What is culture???????

Answer 1

What is culture?

Given in my own opinion,

"a culture is the mental aspect of evolution",

by Darwin's theory of evolution a species in a new environment will begin to adapt physically to this new environment,
as generations pass a species that was split into two separate environments will each evolve to form a different physical structure in order for best survival.

A culture on the other hand is the mental adaption to a new environment, the longer the separation of the splits the bigger the difference in culture, this will involve the general arts and the way of life.

there are many diversity's in culture around the world and it is now we have begun to have the technology for more regular trade that we can finally have the pleasure of experiencing alien cultures to our own.

Answer 2

Sometimes it's easiest to find what something is by talking about what it's not. So what ISN'T culture?

One thing that is definitely excluded is science. Science is supposed to be objective and universal. And while I know of cultures that favour science or not, the science itself is universal.

Nor is anything that has not been interfered with by man culture. Nature is...well, nature. So pretty much everything in the universe is not culture. Though again I can think of some cultures which are more interested in some aspects of nature than others, the nature itself is pre-existing and doesn't count.

There are, likewise, many cultures and one is not the same as others, though they may share elements. What seems to tie one culture together and distinguish from others is a general commonality of elements. Thus, like families, it is not inappropriate to say one culture shares traits with a nearby culture and that both were developed from a parent culture which is distinct as well.

What does that leave us with? Almost nothing physical, except man-made objects. And even man-made objects that are solely scientific in nature are out. Which suggests an interesting middle ground:

People do things many times that they do not have to do. And they do things in less than ideal ways. When a bunch of people who relate with each other do them in a common manner, this is a culture.

Thus most art is culture (at least the question of which art and where is culture), but also certain expressions of technology. Culture is behaviour and suggests underlying belief. It is a way of doing things. A voluntary and perhaps habitual one. One that anyone can participate in... at least anyone of the appropriate cultural group. I'm sure it shares many of the same characteristics of a 'group psychology'.

That's my take anyway. Make of it what you will.

Answer 3

Culture is the language, customs, festivals, beliefs and behaviour that are common to a group of people or a nation.

Some people narrow this notion down to behaviour or belief, but
it is more than that. It is everything that makes me a European for example, and everything that makes you an American for example.

When I first came to America 3 years ago I got a culture shock, but after living there I got used to American culture. When I came home to Europe I got a culture shock again, because I saw people were doing some things that Americans didn't, and vice versa. Now I see a broader picture of both cultures and it helps me understand them better.

Whenever you go to countries of different culture, it is always good to get ready to a possible culture shock... just in case.

Answer 4

Culture can be the appreciation of music, art and literature. A scientist may say it is bacteria living in a petrie dish. Anthropologist would decribe it as a range of learned behavior, that helps a person fit into and survive with a group of people.

Culture consists of learned ways of acting, feeling and thinking, rather than biologically determined ways. Culture is a complex whole that social scientists can break down into simple units called 'cultural traits.' A trait may be a custom, such as burial of the dead; a device, such as a plow; a gesture, such as a handshake; or and idea, such as democracy.

All cultures have features that result from basic needs shared by all people. Every culture has methods of obtaining food and shelter. Every culture has ways to protect itself against invaders. It also has family relationships including forms of marriage and systems of kinship. A culture has religious beliefs and a set of practices to express them. All societies have forms of artistic expression such as carving, painting and music. In addition, all cultures have some type of scientific knowledge. This knowledge may be folklore about the plants people eat and the animals they hunt, or it may be a highly developed science.

Answer 5

... could be in a Peti dish: pe·tri dish (pē'trē)


"A shallow circular dish with a loose-fitting cover, used to culture bacteria or other microorganisms."

[After Julius Richard Petri (1852–1921), German bacteriologist.]


..or.. "The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought." That from Answers.com

Answer 6

Yogurt

Answer 7

How that "One God" thingy REALLY got started is part of CULTure.
Even though a HUGE BUNCH of well paid people tried to make sure that it was not!
If'in ya wants to view/hear who/what/when/where it happened you can
@ this groovin' YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7iQRFP_e90



.

Answer 8

Not civilization.

Culture and civilization are two seperate entitys and concepts.