Culture's Characteristics

In today's globe-trotting world we have become increasingly aware of the planet’s wide variety of cultures. Anthropologists have made the study of different cultures their purview, as they have traveled the world, seeking the customs and habits of various peoples—in order to understand the range of human civilizations.

I am currently taking an online course from St. Petersburg University in Russia, with the intent of developing a better understanding of Russian culture. The course begins with a succinct and useful definition of culture—consisting of a group's common and dominant (1) values, (2) beliefs, (3) attitudes, and (4) behaviors. Using that definition, several aspects of a people's culture that can be delineated are (1) collective—it is generally common across the populace, (2) situational—culture depends on several particular circumstances of the group, (3) learned—we are born culture-free and gradually assimilate our group's customs, (4) complex—there is considerable variation within any one group, and (5) dynamic—culture evolves.

When we examine the behaviors of a group of people, we can immediately note several obvious and visible aspects of its culture, such as (1) dress and fashions, (2) gestures, (3) speech and language, (4) dance, music, and other arts, (5) manners, etc. But there are also several subtle and hidden aspects that take time to understand, such as (1) how time is experienced, (2) their concept of authority, (3) how they solve problems, (4) what is considered beautiful or ugly, (5) how truth is perceived, (6) the difference between good and evil, etc.

So, back to the definition of culture: the first factor on the list above is the values held by a people. Research has shown that, while values differ between populaces, there is still a strong similarity in the values held across different populations. In order of priority, the commonalities of all cultures are (1) family life, (2) honesty, (3) health, (4) self-esteem, (5) self-reliance, (6) freedom and justice, (7) friendship, and (8) knowledge and learning. Thus it seems, that despite cultural differences, there is quite a bit of similarity across diverse populations.

There is a new cultural phenomenon emerging in the last couple of decades—something that can be described as global culture. Fostered by the internet, this world-wide culture spans political borders. Its values are being commonly held by an increasing number of people, who have taken on and share global concerns, such as ecological sustainability and concern for the welfare of the planet. Despite our many differences, our fear and suspicion of the other, and our propensity to turn to violence, I wonder if this global culture could possibly pull people together to take action on the climate crisis. Wouldn't that be nice?