Culture: The Key to Our Behavior Culture: The Key to Our Behavior

Culture: all learned and shared products of human society, both material and nonmaterial. Material culture: physical objects that humans create? tools, wheels, clothing, etc.? schools, factories, buildings? cities, art, smart bombsNonmaterial culture:? language, ideas, beliefs, rules, customs? skillsNonmaterial culture is important because it defines rules of acceptable behavior for different people.Similarities across cultures are minimal:? incest taboo (details vary)? often a belief in something supernatural beyond death?Humans have no INSTINCTS (genetically based complex patterns of behavior hat are universal to the species).?We d have some drives (“cultural universals”):*food*sociability*sexComponents of Culture (4)1) Social Norms: shared rules that prescribe behavior that is appropriate in a GIVEN SITUATION for SPECIFIC PEOPLE*folkways: ordinary conventions of everyday life*mores: stronger norms w/ moral significance (eg: don’t kill others/ don’t marry your daughter)*laws: formally enforced mores2) Values: shared ideas about what is right, desirable, good.*Values are abstract, general concepts VS. specific behavioral norms*Values INTEGRATE a number of norms into a coherent idea.*Values are expressed in: --symbols (flag, union button) --stories/ fables, legends --codes of ethics 3) Language? Each language describes the CULTURAL ACTIVITIES of that society.? Eskimos have 20 different words for different snow conditions.? Amazon Indians have many different words for shades of green (but not snow).? Thus, language helps us “see” or understand our cultural practices.? This is the idea of “linguistic relativity” [Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis]? As you learn new words and concepts in this class and in college, you can understand more things.? Language can also distort or inhibit what we “see” and understand.? Supplemental Reading: George Orwell’s 1984 -- war=security -- peace=weakness, surrender4) Rituals: reenact basic values of society*rituals help recall traditional meanings and values.*rituals highlight key events of life  -- marriage, birth death  --heroic events, religious events (July 4th , Christmas)Summary on CultureCulture provides meaning to our experiences. *People are sense-making. *Culture provides components. *We deploy these creatively to make sense of the diversity of experiences.Tensions can exist between and within cultures:1) Subcultures: different class or ethnic/racial groups within cultures. (different majors/ religions)2) Ethnocentrism: assumption that one’s own culture is natural, best, or even inevitable.3) Counter cultures: oppositional to main culture (skin heads, hippies).Summary:*Sociology looks at the functions, conflicts, and symbolic enactments that constitute and drive cultures.*Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures, subcultures, and counter-cultures based on the values of your own unique culture.

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