Thursday, October 20, 2011

Culture - some definitions

         learned, shared behavior that is held in common by a group of people, empowering them with a "way of life"



         systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people



         learned behavior of a group of people, generally considered to be the tradition of that people, transmitted from generation to generation





So many definitions, so much confusion

these definitions have a few things in common:

         "groups of people"

         "learned knowledge"

         "shared behavior"

         "held in common"

         "traditions"

         "transmitted from generation to generation"



















What is learned, and how?

         speech

         religion

         livelihood

         value systems

         technology

         housing

         foods

         music

         and on, and on, and on..

Let's narrow it down to a few elements

         language

         values, norms, and beliefs

         social activity and interaction

         arts and sciences





















Language

         a set of symbols used to assign and communicate meaning

         spoken words

         written symbols

         these enable us to name or label the things in our world so we can think and communicate about them 

This is language.                              이것은 언어입니다.

 Este es el lenguaje.                   यह भाषा है.

   這是語言                  Ceci est la langue.

(English, Korean, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, French)



Values, norms, and beliefs

Values:

         democracy

         capitalism

         education

Norms:

         how society should conduct its business

         how individuals in society should behave

         norms have the "should" idea

         what is "normal" ? 

Beliefs:

         religion

         faith

         family

Social activity and interaction

groups, organizations, institutions

         Ravens fans

         the Republican Party

         war veterans

         German-Americans

         the Lost Boys of Sudan

         social studies teachers

         the Methodist Church

         marathon runners

         the Directors Guild of America

         Facebook members



Arts and sciences

literature

         novels

         poetry

         plays

performing arts

         dance

         music

         film, television

visual arts 

         drawing

         painting

         photography

         iconography



Video
I understand culture as a treasure that is a part of our collective memory, of our perception of ourselves.

Culture is us
We make it
We shape it as we love it to be

The more we know about the cultures of others, the more open minded tolerant and global we become.
.
Our cultural traits, value and beliefs are different and diverse.

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