Chapter 2 Culture Edward Tylor cultures systems of human behavior and thought obey natural laws and therefore can be studied scientifically complex whole which includes knowledge belief arts morals law custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired not through biological inheritance growing up in a particular society in which they are exposed to a specific but by cultural tradition enculturation process by which a child learns his or her culture I What Is Culture Culture is learned to the our own cultural learning depends on the uniquely developed human capacity to use symbols signs that have no necessary or natural connection things they stand for or signify cultures have been characterized as sets of control mechanisms plans recipes rules instructions programs for the governing of behavior these programs are absorbed by people thru enculturation in particular traditions every person begins immediately through a process of conscious and unconscious learning and interaction with others to incorporate a cultural tradition through the process of enculturation culture is also transmitted through observation it is also absorbed unconsciously Culture is Symbolic a symbol is something within a particular language or culture that comes to stand for something else anthropologist Leslie White culture originated when our ancestors acquired the ability to use symbols to originate and bestow meaning on a thing or event and correspondingly to grasp and appreciate such meanings the association between a symbol and what is symbolized is arbitrary all humans possess the abilities on whih culture rests the abilities to learn to think symbolically to manipulate language and to use tools and cultural products in organizing their lives and coping with their other Culture is Shared environments culture is an attribute of individuals as members of a group culture is transmitted in society shared beliefs values memories and expectations link people who grow up in the same culture in the US people have trouble understanding the power of culture because of the value American culture puts on individualism Culture and Nature culture takes the natural biological urges we share with other animals and teaches us how to express them in particular ways ex people have to eat but culture teaches us what when and how cultural habits perceptions and inventions mold human nature in many forms our culture and cultural chages affect how we perceive nature human nature and culture as defined anthropologically encompasses features that are sometimes regarded as trivial or unworthy of serious study such as those of the nautral Culture is All Encompassing all people are cultured Culture is integrated popular culture and cultures are integrated patterned systems if one part of the system changes other parts change as well cultures are integrated not simply by their dominant economic activities and related social patterns but also by sets of values ideals symbols judgements a set of core values integrates each culture and helps distinguish it from others Culture is Instrumental Adaptive and Maladaptive people have cultural ways of adapting people use culture instrumentally to fulfill their basic biological needs for food drink shelter comfort and reproduction people also use culture to fulfill psychological and emotional needs such as friendship companionship approval and being desired sexually cultural traits such as air conditioning may be called adaptive if they help individuals cope with environmental stresses such traits can also be maladaptive meaning they may threaten a groups continued existence CFCs from air conditioners some examples of maladaptive aspects of culture are policies that encourage over population poor food distribution systems overconsumption and industrial pollution of the environment II Culture s Evolutionary Basis and biochemistry similarities between humans and apes are evident in anatomy brain structure genetics Hominidae is the zoological family that includes humans chimps and gorillas hominids are the members of this family hominins is used or the group that leads to humans and encompasses all human species What We Share with Other Primates apes and monkeys like humans learn throughout their lives faced with environmental change humans and other primates don t have to wait for genetic or physiological responses they can modify learned behavior and social patterns instead the the human capacity for culture has an evolutionary basis that extend back at least 2 6 million years to early tool makers whose products survive in archaeological record humans share with monkeys and apes such traits as manual dexterity depth and color vision learning ability based on a large brain substantial parental tendencies toward investment in a limited number of off spring and sociality and cooperation the ability to learn is an adaptive advantage available to monkeys and apes How We Differ from Other Primates cooperation and sharing are much more developed among humans another difference involves mating among baboons and chimps mating occurs when females enter estrus during which they ovulate human pair bonds are more exclusive and more durable than those of chimps only humans have systems of kinship and marriage that permit us to maintain lifelong ties with relatives in different local groups III Universality Generality and Particularity all human populations have equivalent capacities for culture regardless of their genes or physical appearance people can learn any cultural tradition cultural features are Universal found in every culture Generalities common to several but not all human groups Particularities unique to certain cultural traditions Universals and Generalities biologically based universals include a long period of infant dependency year round sexuality and a complex brain that enables us to use symbols languages and tools social universals is life in groups and in some kind of family generalities occur in certain times and places but not in all cultures one generality includes the nuclear family a kinship group consisting of parent and children not universal societies can share the same beliefs and customs because of borrowing or through inheritance from a common cultural ancestor speaking English is a generality shared by North Americans and Austrailians because both of their ancestors are English settlers a trait or feature of culture that is confined to a single place culture or society