Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Chapter 12 Question 1
After reading through the chapter I have to agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict that we are "creatures of our culture". It makes a lot of sense that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture. I feel that I am a creature of my culture because I know where I picked up my habits and beliefs and it was the environment I grew up in that helped develop my habits and beliefs. I am not sure if the anthropoligist thinks this is a bad thing because I feel in my case it has been positive for me to be a creature of my culture. I believe that twenty years ago it was a lot harder to break through the limits of our cultures but today it is quite simple. With the ability to google anything you want we are breaking through the limits of our cultures all of the time. We have the ability to access all types of information which has given us the ability to break through the limits of our culture quite easily. So in order to break the limits of our culture we need to educate ourselves. Whether it is through the google, books, youtube, or any other information hub it is very simple to not be bound by the limitations of our culture. Soon with the ease of getting information we are going to create a new universal culture that will have no limitations.
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I liked your example of being able to more easily permeate cultural walls with Google! Every time I'm introduced to a concept in class I want to know more about, I usually Google it.
ReplyDeleteI took a Comparative Religions course at my Catholic high school, and after learning about Catholicism for 12 years, it was so refreshing to hear about a religious perspective that I hadn't learned everything about already.
I found Zen Buddhism particularly interesting. If I hadn't looked it up, I may have only been able to learn my textbook's information about it: a meager two paragraphs.
Education is so important when it comes to understanding different cultures. I'm a huge History Channel and Discovery Channel buff because I also adore learning about different lifestyles or ways that people used to live. Excellent job :)
I agree that the Internet has helped people break limitations that are put on them through their culture. Web sites like Google and Youtube are both great examples but I also think even Facebook and Myspace have helped. They have opened up a way to connect with other people, from all types of different cultures. People putting up pictures of their lives in other city, states and countries is new information we are processing which changes our views in one way or another. A person living in China while they study abroad can put up pictures and blogs from their experiences and open up an entirely different perspective for someone who is stuck in San Jose and cannot afford to travel the world. Besides the fact that it’s a little dangerous to befriend strangers on these social networking websites… that opportunity to meet people from different cultures is there, and that is a great way to step outside of the box. .
ReplyDeleteHello Rrbos,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and I agree because of our great technological advances in our current culture, we are able to learn about so many different cultures without even having to leave our home. I think that there is no reason for anyone not to be able to research and learn about the different cultures, customs, and traditions around the world. However, one thing I did want to mention is that, we should be careful when we are conducting our research of other cultures because there can be some biased information, as well as outdated information. Personally, I think the best route to go would be to actually observe other cultures and ask questions instead of assuming everything we read out there in the media is accurate.