What Is Culture?
Culture is the way of life that a group of people have established over time, and that has been passed down through the generations. It consists of the learned behavior, beliefs, values and symbols of that group. It also includes the system of shared ideas and habits. It is the sum of the things a group of people have accepted, usually without thinking about them, as the right and the good way to live. It encompasses such concepts as time, space, roles and relationships, notions of the universe, religion, language, art, technology, economic systems, food ways, and many other aspects of a society.
The word is often used as a synonym for religion, but it also describes the social environment in which all humans live. The cultural world in which a person lives is the environment he or she was born into, and it defines who that person is. It shapes a person’s values, thoughts and actions in ways that cannot be understood by outsiders, but which can only be understood by the people in that person’s culture. In short, a person’s culture is the world he or she lives in, and it consists of the shared beliefs, language, habits and patterns of behavior of his or her immediate family, ethnic group, religion, nation and so on.
A cultural artifact is something that represents a particular culture, such as an object of religious significance, a work of art, or even a person. Cultural objects are often used in academics to teach about a particular culture. In a classroom setting, an instructor might ask students to select a cultural artifact and then present it in class. The goal is to encourage students to look beyond stereotypes and to develop a better understanding of the cultures they encounter.
Unlike history as it was traditionally taught, which focused on great battles and dynastic shifts, the study of cultural history seeks to understand everyday attitudes, assumptions and prejudices from both the elite and non-elite, including the kind of beliefs and practices that shaped the lives of people such as women or slaves. It also seeks to bring back lost voices and to make it possible for students to see that the past is not a linear series of events, but a complex web of connections and interactions.
The term “culture” was coined by English anthropologist Edward B. Tylor in 1871, and it was later adopted by other behavioral scientists. It has come to mean a wide range of human learning, from the habits acquired in childhood to the complex patterned tendencies that help individuals meet their needs in variable environments. The core of culture is formed by values, and it also consists of heroes and rituals. These heroes are real or fictitious, and they represent desirable characteristics. Rituals are practices that seem superfluous but are carried out for their own sake, and they include ways of greeting, paying respect to the dead, religious and social ceremonies, and many other things.
Culture is the way of life that a group of people have established over time, and that has been passed down through the generations. It consists of the learned behavior, beliefs, values and symbols of that group. It also includes the system of shared ideas and habits. It is the sum of the things a group of people have accepted, usually without thinking about them, as the right and the good way to live. It encompasses such concepts as time, space, roles and relationships, notions of the universe, religion, language, art, technology, economic systems, food ways, and many other aspects of a society. The word is often used as a synonym for religion, but it also describes the social environment in which all humans live. The cultural world in which a person lives is the environment he or she was born into, and it defines who that person is. It shapes a person’s values, thoughts and actions in ways that cannot be understood by outsiders, but which can only be understood by the people in that person’s culture. In short, a person’s culture is the world he or she lives in, and it consists of the shared beliefs, language, habits and patterns of behavior of his or her immediate family, ethnic group, religion, nation and so on. A cultural artifact is something that represents a particular culture, such as an object of religious significance, a work of art, or even a person. Cultural objects are often used in academics to teach about a particular culture. In a classroom setting, an instructor might ask students to select a cultural artifact and then present it in class. The goal is to encourage students to look beyond stereotypes and to develop a better understanding of the cultures they encounter. Unlike history as it was traditionally taught, which focused on great battles and dynastic shifts, the study of cultural history seeks to understand everyday attitudes, assumptions and prejudices from both the elite and non-elite, including the kind of beliefs and practices that shaped the lives of people such as women or slaves. It also seeks to bring back lost voices and to make it possible for students to see that the past is not a linear series of events, but a complex web of connections and interactions. The term “culture” was coined by English anthropologist Edward B. Tylor in 1871, and it was later adopted by other behavioral scientists. It has come to mean a wide range of human learning, from the habits acquired in childhood to the complex patterned tendencies that help individuals meet their needs in variable environments. The core of culture is formed by values, and it also consists of heroes and rituals. These heroes are real or fictitious, and they represent desirable characteristics. Rituals are practices that seem superfluous but are carried out for their own sake, and they include ways of greeting, paying respect to the dead, religious and social ceremonies, and many other things.