Culture

1
Culture

• Everything that people have, think and do as
  members of a society

2
Features of Culture

• At least minimally adaptive, allows group to
  survive
• Parts integrated, need holistic analysis
• Culture is always changing but different parts
  may change at different rates culture lag

3
Humans and Culture

• Humans have innate capacity to learn culture but
  no genetic predisposition to learn a particular
  culture
• Humans are creatures of culture
• Humans are creators of culture

4
Instinct vs. Culture

• Biologically inborn
• Same for all members of a species

• Learned behavior
• Varies by culture

5
Overt Culture

• Aspects of culture one remembers learning
• Easy to teach to foreigners
• Examples
• Some rules of etiquette
• Important dates e.g. July 4th

6
Covert Cultue

• Aspects of culture learned very gradually
• One doesnt remember learning and is not
  conscious of knowing
• Appear to be instinctive
• Assume normal for all humans
• Difficult to put into words or explain

7
Covert Culture 2

• Differences in covert culture account for most of
  the misunderstandings in cross-cultural
  communication
• Examples
• Handling of space
• Handling of time
• How one should express interest in what the other
  person is saying

8
Cultural Variation

• Culture is shared but there is always sub-group
  and individual variation
• Need to learn not only the rules but the
  acceptable range of deviation

9
Ethnocentrism

• Judge others according to the values of your own
  society
• Misinterpret other cultures because you use the
  concepts of your own culture

10
Ethnocentrism

• All societies are ethnocentric.
• Western ethnocentrism has had great impact on the
  world

11
Cultural relativism

• Understand the values and customs of another
  culture in terms of that culture
• Make the effort to understand the other culture
  in its own terms
• Be hesitant about judging
• Try to understand, not necessarily to accept or
  agree

12
Moral relativism

• The position that there is no way for us as
  individuals to judge right from wrong. This would
  mean that, as individuals, we could never
  disapprove of what any society did.
• NOT PRACTICED BY ANTHROPOLOGISTS

13
When confronting the culturally unfamiliar

• React emotionally/ethnocentrically(privately
  when it is not appropriate to show your reaction)
• Suspend judgment, investigate, try to be
  culturally relative
• Reach a thoughtful personal judgment

14
Rhetorical patterns

• Organization of argument
• Importance of honesty
• Exaggeration/understatement
• Speaking as art
• Proper domains of talk
• Power of words
• Meaning of silence