Juan David Collazos

A00358862

Culture

Culture is what defines us as humans. The term culture has had different meanings throughout
history, starting as a term associated with cultivation techniques, followed by the meaning of
knowledge that someone possesses and finally, being used to define sets of knowledge, beliefs,
and behavior patterns of social groups. The term that describes the customs and behavior patterns
of a social group is the most common and representative meaning associated with the word
culture, a meaning that began with Samuel Pufendorf, a German philosopher who described
culture as “all the ways in which humans begin to overcome their original barbarism and become
completely human”, understanding “human” as civilized people. On the other hand, we have the
elements that make up culture, here we find beliefs, norms, values, language, symbols,
technology, and identity. Culture is characterized by being learned, shared and dynamic. The
dynamic factor of culture is the one that ensures survival for a social group because thanks to this
culture adapts and changes depending on the new needs of the group due to changes in the
environment. Finally, in recent years humans has advanced by leaps and bounds, and new
technologies and customs have been developed that lead culture to big changes, reaching what is
currently known as global culture, because internet, social networks and media mass
communication are achieving a homogenization of culture and customs. This can lead to a cultural
loss for small or very traditional social groups, as suggested by a study from the National
University of Altiplano in Peru, where the educational system has suffered many changes in recent
years, until reaching the almost total loss of traditional languages such as Quechua and Aymara.