Culture : How Do We Define It?

In pages one through twenty-one in the novel Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working With People from Other Cultures, by Brooks Peterson, the author introduces us to the basis and idea of culture, and what it truly is. He describes how we as individuals see others and how we tend to acknowledge their distinct cultivations. Part of living in America means coming across individuals who live a different lifestyle than we may live. We are a society filled with people from all over the world. Therefore, it is crucial that we as Americans and as people understand the significance and idea of what culture really is and how it affects different individuals.

Over the years the concept of culture has shaped people and what they believe in. According to the textbook culture is defined as a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices. The conception of culture can be described as material or nonmaterial. Material culture is described as everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment. On the other hand, nonmaterial culture refers to values, beliefs, behaviors, and social normal. I believe culture can be defined and shaped in many ways. I feel that culture differs from one location to another because the natural environment has an impact on the culture. Also, some people come up with their own ideas and values. There are changes within cultures across time because people grow and develop

A Culture is the language, values, beliefs, traditions, and customs people share and learn according to Larry Samovar and his colleagues (2007). Culture includes two different groups called in-groups which are groups that you identify yourself with and out-groups which is a group of people we view as different (Frings & Abram, 2010; Quist & Jorgensen, 2010). Examples of culture is the foods we eat, holidays we celebrate, the type of music we listen to, or even how we address someone. A co-culture is groups of people banded through beliefs, values, behaviors, and a culture inside a larger culture (Ober & Spellers, 2005). Being a member of a co-culture can be a

Cultural Relativism – the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards, and not in comparison to another culture

In the textbook , “An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in Global Community,” by Fred E. Jandt, the author defines culture as the, “sum total of ways of living, including behavioral norms, linguistic expression, styles of communication, patterns of thinking, and beliefs and values of a group large enough to be self-sustaining and transmitted over the course of generations.” In a culture

The identities that each person possesses is influenced according to their attitudes, values and beliefs embedded in their culture. When people hear the word cult, the images of satan worshipping, animal sacrifices and evil, pagan rituals automatically come to mind. However, in reality, the majority of cults do not involve these things and are in fact simply a religious system with alternate beliefs. The word though refers to an unorthodox sect whose members distort the original doctrines of the religion. Heaven’s Gate is a cult that is centred in California, founded by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles in 1993. They are a UFO based ‘destructive doomsday’ cult who believed that evil space aliens called ‘Luciferians’ had kept

Culture is what you identified, not what you are label as. Culture is a group of people who share similar values and norms, religion, language and similar experiences. An individual can identify and belong in multiple culture group. Sometimes, we feel the need to belong to a group of people to assure our existence and importance. As result of rejection, we may anxiety and shame of ourselves. In our need of belonging, we associate with group of people who share similar characteristics and knowledge as us.

Culture by definition is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person's self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any type of social group that has its own distinct culture. To me that definition couldn't be more spot on but let's go more in depth over the past few months in my English class we have been trying to learn what our culture is and what part culture plays in our daily lives so in this essay I will be sharing with you what I think culture is what it means to me and how I think it impacts our way of living and the way we look at each other as human beings and how we treat each other and how all this makes up my culture

What does “culture” mean to you? Culture means things that you do and what you believe in.

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.

Webster’s dictionary defines culture as “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time”. (Culture) This paper will attempt to inform the reader of those influences that were instrumental in molding what is the modern culture of Italy. The geography, history, language, art, food, and religion of the Italian region all combine to form one of the richest cultures on planet earth. This culture has also been a key influencer of western culture as a whole. By better understanding these cultural tenants, one may better understand how to interact with and affect change inside this complex culture.

The definition of culture offered in one textbook is “That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man person as a member of society.”

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,

An interview Culture is what we inherit from our forefathers. There may be various explanations of culture but overall culture is the name of totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. In addition to that culture is also the name of these patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population. In our daily life, we have to come across a number of people having quite different ethnic, communal, religious and territorial background as compared to ours. Not only facial appearance and color of their skin but the way they speak our language easily help us to categorize them as more different than us. Conducting an interview with someone who has a different cultural background as compared to us is always very challenging. Before conducting interview I had made lots of questions but when it came to interview I realized my all questions were not enough for this regard especially when there was a person with quite different background. Any how, at that interview I just managed to achieve my goal by asking various related questions to interviewee and I gave her all opportunity to speak her heart out regarding her own culture, ethnic and religious background. In starting, I easily perceived that she was quite reluctant to talk about herself due to her quite reserve nature but after some encouragement from my side she in some way