Culture is NOT:

Exploring a new culture is an exciting adventure filled with vibrant possibilities for connection. But what if you want to go beyond just being a tourist? What if you want to truly understand and bond with locals? To do this, it's crucial to identify what culture is NOT. Understanding the distinction between culture actions and non-cultural actions helps frame interactions, leading to deeper and more meaningful experiences.

Cultures

Culture is NOT a point. Picture culture as a middle ground on a behavioral spectrum. At one extreme, you have universal behaviors, characteristic of all human beings regardless of cultural background. On the other end, personal behaviors vary from person to person. But in the middle, you gave cultural behaviors, which are not universal for all humans, but also not based on personal preferences. It's vital to note that not all actions are dictated by cultural background—a key piece of knowledge for anyone trying to avoid cultural faux pas.

Universal Behaviors

To illustrate, let's look at universal behaviors. All humans eat, seek shelter, and yearn for connection. These actions are not tethered to any particular culture. For example, whether you're in France, Indonesia, or Kenya, the act of eating is universal. Sure, the cuisine differs—croissants in one place, nasi goreng in another—but the need for sustenance unites us all.

Cultural Behaviors

Culture is NOT one type of behavior. Moving from universal to cultural behaviors. Different cultures cook differently. This may be based on their resources or on their religion. Animistic tribes eat what is available, but Islamic cultures do not allow the consumption of pork. If a person is allowed to to choose how they cook or what they eat, that may still be regulated by the culture. When a culture allows personal preferences, we encounter layers of individuality, from vegetarianism to an all-meat diet. Personal experiences add deep shades of uniqueness, ensuring that no two people from the same culture are exactly alike. This dimension can complicate interactions because personal motivations often override cultural norms.

Let's debunk a common misconception: culture is not a monolith. When people from a particular culture display certain traits, it's tempting to generalize those traits to the entire culture. However, this oversimplification brushes over individual variations, leading to misunderstanding and missed opportunities for genuine connection.

Cultural Stereotypes

CultureStereotype

Culture is NOT stereotypes—they are perhaps the most misleading aspect of cultural understanding. While stereotypes might capture fragments of a truth, they are often broad assumptions that fail to represent the complexities of individual identities within a culture. I won’t list any cultural stereotypes, since most people find them offensive. Ergo, culture is not defined by stereotypes.

One crucial insight for the ardent traveler is that culture does not always dictate moral values. Though cultural norms shape ethical perspectives, morality is often a blend of personal beliefs and experiences, illustrating how non-cultural actions can rise above culturally-imposed expectations. Personal preferences depend on the tightness of the relationships within the culture. Each person in every culture has his or her own moral compass.

One example. In some cultures, getting pregnant out of wedlock results in the death of the woman. In other cultures, abortion is legal and even promoted. Although worldview lays the foundation of every culture, individuals within each culture have enough free will to reject aspects of their culture, and sometimes, although rare, even reject the culture’s worldview itself. This requires them to choose a different worldview, since everybody believes something about the foundation seven questions every worldview attempts to answer. Worldview

RealityQuestions

SEVEN QUESTIONS

  • 1. What is prime reality?
  • 2. What is the nature of external reality?
  • 3. What is a human being?
  • 4. What happens at death?
  • 5. Why is knowledge possible?
  • 6. How do we determine right and wrong?
  • 7. What is the meaning of human history?

Culture is NOT a set of cultural norms rigid and unchanging. It all depends on where the culture lies on the continuum. Plus, cultures adapt over time, influenced by migration, technology, and novel ideas. This dynamism means culture is not a static entity. It’s alive, evolving with each generation and global connection.

Don't mistake personal preferences for cultural norms. For instance, if someone chooses to eat sushi for breakfast, it might not be a cultural tradition but simply their individual choice. Appreciating these nuances distinguishes between cultural and non-cultural actions. On the other hand, some religions forbid eating certain foods, like Islam forbids eating pork. A Muslim could not continue to live in his own community if he broke that religious law.

Communication

CultureCommunications

Culture is NOT a type of communication. Individual communication style isn’t solely a product of culture. Instead, personal and professional contexts heavily influence how people interact, from the way they greet each other to how they structure their conversations. Sometimes the greetings are more affected by the language than the culture. Because cultures are different, we can consider some actions or comments as rude, when they are nothing more than cultural norms. Not every impolite gesture or curt response is culturally driven. Often these stem from personal struggles or unique social situations unrelated to cultural programming.

