Found this article by Chris Jenkins about Humanity Interesting.

We must concede that the incompatibility of modern civilization with our tradition-bound civilization is one of the most important causes of the crisis in our society. What is to be done? Should we insist on remaining immersed in our tradition, or should we melt fully into Western civilization? Or is there another way of removing this contradiction? Iranian President Mohammed Khatami For the past century, the United States and Western Europe has placed an extremely high premium on modernization. Contemporary ideas, techniques and technologies are seen as being superior to those that are derived from tradition or custom. As a result, Western culture has been defined as being superior to other cultures by terms such as first worldђ, developmentђ, progressђ, and modernђ. Traditional cultures, particularly those based on oral or visual histories, have come to be described as unenlightened, unprogressive, and backward. This distinction has eroded the unique cultural aspects of traditional societies through a constant process of modernization. I am proposing a project that will explore the erosion of traditional culture through modernization, with architecture serving as a means to mediate between the two aspects of this dichotomy. The question of the relationship between tradition and modern has been a major component of philosophical thought as well as architectural inquiry for decades. In an age when modernization, growth, change and advancement are held as paramount, the relevancy of traditional societies has been challenged. The complexity of this relationship has elicited a variety of responses as to how society might face up to the issue. One such response might consist of a retreat to past ideas, patterns, styles or beliefs, entirely removing the modern aspect. Conversely, a modern response might propose complete annihilation of the traditional aspects of a situation for the sake of achieving a more enlightened state. The process in which I will engage the project will be to seek to understand and appreciate the traditional aspects of a society while at the same time acknowledging modern issues that concurrently impact that culture. By confronting the similarities as well as the differences between modernization and traditional cultures, architecture can serve to defend the distinctive qualities of a society while allowing for the evolution that is a primary aspect of 21st century reality. The exploration of this issue will be focused on the traditional society of Navajo Native Americans. The Navajo are a tribe whose traditional homeland is located in the four corners area of the American Southwest. Unlike most tribes, the Navajo Reservation is located on their traditional homeland. This spatial proximity to sacred sites has created a strong bond between the customs and beliefs of the past and Navajo contemporary society. Despite this physical proximity to the distant past, the reality of the contemporary Navajo is far removed from the situation of his ancestors. Modernization has impacted nearly every aspect of Navajo life, from the way that wealth is measured to the physical occupation of space. This shifting set of values and social conditions has essentially trapped the contemporary Navajo between two worlds that of a traditional society and that of a modern society. This situation of being caught between two worlds is not peculiar to the Navajo people. Nearly all Native Americans feel, or have felt such a bind in one way or another. The following statement by Paula Gunn Allen discusses how Native American women confront the conflict between the two worlds in terms of the traditional definition of women and the modern definition of women. We resolve the dilemma in various ways: some of us party all the time; some of us drink to excess, some of us travel and move around a lot; some of us land good jobs and then quit them; some of us engage in violent exchanges; some of us blow our brains out. We act in these destructive ways because we suffer from the societal conflicts caused by having to identify with two hopelessly opposed definitions of women. I propose that while it is true that traditional culture and modernization are the polar ends of a dichotomy, the two are not ֓hopelessly opposed and in fact both can exist, and even strengthen one another while maintaining their unique qualities. Maintaining our distinct cultures is of the utmost importance in a time where equality is being promoted through similarity. Our society will be stronger if our equality and esteem for one another is based on our humanity rather than on the imposed sameness that is inherent in modernization.