Culture and its many applications

Last week I found that at least three of my classes were overlapping in subject matter. They were all discussing the topic of culture from different perspectives; one historical, another political, and of course communicational. I found it interesting how culture influences our lives everyday, on large or small scales. It is also a large part of our past and how it is perceived.

First, historically speaking, we discussed whether morality was relative, and how culture affects our views of historical societies. Throughout the medieval period violence was glorified. Jousting and executions were a form of entertainment in the public realm. Everything from the way the people lived, to the way they dressed was very different from what we are used to in our culture today. Some of the rituals, traditions, and hierarchies of the medieval period may seem harsh or discriminatory to us, in this age, but perhaps this is simply because we are used to a different set of ideologies than were acceptable to the people of the past. This presents the question; can we accurately grow to understand the living conditions or feelings of people living in different time periods than us? Even if we do have Primary resources from that period, will we always judge the people of the past with a certain amount of cultural bias? I believe that we will always view everything from our own cultural perspective, no matter how hard we try to avoid it, because we are simply too immersed in our culture to realize its influence on our opinions.

Secondly, politically speaking, we discussed the fact that instead of wars being waged because of territory, or devotion to one’s country, they are now based on conflicts between cultures. Many countries are afraid of the unknown. They do not trust countries that have different ideologies than them; therefore, any slight suspicious action could be a cause of war between two culturally different states. States with similar ideologies tend to align themselves with each other, economically and militarily, which creates super-powers that are not necessarily viewed favourably by the rest of the world. I believe it is only natural for states with similar ideologies to align; however this does not mean that their ideology is the only correct one. Different aspects of different ideologies are more favourable than others, and because of this I believe that it is important to integrate positive aspects of all ideologies into one, in order to achieve the most successful society possible.

Culture is also important in how we communicate. First impressions are entirely dependent on how different people behave and expect others to behave in their culture. For example, in some cultures, a hug or close proximity between friends is normal, while in other cultures physical contact seldom used. It is important to understand that other people are used to different social behaviours in order to not make them feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, through my discussions in different classes, I have learned that culture affects everything in our lives, from world conflict, to everyday interactions, to how we perceive our past. It is important to recognize our own culture, and understand other cultures, in order effectively interact with individuals with different beliefs or backgrounds.

(Lecture 20 notes)