Personal Culture Project

Artifact of Education

Gordon L. Knighton III

Department of Education
EDU 208, Valuing Cultural Diversity
Professor Susan Bridges
February 4, 2022
("The role of culture is that it’s the form through which we as a society
reflect on who we are, where we’ve been, where we hope to be." Wendell
Pierce's words ring true as I try to dissect myself and create a
documentation of my culture.

As a low class white guy most of my family's culture was racism,

homophobia, drug abuse and a detrimentally high work ethic. Possibly
because of my autism, I was able to separate the views I gained from
moral lessons that clashed with that culture I was raised in and separate
myself from it because it clashed with my views of right and wrong. Of
these influences I think the only part still ingrained into my culture is the
detrimental work effort and pressure I put on success, although this is
something I'm trying to wipe away as well.

I would say that more than family, my culture is influenced heavily by my

neurodivergence. Because of my ADHD I have gained many interests as I 'follow the dopamine'
an idiom that in the ADHD community refers to hyper fixating on something. The rigidity of
which I follow my perceived rules even when I don't agree with them, from autism. An example
being, I believe in today's society lying is important. No one is entitled to all of your truths and
for your own privacy or safety there are times to lie. I can't do it though, dishonesty makes me
uncomfortable and even when I believe it is the right thing to do, that rule to not lie is so
ingrained in my core that it's impossible. As well as my motivation based empathy, having
learned social interaction by studying people's motivation has made me excellent at
empathizing with people even when I disagree with them. This is because I try to understand
their motivation and the factors that brought them to the decisions they made. This as well
comes from autism.

These factors influenced where I ended up culturally but don't quite explain it. I should note
before we get into my values my religion does not have a list of sins or such like you would find
in many more popular religions. My values are as such.

#1. Knowledge always has a use, refusing information

will never benefit me. I try to never be offended by
learning from others because at the end of the day I'm
creating my own mental library of knowledge and can
decide to use it how I see fit. If I refuse the information
then I lose that ability.
#2. Treat everyone with kindness. I can't possibly know who people are from a glance. Every
person I meet has the potential to be my best friend years later, that won't happen if I'm
malicious. People deserve to be treated with respect.

#3. Don't cause undue hardships. Rights only apply when they aren't taking from the rights of
others. I try to make sure anything I want or do doesn't infringe on the rights or well-being of
others either directly or indirectly. This could be as big as not turning on my bright head lights
because my desire to see doesn't override the person in front of me. Or something as small as
not supporting a business that infringes on others rights.

#4. Reciprocity. I try not to expect anything from anyone in general, but especially when I
haven't given them an equal or greater amount or have no plans to do so. An example is in
high-school my senior trip was sponsored by a group that I didn't agree with, in fact one that I
didn't participate in an essay contest for because I didn't agree with the views they wanted to
see. So I didn't go, even though there was no real world obligation for the senior trip, I did
nothing for that group and knew I never was going to. So I didn't take their trip.

If I were asked to decide on vices it would probably be the inverse of these beliefs.

#1. Ignorance.
#2. Be rude without due cause.
#3. Ignore others rights in my quest for my desires.
#4. Expecting without reciprocation.

I was raised in a with a toxic and morally wrong culture, I am doing what I can to let my child
grow up in a house that has a culture of kindness. Not a culture of hate.