Sociology Question?

Question

Tell me about how the non-material aspects of culture shape the development of the material culture and how the material culture influences the non-material culture. Please give me some examples to demonstrate this relationship. Please include five components of culture in your answer.....

Answer 1

You have the answer, you just don't know it. Take a pause and think ....

1. Non-material aspects of culture
A culture is defined by common, unifying, distinguishing traits which can include:
a) language,
b) ethnicity,
c) religion,
d) music & dance,
e) cuisine.

2. How non-material aspects shape the development of material culture
a) language
English is the dominant language of international business as a result of British Imperial domination of the world, followed later by the dominance of US corporations throughout the world. Most non-English speaking countries encourage the learning of English in order to engage successfully in international commerce.
b) ethnicity
Ethnic differences feature greatly in attracting tourists from abroad, whether that is hula dancers in Hawaii, Quechua Indians in Peru, or Zulus performing in South Africa.
c) religion
Evangelical churches from the developing world (especially Nigeria and Brazil) are a fast growing phenomenon in European and North American inner-cities. These denominations exercise tithing, whereby members are expected to donate 10% of their income. As a result these churches command financial resources which are disproportionately larger than their membership size might suggest.
d) music & dance
Carnivals around the world, like Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad, New Orleans, and even London's Notting Hill generate a lot of income (and business opportunities) of all sorts, through sponsorship of dance troupes, sale of food/drink/whistles, hotel bookings etc.
e) cuisine
Asian cuisine (especially Indian and Chinese) has successfully transplanted itself around the globe - it is big business. Most places have Chinese restaurants (or takeaways) and in the UK a curry is nowadays the most popular restaurant meal.

3. How material culture influences non-material culture
a) language
(i) Use of mobile phones (and computers - chatrooms and IMs) has encouraged the growth of SMS language (aka chatspeak, txtspk, texting language).
(ii) The discovery of tin in Cornwall in the 1700s, and the resultant mining boom, and influx of outsiders, brought an end to Cornish as a living language. There are loads of similar examples around the world.
b) ethnicity
The discovery and development of New Zealand as a place to emigrate to has impacted severely on the identity of the indigenous Maori people. There is an ongoing debate there as to whether there are any pure Maoris left (this is a polemic issue because it is linked to land rights and educational opportunities).
c) religion
In some developed countries, materialism dominates human aspiration more than spirituality does - hence the fall in church attendance and closure of churches in the UK.
d) music & dance
Hip hop is big business, which has not been satisfied to remain within its own parameters. It has influenced the creation of similar local styles around the world, such as HipLife in Ghana, and Reggaeton in Latin America.
e) cuisine
Foreign cuisine adapts to the environment where it finds itself, because it makes business sense to do so - income is generated through acceptance and popularity.
(i) Thus Chinese food sold in the UK is different to how it is back in China (it was changed to meet English tastes).
(ii) In the UK there is an "Indian" dish called chicken tikka masala. It was created for English people, but is not authentic, as it does not exist in India.

4. Whilst a lot of my examples were from the UK, it's possible to use the general idea to find examples anywhere in the world.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about your question. But i'll still give some insights since you wasted another 5 points asking for someone to answer this one, next time choose the "Religous" section, THEY HAVE MORE PEOPLE THERE, and a lot will atempt to answer your question, oopsz!. Well i suppose the non-material culture is the thing that you can't see, like karmic energy? I'm not sure where i'm going with this, but i heard that every "thought" that you send out, that thought it energy, and evergy can not really be destroyed. so when you think a certain way, thats affection your life..maybe you might notice it, after you start experimenting with your thoughts. like for example, i can be totally fine, listen to depressive music, and suddenly turn depressed. i suppose thats because i'm feeding myself negative energy.


if you answer what is non-material culture, i can probably edit and come back with a better answer lol

Answer 3

I suspect they mean things like religion. An example would be Christmas tree lights. These have only existed about 100 years, they were invented when an employee of Bell Telephone took home a whole lot of switchboard lights, joined them together, and, voila, Christmas tree lights. Now they are in every shop window.

Answer 4

I am sure that your answer is clearly outlined in your text. So if you spend sometime reading you will have your answer. Good luck and God bless****