I think that diffusion is the idea of one group of being people influenced by another group of people, and the fact that countless bodies in society develop ideas based off of others. Historical or cultural diffusion is like the butterfly effect, meaning that one’s actions impact numerous people, continuously and rapidly. Historical diffusion in this case began with the Jews under the rule of Egypt. Those people were exposed to some of the beliefs of Akhenaton, and when the Jews wrote their Holy Books, they formed their beliefs and opinions based off of Egypt, Akhenaton, and people around them. Those books by the Jews then influenced Christians, who then influenced Muslims. The environmental and social factors are significant in this diffusion as well. It was nearly impossible for people to escape Akhenaton’s ideas, and escape influences from others. To me it seems like while people did have their own ideas, most theories and general values were based off of previous authority and already existing morals. Just like new cells come from already existing cells, and that is the only possible way they are formed; Well ideas come from already existing facts and conclusions. While it is good to be independent, I also think that diffusion is beneficial and effective, and certainly inevitable. When you have communities physically living close together, and with a lot of the same ideas, you are bound to spread ideas and thoughts to one another like wild fire. Diffusion is something that seems to be unavoidable in history, and is something that will continue get even more apparent in the future. Diffusion is impossible to ignore and I think that diffusion occurs because of the patterns in history and the fact that the environment, the social scene, and a form of religion/leaders will always exist. With those everlasting surroundings, people ought to come up with the same ideas and have the desire to work with others. Things from the past will always inform the future because there are constantly better ways to do things. From the reading a line that stood out to me was, “No one consciously sat down and said lets plagiarize that Egyptian guy.” This struck me because that does happen today. One example of diffusion that is not in the reading has to do with technology. Technology is an example of diffusion, and even though technology is something way more recent than religion, the roots and the initial ideas regarding technology have been exposed to the world, and influenced by generations and multitudes of people. Religion and technology are both popular and common issues, yet they differ in one obvious way. As said in the reading people did not simply sit down and take ones ideas about religion or about a country. However, today with technology people certainly do that because businesses try to make money and people are always competing to get the next best idea. Technology is a definite example of diffusion because individuals and businesses are constantly influencing people’s ideas. Some similarities between Zoroastrianism and Akhenaton’s monotheism is that they both started monotheistic, they both were influenced by other objectives and theories, they both were the base and root of several religions, and they both were more popular a long time ago than they are today. They are different because Zoroastrianism especially influenced Iran and most of the monotheistic religions that have been adapted and developed. Akhenaton leveraged and impacted more of Egypt and early Jews. Although neither of these are major religions today, they are extremely important and vital because they were the core of many religions, and religion is the base of so many major aspects in society today.
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