began. The typical tribes of humanity converged as settlements began, and you can make the argument that this is the first instance multiple cultures mixed.
The United States, while it has many origins with the many indigenous people, the vast majority of the people in the US are used to a culture that originates on some other continent. The culture of the indigenous also still widely exists. There's a reason it's impossible to generalize about any nation, and this is especially true for the United States. Over 340 million people live in the US, all of them unique and diverse in their background, so it is one of the largest melting pots in the world. Naturally, India is a major melting pot as well, with multiple different official languages. It's no surprise that when we think of multiculturalism, we usually think of democratic countries.
Interestingly, while the United States has the identity of being a melting pot as opposed to many European countries where the cultural is mostly homogenous, there was a point when the European countries were also nomadic tribes, and originally not indigenous to their area. Thousands of years ago, these tribes existed. As time went on, they had to either work together or fight until there was a winner. As such, one of the biggest parts of evolving as humans is the depth of our culture. We were always destined to expand our minds in the departments of science, culture, technology; it's a wonder why we've lost that in our way. Let's hope the technologies of today are a temporary blip.
Anyway, what might be true today won't be true tomorrow, and wasn't true yesterday. As far as cultures go, this much is absolutely true. For example, in England, the Normans conquered it in 1066, and because of the invasion and conquest of England, we still use many Norman words in our language. An Englishman might walk into a room, where a Norman walked into a chamber. An Englishman might see Hadrian's Wall and call it old, whereas a Norman might call it ancient. There are so many more examples of this, but 1066 was almost a thousand years ago. Normans don't exist in the traditional sense anymore; they'd be integrated with today's Englishmen, effectively indistinguishable since they are one.
If humanity continues to be independent countries, then chances are our cultures will evolve separately still. The internet is a major part of having a global culture, but reading what you see on a screen isn't true culture. Understanding a culture is more than seeing it for the traditions; it's also understanding typical daily life, what a daily routine looks like, etc. If the United States lasts 1,000 years, can you imagine how different our culture will be then? It'll barely be recognizable from today, and we won't be able to predict how our culture changes since the trends change all the time. As such, time changes all cultures; all people change with time. Understanding different cultures can help us better understand ourselves, if not inspire us.
Since culture is an inevitable part of humanity, I encourage everyone reading this to pick any culture that interests you and learn more about it. One of my favorite cultures/histories to learn about is Japanese, especially around the Sengoku period. An interesting part of Japanese culture at the time was isolation from the rest of the world, the only exception to this rule being the port city of Dejima (today Nagasaki) traded mostly with the Dutch. It was so important to the Japanese to focus internally that it was a matter of life and death in the eyes of their government if you left or entered the country unwarranted. The reason the government was like this is that Japan essentially had a military-junta government for a major period of its history. Of course, I'm talking about the different shogunates. While hierarchically below the emperor and allowing him and his family to keep their position as Japan's monarchs, even letting them live in luxury, the shogun ran the country for hundreds of years. That's like today if the top-ranking military general led any country and essentially told everyone, "Alright, do not leave, and we will not engage in any outside diplomacy."
Alright, it's the eighth paragraph now, and you're wondering, "What does this have to do with writing?" Traveling and learning more about different cultures helps with creativity. It's not just a matter of "my word is this", but evolutionary inspiration. When world-building, I often have to think about everything I just talked about in order to create a legitimate culture that's passable as realistic. Think about how old your culture is, how the history shaped the area, maybe what types of ancient cultures mingled with this one. Maybe cultures in a fantasy world are based on a real one. Tolkien had many inspirations for his cultures, and one of the heaviest was actually the Finnish culture thanks to the Kalevala. Like any subject, culture is best created when it's understood to the fullest extent. What does it mean to have culture, to have societies that have different day to day lives, beliefs, and anything else in between?
An interesting way to postulate how culture might come about is the apocalyptic genre, since all cultural progress and traditions are effectively set back to zero in the early stages as people try to survive. But, as time progresses, new cultures begin to emerge. This is not an overnight matter of course, I'm talking about after the first generation of survivors is mostly gone, brand new cultures will begin to form around the communities created, much like our tribal ancestors before. Another way to postulate culture is by creating a map based on plate tectonics, koppen climate, etc. Create geography that's plausible, that makes sense, then decide where you want your first people to start. This is important because it'll determine the history for the rest of your world, and this doesn't mean it's limited to one species, either. Simulate what makes sense, how people will migrate and settle, and when you want them to discover agriculture or its equivalent. Generally speaking, they'll be creating civilizations around river valleys, and from there you can make some interesting fantasy countries with a realistic history.
For the more gamer-nerdy type such as myself, you might own a copy of one of the civilization games. If you can, create a custom map that looks like your world's geography; it's a great reference, and if you wanted to actually play as a civilization and simulate how you'd want one of your kingdoms to expand, you could run this over and over again as different civilizations and see where conflict of interest arises, where alliances might be forged, and much more. These games usually have a feature where they tell you the population, literacy rate, etc. etc. Play to a particular age and see where they're at, it might be a great reference if you'd rather play a game over doing some mathematical and geographical calculating.
As for those of you who are writing contemporary stories that have real cultures, I highly recommend studying the cultures are the specifically important to your story. It's easy to fall into the pitfall of cultural stereotypes, even for different parts of one's home country. A person from France might come to the US or Canada for work and remittance, which would be a motivation for such a character to provide for their family or whoever else. They might bring with them some of their culture, and naturally, they'd stick out as an interesting figure no matter where they went (except for maybe Quebec and Louisiana for the specific example). Maybe there's a reason you have someone like that in your story, depending on the story you're writing.
Anyway, I think I've made this post long enough. Thank you everyone for tuning in; I know this was a ton of information, but culture is such an important part of the human condition that it's impossible not to cover more of it. If you'd like to see me cover more cultures or request me to cover a topic on a blog post, consider using my contact me page. You never know, it never hurts to suggest something you're interested in to see if I might have something to say about it. If coerced, I might cover more regional cultures in the future, or maybe a focus on a specific one for a post. There's just so much to say that it might be an information overload, but regardless, I hope you enjoyed.
Until we meet again,
Dustin