Embrace Culture?

Culture is what allows us to identify with and relate to those living in the same geographic region as us. It is a combination of history, tradition, and camaraderie built from overcoming hostility from other cultures or some form of disaster.

We as humans need social interaction, and much of the social interaction we engage in will have roots in cultural foundation. To try and transplant yourself into another culture while exiling yourself from it more often than not results in conflict (even if nonviolent).

Almost every goverment or group that tries to force multiculturalism on others finds that it results in catastrophe, as denizens have no common values or mutual history to unite behind.

What may happen is they form a new culture built off a marriage of specific elements from the two formerly distinct cultures, but then you have created one new distinct culture and destroyed the goal of multicultural unity.

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"Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts."

http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html


"Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions."

https://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html


"For the purposes of the Intercultural Studies Project, culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization."

http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html

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EDIT
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EMBRACING itself is a thing to be done, selectively

culture does actually provide "identity", or at least it provides the context within which we develop our and identity, it is the backdrop and source of the contrasting potentials from which we choose, and it is "the collective" from which we draw our answers and ambitions

there is little choice BUT to embrace culture

even the idea of disconnecting from culture is the result of exposure to (conflicting) cultural values and ideas

none of us would survive without the fruits of culture - culture created the internet and the wheel and the fishhook and that thing that you hang strips of bacon on so the grease will drip down into the bottom

culture is pretty much whatever happens when people interact with each other

so yeah embrace it, enhance it

Culture is such a tricky thing. Each one has its gifts and its baggage. Here the West we value autonomy for instance, which I love. But we also seem to value selfishness which may not be so good.

Even though I'm loathe to admit it, it's impossible for us to completely escape our culture. Even the language I'm writing this post in is an aspect of my culture. Our culture presents the potential challenges and choices that we'll confront. It even raises us to a degree, since parenting styles are greatly influenced by culture. Even our genes are influenced by culture to a degree, since one's culture usually determines a person's options when it comes to finding a mate.

Just like religions and philosophies, I'm a fan of looking critically, taking what works and tossing what doesn't.