In his book, Mirror for Man, Clyde Kluckhohn presents his views on the development of culture. Kluckhohn believes that culture develops out of a combination of human nature, human biology, and the laws of nature. There are vast differences in the habits of the different peoples of the world. An example could be the eating patterns of Americans compared with those of Europeans. Another could be the attitudes of American students compared with the attitudes of Asian students. At the same time, there are some characteristics which are present in all societies, such as peer pressure. In my opinion Clyde Kluckhohn is correct when he states that human behavior is affected by both human nature and human biology.
Kluckhohn gives several examples from his life experience illustrating how two cultures can have very different behavior patterns. During a recent trip to West Germany, I encountered a similar difference. I quickly discovered that the most striking difference between the eating habits of Americans and German was the way in which the knife and fork were used. In Germany most people eat with their fork in their left hand and their knife in their right hand. In addition the fork is almost always used upside down and the knife is used as a "pusher", much like Americans use bread. When I questioned a German friend about this difference I was surprised by her response. She explained that the "German" style of eating was the only "civilized" way and that the "American" style was "sloppy" and "Barbarian".
Another example of cultural differences could be the educational attitudes of Americans as opposed to those of many Asians. Many people in the United States are surprised and alarmed by the high test score and college admissions averages of Asian students in contrast to the falling averages of students of other ethnic backgrounds, including white. This discrepancy is directly related to cultural differences between American and many Asian nations. In most Asian cultures education is strongly encouraged and supported and has been for generations. On the other hand, in America education is often a low priority. Many American students look at school as a burden rather than a chance to gain knowledge. At the same time, many American parents reinforce this attitude because they were raised with a similar belief.
Kluckhohn is careful to point out that there are characteristics which are present in all cultures.
In Barre Toelken’s essay “Seeing with a Native Eye: How Many Sheep Will It Hold?”, the ways in which one culture perceives another and the criteria used to make judgements are explored. Toelken states “I think I can say something about how differently we see things, envision things, look at things, how dissimilarly different cultures try to process the world of reality” (10-11). In essence, Toelken is alluding to how different cultures will interpret their experiences and rituals according to their own set of beliefs and practices. This complicates situations in which the experiences or rituals are not comparable across cultural lines; someone will always be missing an aspect or a significant purpose if they do not try to “see it as much as possible with the ‘native eye’” (12). In other words, one must immerse themselves in the culture they are analyzing, while not comparing it to their own cultural experiences. One must consider all the cultural implications of that specific culture when wondering why things are done a certain way. Toelken provides
Hesse uses setting greatly affect the variety of factors that influence the story line. Siddhartha travels away from home to gain knowledge and throughout his travels; he comes across many different settings. The settings encountered do not only affect Siddhartha individually, but the story as a whole: aiding to support Hesses’ purpose of Siddhartha’s travels.
The Achievement Gap in America has separated and divided America's youth into more or less, two different cultures of socioeconomic placement. The first being the predominantly Caucasian students at American elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that excel greatly in their education. Most of the time earning them middle to upper class jobs in the economy, the aforementioned group contrasts significantly with its opposite culture of American youth. The second culture, the population that is mostly made up of the minority races, takes it's place in the American education system as the population of students who are less interested in getting a decent education and taking advantage of the resources that are offered, for various underlying reasons. This in turn manufactures less people of this type of culture to be readily available for higher paying jobs, and often times unemployable for a job at all. The Achievement Gap in America is influenced by many cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that separate lower and higher achieving students based on these factors, and leave a high amount of unemployed Americans as a result, if not incarcerated or deceased.
When the term “monarch” is used, the first thing that comes to mind is a bombastic king and queen with unlimited power. The reality is, this is not always true. The definition of a monarch is “someone who is the head of a state government, either in reality or symbolically” (Nederman 2). Such a government is known as a monarchy. A monarch usually either inherits sovereignty by birth or is elected. Either way, a monarch typically rules for life or until abdication. Depending on the type of government in place, the “monarch’s true power varies from one monarchy to another” (Nederman 2). They may be complete tyrants, known as an absolute monarchy. On the other hand, they may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power and are only a figure head which is known as a constitutional monarchy (Nederman 2). These different types of governments have all been around for about the same amount of time. However, some are more renowned than others.
