Culture Is Not General

Good afternoon and welcome back to the 23rd edition of Connor's Blog. Where in the world have the past 22 disappeared to? It feels like only yesterday I was giving you an introduction in This Is Me. That was 11 whole weeks ago. A lot has changed in that time, but sadly, some things haven't. Local lockdown, wearing face coverings and the Covid 19 virus are all still very much in general circulation within the country, and indeed the world. All we can do is keep listening to the Government advice and ensure that we are following the rules to keep everyone safe (that phrase about a broken record...). Anyway, moving on from the boring (yet very important) stuff and onto today's topic. I got this idea while reading a super interesting and insightful article in Eligible Magazine (I can feel you judging already). It refers to one very thought-provoking question - Why do we generalize about culture and identity? I have done blogs before about being unique, different and living our own lives. This dives deeper into why culture and identity are seen as simple, when in reality, they are anything but.

The simple-sounding question "where are you from?" can be interpreted in several different ways. The person might want to know where you were born, where you live currently or where you were raised as a child. All will yield different answers (unless you just be general and say London - but that's not the point of this blog). The question "what culture do you identify with?", however, is a much more grey area one. To quote Raymond Williams "Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language." Questions regarding our culture can often be seen as ice-breakers or part of everyday conversation. However, for those of us who were born, raised, immigrated and worked in different settings, this becomes a much more uncomfortable question to try and explain. A person's culture is an amalgamation of experiences gained from everything that has occurred in their life. This can be impacted by their education, their values and beliefs, and also depends on what point in their life it happened.

While you may be thinking that it is more apparent to identify culture for those who have lived in the same place, you are sadly mistaken. Culture can't be defined in a few words or phrases. It changes daily like the weather updates (a lot more accurate I hope). Culture can be defined in many different ways, but cultural anthropologist, Sir Edward Taylor, once defined it as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Confused yet...

In order to fully understand someone properly, we must ask more than just where they were born or where they are living. We can use this further questioning to identify what topics of conversation would be interesting or appropriate for the individual. For example, if you were talking to someone who is a practising Hindu, it's probably best not to mention that time you killed a cow (if anyone has actually killed a cow I want stories in the comments). In the same way, a vegan might get offended if you keep talking about eating meat or ordering meat from a restaurant if they are with you. We use the art of questioning and conversation to gauge cultural judgements and generalizations about others. In the words of anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher Edward T. Hall "When we approach another culture, a tendency exists to generalize, placing experiences in wide-ranging categories or types." There is a scientific basis on the reasons why we generalize. And believe it or not, our brains actually enjoy doing this.

Our brains tend to generalize information to make it easier to process and easier to form our own opinions. It banks how we react to a particular stimulus, and therefore teaches us how to respond again in the future. There are hundreds of detailed studies that show why we generalize (please don't ask me to list them all), however, social psychologist and Dutch anthropologist Geert Hofstede writes about a particular culture which we see but that also has unseen parts: "...their cultural meaning...lies precisely and only in the way these practises are interpreted by the insiders." In order to truly connect with someone from another culture, we must question directly, but with caution. We must fight our brain's urge to generalize. 

Those of you who know me will know that I find it very difficult to hype myself up. But I have to admit I feel this is the most interesting and spirited of all my 23 entries so far. Science has always interested me, and as this has shown, it can be linked to seemingly the most innocuous topics. It always inspires me to take stock of life and think how science is playing a role. Science is everywhere and it needs to be treated in the same way the scientists themselves are - with total respect and admiration (OK that was just to get more brownie points from Twinnie)! Next time you come face-to-face with someone who is clearly cultured differently to you, remember to dig in a cautious way and make your own conclusions, not your brain's.

Well my lovely fan base, I will see you in a week. Please remember that the wonderful and talented Chloe is here for your entertainment on Friday. Show her as much love and support as you show me and I might even persuade her to come back again in the future (you have to be nice though - she's a sensitive little one)!

Until next week...

Connor

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