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Using points and examples from the talk explain the concept of diffusion.
請用課上的觀點和例子解釋說明傳播的概念。
Listen to part of a talk in a sociology class.
請聽社會學課上的部分內容。
Now let's talk about a particular cultural process: diffusion.
今天我們來學習一下一個特殊的文化進程--傳播。
Since the beginning of human history,
自人類歷史開端以來，
diverse cultures have taken advantage of one another's innovations when they've come into contact.
不同的文化在相互碰撞的時候都會利用彼此的發明創新。
Diffusion is the process whereby something cultural...like a custom,
傳播，就是某種文化性的東西，比如一種習俗，
a type of food or an invention is spread from one group to another, or from one society to another.
一種食物或者一個發明，從一個群體擴散到另一個群體，或者從一個社會擴散到另一個社會的過程。
One group adopts a cultural item, or, more selectively, just part of a cultural item of another group, you see?
一個群體會采用另一個群體的文化項目，或者更有選擇性地只采用一個文化項目的某個部分。
Now diffusion can occur through a variety of ways:
傳播可以通過各種不同的方式產生，
military conquest or tourism or even something like the influence of satellite TV shows around the world.
比如通過軍事占領、旅游或者甚至像可在世界各地收看的衛星電視一樣的某些事物。
For example take something like reading a modern newspaper here in the US.
就拿我們在美國看一份現代報紙這樣的事情來說吧。
Have you ever thought about where the letters, the characters on the page you're reading, where they came from?
你有沒有想過，你看的報紙上的這些字母、文字究竟都是怎么來的？
They were borrowed from another culture many centuries ago.
它們都是很多個世紀以前從另一種文明中借用過來的。
Then, the printing of the words, well, that process was invented in Germany,
另外，文字印刷這項工藝是德國發明的，
and finally, the paper itself, paper was invented in China.
還有紙張本身，紙張是中國發明的。
These innovations from all over the world were shared across cultures over time,
這些來自世界各地的發明隨著時間的推移為各個文明所共享，
and so today we have newspapers in the US.
也就因此有了來自美國的報紙。
So the process of diffusion might take place over long distances and over long periods of time.
所以，傳播的過程可以遠距離長時間地進行。
Now I'm not saying that diffusion happens easily, as I mentioned, sometimes it's selective.
我的意思并不是說傳播很容易就能產生。就像我提到過的，傳播有時候也是有選擇性的。
For instance, many people in the US have accepted the practice of acupuncture.
比如，很多美國人都接受過針灸療法。
The Chinese practice of using needles to cure disease or relieve pain.
這種中式療法是通過用針來治愈疾病或者舒緩疼痛。
So, lots of people in the US have realized that acupuncture is effective.
所以，很多美國人意識到針灸原來是有效的。
