The collective conscience also weakens because of a lack of synonymous religious views. With different groups attending different types of religious congregations, no two religious sects are on the same page. This can cause conflict and disagreements among groups. Since the issues of religious debate have been ongoing since religions first clashed, it seems unlikely that our system can completely solve these issues (Inglehart, 15). However, multi-cultural tolerance is becoming more regularly accepted as the norm: so it seems the collective conscience is still strong enough to allow the spreading of morals that are deemed too important to not be observed.
The cultures we have observed as individuals in the past are also very important in examining the collective conscience of today's society. What we experience depends vitally on what we have experienced in the past, and this notion is reflected in the collective conscience of western society today (Inglehart, 423).
Prevailing views of the world differ from society to society, reflecting the different cultural histories of those societies. Where this begins to be a problem regarding the collective conscience is the increasing globalization of our world. With the additions of cyber communities and the ability to communicate in what Marshall McLuhan calls a “Global Village,” cultural biases impact out lives on a day-to-day scale, and affect the collective conscience of society more than ever before. However, this is certainly not necessarily a negative concept. Although the collective conscience is arguably weakened from the injection of a multitude of values and morals from other cultures, therefore weakening a strong understanding of a societies morals, these additions also allow us to appreciate other societies and cultures to a higher degree then ever before. Globalization, while partially responsible for the gradual decline of a strong collective conscience, is certainly not negatively attributed to a world wide sociological perspective.
Today's injunction of computers and cyber communities is a way of maintaining a strong collective conscience in our globalizing world. Communications technologies allow us to maintain contact with civilizations and individuals all across the globe, allowing us to build relationships with societies that never could have existed before. These bonds are important in forming the basis for a global society, and are important in fostering a worldwide ideology of morality, because in order to maintain a strong collective conscience, hegemony of morals is necessary.
Although the collective conscience is arguably in decline, this certainly does not imply that societies will crumble because of this. Indeed, there are many ways that we can go about repairing the damage that has been inflicted to our group morality. And although Durkheim suggests that a strong collective conscience is not a characteristic of an organic society, this does not necessarily have to hold true. Patriotism and national loyalty are emphasized in today's western cultures (especially the US), and both of these concepts are useful in building a strong collective conscience.
With new communications technologies enabling discourse between societies all across the world becoming more prevalent and widely used, it seems that society is moving more towards a global collective conscience. The introduction of a global society is certainly an exciting idea, but what of the strength of the collective conscience? As Durkheim states, as dynamic density increases the collective conscience begins to falter. However, it seems that a typical set of morals in society as culturally diverse as Canada's manages to maintain a positive and strong collective conscience, and this model would be an excellent starting point for a globalized social network.
In summary, Durkheim's notions of collective conscience are still very relevant to the world of today, and more so now then ever; a strong collective conscience is necessary to maintain social order in our societies. Repressive law, fostering nationalism, and maintaining a powerful social communications network will all play important roles in the continuing maintenance of our collective conscience.
