The Human Culture
Ramesh kumar
What is Culture
Culture is a shared, learned, symbolic system of
values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and
influences perception and behavior -- an abstract
"mental blueprint" or "mental code."
 Must be studied "indirectly" by studying behavior,
customs, material culture (artifacts, tools,
technology), language, etc.
 Learned. Process of learning one's culture is
called enculturation.
 Shared by the members of a society. No "culture
of one."
 Patterned. People in a society live and think in
ways that form definite patterns.
What is Culture……cont…
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Mutually constructed through a constant
process of social interaction.
Symbolic. Culture, language and thought are
based on symbols and symbolic meanings.
Arbitrary. Not based on "natural laws" external
to humans, but created by humans according to
the "whims" of the society. Example: standards
of beauty.
Internalized. Habitual. Taken-for
granted. Perceived as "natural."
It is man-made environment.
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P.K Chandio
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P.K Chandio
Culture…..continue
Culture refers to the following Ways of
Life, including but not limited to:
 Language : the oldest human institution
and the most sophisticated medium of
expression.
 Arts & Sciences : the most advanced and
refined forms of human expression.
 Thought : the ways in which people
perceive, interpret, and understand the
world around them.
 Spirituality : the value system transmitted
through generations for the inner wellbeing of human beings, expressed through
language and actions.
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P.K Chandio
What is Culture…..continue
Social activity : the shared pursuits
within a cultural community,
demonstrated in a variety of festivities
and life-celebrating events.
 Interaction : the social aspects of human
contact, including the give-and-take of
socialization, negotiation, protocol, and
conventions.
All of the above collectively define the
meaning of Culture
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What is Culture…..continue
 Culture--the
of people
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way of life of a group
P.K Chandio
Culture
Culture is “...all that
human beings learn
to do, to use, to
produce, to know,
and to believe as
they grow to
maturity and live out
their lives in the
social groups to
which they belong.”
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P.K Chandio
Types of Culture
Culture Graphic Organizer
Culture
What's the Definition
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Material Culture?
Non-Material Culture?
Examples?
Examples?
P.K Chandio
Material Culture
 Material
culture –physical things that
we can see or touch, all the artifacts
of a group of people (artifacts of life
… stuff).
 Everything we build or make.
 Utensils, tools, farming methods.
 Food and clothing.
 Buildings and communication
systems.
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P.K Chandio
Non-Material Culture
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Nonmaterial culture is the invisible
and intangible parts of culture
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(eek)
Beliefs
Values
Norms/Rules
Language
Values are nonmaterial shared judgments
about what is desirable or undesirable,
right or wrong, good or bad
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P.K Chandio
Non-Material Culture
 Everything
we believe in or practice
 Religion and values
 Laws and political systems
 Language, music, and ideas.
 Norms - folkways, mores, and laws
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Norms
 Norms:
written or unwritten guides
for behavior telling one what is
acceptable or not in social situations.
 Mores: Strong idea for right & wrong
 Folkways: Idea for right and wrong
 Taboo: Violation of mores.
 Sanctions: Rewards & Punishments
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Norms:
Cultural rules:
 shared rules of behavior (based in a
culture’s values)
– Folkways
– Mores
– Taboos
– Laws
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P.K Chandio
Norms
 Mores:
Strong idea for right & wrong
 Folkways: Idea for right and wrong
 Taboo: Violation of mores.
 Rules: social rules to govern the
practices and rituals of society.
 Sanctions: Rewards & Punishments
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Social Norms
 Mores
and Folkways
Religious more
Religious folkway
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Social Norms
 Folkways--norms
routine situations
that apply to
– Things dealing with daily life like how to
eat certain foods
– How to greet others
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Social Norms
Mores--these are powerful norms
concerning the morality of an act.
– These type of situations usually result in
severe punishments
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The 5 Components of Culture
Technology
Physical objects we use and the rules for
using them.
2. Symbols:
Anything that represents something
larger than itself and has a shared
meaning.
3. Language
Organization of written or spoken
symbols into a standardized system
1.
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The 5 Components of Culture
4. Values
Shared beliefs about
what is good or bad,
right or wrong,
desirable or
undesirable.
5. Norms
 Shared rules of
conduct that tell
people how to act in
specific situations.
 Norms are standards of
expected behavior
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P.K Chandio
Cultures are dynamic but how &
why?
 Invention
- new idea about how
something can be made or done.
 innovation - improvement in
technology
 cultural diffusion - ideas from one
culture spread to another.
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P.K Chandio
Terms used in Culture
Cultural Shock:
what happens when you are exposed to a completely
new society--living in a primitive society and then being
transported to a modern/industrial society.
Cultural Lag:
 It is difference b/w old and new adopted culture of
group.
 it is also called generation gap.
 Difference b/w two culture
 Cultural Conflict.
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Culture shock refers to the difficulty that people
have when they encounter cultures very different
from their own
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P.K Chandio
Terms used in Culture
 Beliefs—concepts
people accept as
true about how the world operates.
 Values--a general feeling among a
society about what is good or bad,
appropriate or inappropriate.
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Symbols
A
symbol is anything that represents
something other than itself
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Cultural Log
 Cultural
Lag is a term coined by William
Ogburn to refer to the tendency for
certain aspects of culture to change
more quickly than others, often causing
conflict
 Material culture tends to change more
rapidly than non-material culture
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Subculture
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Subcultures consist of
certain segments of the
population who share
certain beliefs,
lifestyles, values and
norms which are
distinctive from the
population.
The notion of
subculture does not
suggest an inferior
culture—rather, that it
is a distinctive culture
within a larger culture
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Relationship between
culture and subculture
P.K Chandio
Types of Subcultures
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