Culture doesn’t exclusively define a group's socioeconomic status or political affiliation. While these can shape the cultural milieu, the culture itself isn't always limited to any particular economic or political frame—allowing for a mosaic of diversity within any cultural group.

A brief visit never encapsulates a culture, but some travelers erroneously believe they've comprehensively experienced a culture after a short stay. To truly know a culture, prolonged engagement and meaningful interaction are essential, but especially learning the language of that culture, and maybe even some of the dialect.
Take heart: not every awkward encounter is a cultural misstep! Sometimes, it’s simply a universal human experience. Miscommunication is an example of a non-cultural hiccup that transcends cultural boundaries and unites us in shared exasperation.

Material Possessions

CultureMaterialPossessions

Culture is NOT a "thing." Material possessions often mislead people into assuming cultural alignment. While certain traditions might involve specific artifacts, the personal choices about what people own are usually guided by individual preference rather than cultural dictate.

Fashion choices, especially those inspired by global trends, are not inherently cultural. Clothing choices often reflect personal style, practicality, or popular trends rather than deep-seated cultural symbols. However, some cultures are not affected by global trends and require much more modest clothing than other cultures. Stepping outside the boundaries of clothing rules can result in harsh treatment of those violating those cultural norms. Buying a Muslim female friend a transparent, low-cut blouse can have devastating consequences for everyone.

Family Structures

When examining family structures, remember they aren't always and entirely dictated by culture. Evolving personal dynamics and modern reforms often bend traditional molds, resulting in varied familial arrangements across the same culture. The more rigid the culture and religion, the tighter the rules and the slower to change. Some African tribes forbid contact with other African “enemy” tribes. Romeo and Juliet situations in those cultures usually end in death.

Careers and Education

CultureUniversity

Culture is NOT a specific job or art or music. Career and educational paths often extend beyond cultural expectations. While cultural history might predispose someone towards a specific field, personal interests and opportunities generally guide these significant life decisions. Those cultures that have no opportunities of different careers and higher education usually cannot offer any broader options for personal interest. Imagine a corporation offering a computer job to someone from a tribal society that has never heard of computers. The option of changing careers occurs in the more Western cultures.

Aspiring travelers must recognize that personal dreams and aspirations often transcend cultural context. What an individual yearns for—personal growth, adventure-seeking, a break from routine, a chance for career success—often arises from self-driven motivations beyond cultural influence. However, this assumes that the culture offers those doors of opportunity. Unless driven from their homes due to war or sickness, many cultures have little contact with the rest of the world, and thus those cultures have no ability to travel. Leaving a culture to travel will sometimes be interpreted as desertion, and the individual will not be allowed to return home.

Hobbies

A person's hobbies and passions sometimes stem from individual interests rather than cultural norms. These choices reflect personal talents or inspirations—whether they take up painting or play a musical instrument, it's not always a cultural dictate. If the culture allows such variety, the choices do not disrupt the culture.

Social Dynamics

CultureDiversePeople

It’s key to see social dynamics as individually crafted experiences. Those cultures, like tribal culture, that restrict contact and relationships with “outsiders” reject “insiders” for doing so. Those cultures that allow more open relationships allow personal choice to rule the day. Europe is an example of open cultures, where cross-cultural marriages are fully acceptable.

Handling Stress

Coping mechanisms for stress and emotions reveal much about individuality. In the more animistic cultures and religions, the shaman and witchdoctors dictate actions taken to relieve stress and fear. In cultures that promote counseling, a person has more personal choice options, like social clubs, churches or clinical help in some form.

Technology

It’s a fallacy to assume every tech-savvy individual is influenced by culture alone. Personal ingenuity, access to technology, and an interest in innovation play significant roles in one’s digital presence and technology use. Some simpler cultures frown on technology, but people in those cultures simply hide their cell phones and iPads from those in authority.

Health and Medical

CultureHealthMedical

If a culture has access to doctors and hospitals, then when health and wellness choices arise, personal priorities and access typically guide them more than culture does. While traditions may influence some, the majority of health practices reflect individual circumstances and modern knowledge.

