上海交通大学：《跨文化交流》教学资源_课后阅读_reading for unit 1_Aspects of Culture

Aspects of Culture All men undergo the same life experience such as birth,helplessness,illness,old age,and death.The biological potentialities of the species are the blocks with which cultures are built.The facts of nature also limit culture forms.No culture provides patterns for jumping over trees or for eating iron ore. There is thus no "either-or"between nature and that special form of nurture called culture,Culture determinism is as one-sided as biological determinism.The two factors are interdependent.Culture arises out of human nature,and its forms are restricted both by man's biology and by natural laws.When a man eats,he is reacting to an internal "drive,"namely,hunger contractions consequent upon the lowering of blood sugar,but his precise reaction to these internal stimuli cannot be predicted by physiological knowledge alone.Whether a healthy adult feels hungry twice,three times,or four times a day and the hours at which this feeling recurs is a question of culture.What he eats is of course limited by availability,but is also partly regulated by cultures.Such selective,discriminative use of the environment is characteristically cultural. Cultural is created and transmitted by people.However,culture,like well-known concepts of the physical sciences,is a convenient abstraction.One never sees gravity. One sees bodies falling in regular ways.Similarly,one never sees culture as such. What is seen are regularities in the behavior or artifacts of a group that has adhered to a common tradition.The regularities are due to the existence of mental blueprints for the group. Culture is a way of thinking,feeling,believing.It is the group's knowledge stored up (in memories of people;in books and objects)for future use.We study the products of this "mental"activity;the overt behavior,the speech and gestures and activities of people,and the tangible results of these things such as tools,houses, cornfields,and what not.It has been customary in lists of"culture traits"to include such things as watches or lawbooks.This is a convenient way of thinking about them, but in the solution of any important problem we must remember that they,in themselves,are nothing but metals,paper,and ink.What is important is that some men know how to make them,others set a value on them,are unhappy without them, direct their activities in relation to them,or disregard them. The members of all human societies face some of the same unavoidable dilemmas,posed by biology and other facts of the human situation.This is why the basic categories of all cultures are so similar.Human culture without language is unthinkable.No culture fails to provide for aesthetic expression and aesthetic delight. Every culture supplies standardized orientations toward the deeper problems,such as death.Every culture is designed to perpetuate the group and its solidarity,to meet the demands of individuals for an orderly way of life and for satisfaction of biological needs. However,the variations on these basic themes are numberless.Some languages are built up out of twenty basic sounds,others out of forty.Each culture dissects nature according to its own system of categories

Aspects of Culture All men undergo the same life experience such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death. The biological potentialities of the species are the blocks with which cultures are built. The facts of nature also limit culture forms. No culture provides patterns for jumping over trees or for eating iron ore. There is thus no “either-or” between nature and that special form of nurture called culture, Culture determinism is as one-sided as biological determinism. The two factors are interdependent. Culture arises out of human nature, and its forms are restricted both by man’s biology and by natural laws. When a man eats, he is reacting to an internal “drive,” namely, hunger contractions consequent upon the lowering of blood sugar, but his precise reaction to these internal stimuli cannot be predicted by physiological knowledge alone. Whether a healthy adult feels hungry twice, three times, or four times a day and the hours at which this feeling recurs is a question of culture. What he eats is of course limited by availability, but is also partly regulated by cultures. Such selective, discriminative use of the environment is characteristically cultural. Cultural is created and transmitted by people. However, culture, like well-known concepts of the physical sciences, is a convenient abstraction. One never sees gravity. One sees bodies falling in regular ways. Similarly, one never sees culture as such. What is seen are regularities in the behavior or artifacts of a group that has adhered to a common tradition. The regularities are due to the existence of mental blueprints for the group. Culture is a way of thinking, feeling, believing. It is the group’s knowledge stored up (in memories of people; in books and objects) for future use. We study the products of this “mental” activity; the overt behavior, the speech and gestures and activities of people, and the tangible results of these things such as tools, houses, cornfields, and what not. It has been customary in lists of “culture traits” to include such things as watches or lawbooks. This is a convenient way of thinking about them, but in the solution of any important problem we must remember that they, in themselves, are nothing but metals, paper, and ink. What is important is that some men know how to make them, others set a value on them, are unhappy without them, direct their activities in relation to them, or disregard them. The members of all human societies face some of the same unavoidable dilemmas, posed by biology and other facts of the human situation. This is why the basic categories of all cultures are so similar. Human culture without language is unthinkable. No culture fails to provide for aesthetic expression and aesthetic delight. Every culture supplies standardized orientations toward the deeper problems, such as death. Every culture is designed to perpetuate the group and its solidarity, to meet the demands of individuals for an orderly way of life and for satisfaction of biological needs.However, the variations on these basic themes are numberless. Some languages are built up out of twenty basic sounds, others out of forty. Each culture dissects nature according to its own system of categories

A culture is learned by individuals as the result of belonging to some particular group,and it constitutes that part of learned behavior which is shared with others.It is our society legacy,as contrasted with our organic heredity.It is one of the important factors which permits us to live together in an organized society,giving us ready -made solutions to our problems,helping us to predict the behavior of others,and permitting others to know what to expect of us

A culture is learned by individuals as the result of belonging to some particular group, and it constitutes that part of learned behavior which is shared with others. It is our society legacy, as contrasted with our organic heredity. It is one of the important factors which permits us to live together in an organized society, giving us ready –made solutions to our problems, helping us to predict the behavior of others, and permitting others to know what to expect of us