Understanding Culture

Culture, is defined by Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, as "the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations." People learn about culture through interaction rather than through the memorization of a text. To become fluent in any one culture you have to experience it and become involved. There are many ways that a culture can be shared among people without them being fluent in it such as through: food, customs, clothing, language, beliefs, and behaviors. With the increase of technology and new discoveries about the world developing daily it makes it impossible for cultures to remain stagnant; therefore, they must learn how to adapt in order to survive. Some people argue that complete cultural fluency in more than one culture is impossible. However, culture is a learned behavior therefore people should be able to learn and become fluent in more than one.

Culture is distinctly human and is transmitted through learning traditions and customs that govern behavior. Cultural anthropologists study human society and culture through describing, analyzing, interpreting and explaining social and cultural similarities and differences. To study and interpret cultural diversity they engage in two activities which are ethnography and ethnology. Ethnography is based on fieldwork while ethnology is based on cross-cultural comparisons of the information collected through ethnography.

The studies done on culture can be shared in two ways: first through theoretical or academic anthropology and second through practical or applied anthropology. An example of academic anthropology, which teaches us about culture, is a textbook ...

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...nity. An example is the way they raised and slaughtered animals rather than buying them packaged at a store. Although a year may not be enough time to become fluent in a culture, the stories of the students living abroad prove that a person can learn and become part of more than one culture.

Culture is what defines the difference between humans and animals. We grow up in a culture which influences who we are and how we live. Through studying different cultures we learn more about our own culture, ourselves, our strengths, and weaknesses. Yet to become fluent a person cannot simply study a culture, rather they must be on an interactive level and experience the culture first hand.

Sources Cited

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Kottak, Conrad "Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity." McGraw-Hill Education; 15 edition, October 11, 2012