Language Learning and
Higher Education

Language learning can sometimes be hindered by fear of failure more than cultural dynamics. Motivation, exposure, and personal willingness often dictate language acquisition, demonstrating that learning a new tongue transcends cultural boundaries.

If higher education opportunities are available within or next to a culture, then education levels break free from cultural constraints. Access, opportunity, and personal drive infuse one's academic journey, far outweighing any cultural preconceptions about capability.

Music

CultureViolin

Musical preferences find their roots both in cultural upbringing and in personal taste and emotional connections. Love for certain genres often transcends cultural borders through shared rhythms and stories that resonate internationally.

A Continuum

Culture is NOT a point on a graph. Human behavior lies on a continuum with two extremes of universal within that culture and personal within the individual. Universal behaviors are those which apply to everyone, regardless of culture. Everybody in every culture eat regularly, although at different times and different foods. Each culture prepares it food differently and the same. Social customs usually dictate what and how the food is consumed. The more open cultures allow for more personal preferences. Every culture uses language to communicate, with the obvious differences of language and grammar. More open cultures promote learning different languages, based on person preferences. Finding shelter, raising children, burying the dead. All cultures carry out these things, but some cultures allow for variety and other cultures do not. Learning which ones allow personal preferences is a step toward acceptable cross-cultural communication and building successful relationships.

We don’t want to give culture more credit than it is due, thereby leaving the impression that everything about a person from Culture A is going to be different from everything about a person from Culture B, and to conclude therefore that all cross-cultural interactions by definition are going to be difficult. But this would be to overlook those many universal assumptions, values, and behaviors which transcend culture, those numerous ways in which all people are alike. In short, while cultural factors will play a part in most cross-cultural interactions, causing the usual complications, universal factors will also be present, making things somewhat easier.

No Two Perfectly Identical People

CultureTwoOppositePeople

At the opposite end of the behavioral continuum from the universal lies the personal. While shared assumptions, values, and beliefs guarantee that people from the same culture will be similar in many ways, personal experience guarantees that no two people from the same culture will be identical. To put it another way, each of us is in part a product of culture (and to that extent similar to others from the same culture) and in part a product of our own unique life circumstances (and to that extent like no one else anywhere).

The news here for the culture crosser is not nearly as good, for while the phenomenon of universal behavior makes cross cultural interaction potentially easier, the phenomenon of personal behavior makes all interactions potentially more complicated. It means that the behavior you might predict or expect of someone, based on what you have learned about his or her culture, will not necessarily occur in any given interaction because a personal influence might override a cultural inclination. In other words, in the right circumstances cultural information will be very useful to you in dealing with people from other cultures, but it will not always be an accurate predictor of how someone is going to behave.

Learn the Universals and
Expect the Personal Preferences

Therefore, I advise you to learn as much about the universals of the culture you want to cross, and then assume that individuals within that culture might choose to reject those universals for their own personal preferences. Remember, the tighter the culture, like animistic cultures, the fewer personal preferences are allowed, if a person wants to stay and thrive within their own culture.

Each of us is like everybody else in some ways (universal behaviors). We are like the people in our culture in some other ways (cultural behaviors). And we are unlike anyone else in still other ways (personal behaviors).

Take the following quiz

CultureQuiz

Decide which items are universal, cultural or personal. If the majority of the people in a culture would do something, then that item would probably be considered cultural. There are no absolutely right or wrong answers.

1. Running from a dangerous animal.                                         U / C / P
2. Respecting older people                                                               U / C / P
3. Speaking German                                                                           U / C / P
4. Learning one’s native language                                                U / C / P
5. Learning a foreign language                                                      U / C / P
6. Eating with your fingers versus with utensils                    U / C / P
7. Liking novels by Russian writers                                             U / C / P
8. Considering mini-skirts sinful to wear                                 U / C / P
9. Locking doors at night                                                                 U / C / P
10. Regretting having harmed an animal                                  U / C / P
11. Feeling sad at a funeral                                                               U / C / P
12. Allowing children to run wild                                                  U / C / P

Next: Culture Differences and Similarities

Take a look:
Floyd's Publications & Fiction

Take a look:
Christine's Publications and Historical Fiction

Privacy Policy