Our families eat in different places. “My parents served all five of us children off of a single platter.” (Ahmedi, 9) In Afghani culture, the people and families are all rather poor so they can not afford furniture so they all eat on the floor. In America, we eat at a table. Also, what we eat with is different “...each of us cramming the food away by the fistful…” (Ahmedi, 9) In Afghani culture, they eat with their hands sharing a platter of food with most of the family. At home, I am fortunate enough to have my own plate and utensils without worrying if the rest of my family is going to eat the food before I get my portion. One way we are similar is that we both gather with our families to eat. Even if it is not every meal, no matter the situation there is always a struggle of finding time to eat dinner with my family. Where we eat it, what we eat it with and who we eat food with contrast in several
In history, governments have endeavored to rule their subjects. Major forms of authority consist primarily of monarchy, absolute monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny, theocracy, and republic. By examining the main faults of each government, the republic is clearly the superior form.
"Whereas animals are rigidly controlled by their biology, human behavior is largely determined by culture, a largely autonomous system of symbols and values, growing from a biological base, but growing indefinitely away from it. Able to overpower or escape biological constraints in most regards, cultures can vary from one another enough so that important portion...
nt. Many monarchies, such as Britain and Denmark, are actually governed by parliaments. The first form of this government was founded by Ancient Greece. The ancient greeks had a king or queen that would rule over everyone in the polis. The citizens did not have a say in government and all the choices were left to the government. This kind of government would be great if you had no idea what to do if you had a say in government, but if you did and you weren’t royalty, you would most likely be mistreated and not heard. So this government would be ideal if your people are dumber than sheep and needed to be hearded.
Beginning with America, there is a strong sense of nationalism. Being called patriotic would signify you support America and the ideals the flag stands for. It has many meanings to every individual, either learned through school or something they may have had happen and symbolize it with the flag. For instance, after September 11 happened, people talked to more strangers, donated large amounts of money to relief organizations or even signed up as firefighters. This is a great boon for a country when something devastating can happen and the people ban together to help each other out, but every coin has two sides. Many convenience store clerks where murdered because of their descent. Ignorant patriotism perpetuated when individuals thought they would kill “terrorists” because they were Muslim. The notion that every Muslim is a terrorist may be outrageous on its own, but those who aren’t Muslim even got murdered. It was based off skin color. It made those that weren’t Muslim, but appeared to be, to wear badges on their shirts, and every other article of clothing or accessory they have claiming they are an American Sikh. Even displaying flags in their windows to help symbolize the...
The US education system doesn’t have: follow-through. According to Chapter 8 of Outliers, “Rice Paddies and Math Tests,” the research of rice paddies has created a cultural legacy among Asian cultures that leads to more relative success for people from those cultures. Malcolm Galdwell argues “That lesson has
An absolutist monarchy consists of a monarch having ultimate governing authority in which their powers are not limited by laws or a constitution. As in the reign of James I, the people of England had to submit to the king’s will. A “legitimate” form of government should involve the people and their ideas. You lose the idea of legitimacy when the country’s leader begins to abuse their power. Absolutist monarchy has shown to leave too much opportunity for corruption.
Monarchy is from the Greek word monos (meaning single ) and arkhein ( Meaning “rule” . This is the kind of rule where power is in the hands of one person. This person is usually called the king and has got a council of advisors in Africa usually called ‘Indunas’. The powers are usually hereditary and the kingship is passed on to the next person in the inheritance linage of the royal family after
Monarchy is a type of government that still exists in today’s world. Monarchy is government where one person is in charge of everything, and they know as monarch and when a monarch die, the son or daughter of the monarch takes control, (Monarchy 1). There are few countries where monarch is the head of state and few countries where monarch has no power they are just there for tradition. There are eleven countries where monarch is the head of ...
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
Overall, the Group of 77 had very good intentions. They saw that there needed to be something done to help solve the gap between the rich and the poor. The only problem is that the rich countries are far to ahead of the game. They will not allow many of the proposals to go into action. This leads to an even larger gap between the rich and the poor that is still on the increase.