Globalization
Although various historical accounts, such as the proliferation of indigenous groups in
the Americas and the coming of their European invaders (Josephy, 1994), may suggest
many of the same developmental complexities of expanding human civilization
occurring in the present era of globalization, there are marked advances in technologies
of communication and mobility enabling rapid globalization currently underway the
likes of which are new to the planet. For example, a well known phenomenon is the
prolific presence and use of mobile telephones by millions of human beings within this
decade, and with them, an invisible addition of high levels of electromagnetic waves
imbuing the biosphere of the planet without clear comprehension of its consequence on the health and well being of all living beings, and the evolution of life as we know it on the planet. Another example is the accompanying rate at which we are experiencing the movement of many peoples, cultures, and societies toward one global interdependent economy–a seemingly incomprehensible beehive of humanity. What must have seemed to many in Europe during three centuries in voyages of discovery, colonization, and exploitation of distant natural resources to enrich home countries, pales in comparison with the planetary interconnectedness evident since the middle of the twentieth century.