Exploring Cultural Diversity in Mirror for Man

Exploring Cultural Diversity in Mirror for Man

Why do men do the things they do? Professor Kluckhohn attempts to explore, define and explain the answer to this complex question in one brief passage. He reasons that we are all given the same basic biological "tools" at birth, so it should follow then, that we should all behave in similar ways. But, because of "culture", defined as "the total life way of a people", we do not react to similar situations in exactly the same way. Culture is the main reason we can not explain other people's actions "in terms of biological properties."

Professor Kluckhohn proceeds to explain cultural differences and similarities through some experiences of his own. First he parallels an American woman's view of polygamy to a Koryak woman's. Then he shares an anecdote of an American man who was raised as a Chinese. Lastly, he tells a tale of a woman serving rattlesnake sandwiches to her guests. After each example he points out that it is a persons upbringing and way of life that dictates how he or she will act in or react to a given situation.

I am in total agreement with Professor Kluckhohn's views. I found his passage to be very interesting reading because it put into words views and ideas I had formulated through dealing with people of other nationalities. It also pointed out that a body doesn't make a man, a mind does. How the mind is trained and nurtured will decide what the man is and how he thinks.

I am what some would call a "people-person." I love being with new people and learning about what makes them "tick." I have been lucky enought to travel through Europe and the Orient so I have seen first hand whether East does meet West or not. But the place where I learned the most about people and the way they live would have to be right here at home - Southern California. Living here in an area with a rich ethinic mixture has opened my eyes to things like: the Filipino tendency to eat with a spoon and fork while Americans tend to use mainly the fork, the Oriental's tight family ties and the growing rate of American divorces, etc. The mixture of traditional Filipino parents and growing up in California has given me a chance to glimpse how some cultures go hand in hand while others clash violently.