Consider the anthropological definition of culture and think of examples of how shared meaning is created.

Can
youthink of any example of how shared meanings change over time?

Introduction:

the anthropological definition of culture

shared meaning

Body

1. how shared meaning is created

2. Example of shared meaning is created

3. Opinion

So, you learned in a previous blog post that Cultural Anthropologists study culture. But what exactly is culture,
anyway?

There is a famous definition of culture from an Anthropologist named E. B. Tylor. This is the definition of culture
usually found in Anthropology textbooks:

Culture is “that complex whole that which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other
capabilities and habit acquired by man as a member of society.”

We live in an increasingly multicultural world with the spread of global capitalism. What
comes with this phenomena comes the spread of ideas, ideologies and cultural values. More
contact with other cultures, does not mean the world is getting smaller, but we have more access
to each other and more opportunities to interact. This unfortunately, means there are more
opportunities to misunderstand each other as well. Culture and biases are deeply imbedded in
each individual and impacts our identity and the way we interact with the world.
We live in a world where change is inevitable, cultures and their values are changing and
are more fluid than ever before, and we will be challenged to reflect upon our core values more
and more often, be able to communicate them to others. Due to the agreed upon concept of
Cultural Evolution, it can be argued that the present emerging leaders of tomorrow have some
agency to shape the culture in the future (Van, 2012). One’s culture, and therefore upbringing
and mindset has a huge impact on how they will operate and engage with others. The
engagement and reflection on our own biases and cultural mindset or “mental models” this can
contribute to meaning making to communicate more effectively (Johnson-Laird, 1980). The
more we are in tune with its intricacies and impact on our perceptions and actions, the more we
can use this knowledge to become more confident, inclusive and effective leaders, and work
together to solve cross-cultural and global issues.
Cultural anthropology is the study of contemporary people and their cultures. The term culture
refers to people’s learnedand shared behaviors and beliefs. Cultural anthropology considers
variations and similarities across cultures, and how cultures change over time. Cultural
anthropologists learn aboutculture by spending a long time, typically a year or more, living with
the people they study

Let’s move on to the next of the characteristics of culture–

culture is shared. Culture is something that a group of people
shares–it is shared practices and shared understandings. If one
person thinks something or behaves a certain way, that is not
culture–it is a personal habit. But if most of the people in a
society do it, then it is culture. Culture is shared between
members of a group, meaning they all think and behave the
same way because they grew up in the same culture.

People who are in the same culture are able to interact with
each other without constant misunderstandings (for the most
part) because everyone understands each other’s thoughts and
actions. For example, if you are American, you stretch out your
hand when you meet someone, and all other Americans know
you are expected to reach out your own hand and shake hands
as a greeting. But if you are from another culture, and you see
an outstretched hand, you might think the person wants you to
hand them something, or maybe you’d think that they are going
to hit you. Because you are from a different culture, you don’t
have the same shared understanding of what an outstretched
hand means.
Culture can be thought of as a contagious disease that spreads
from one person to another. This is called the epidemiological
approach to culture. Cultural things like religious beliefs and
cooking recipes and folktales spread from person to person like
an infectious disease.
But individual people in a culture do not all have the exact same
version of their culture. For example, culture is different based
on things like gender and age. Different genders have different
roles in society, so their experience of culture is different. And,
young people have different expectations placed on them than
elderly people, so their experience of culture is different as
well. And different people learn different parts of culture–for
example, in American culture, some people learn how to do tax
returns, while others learn how to repair cars, and still
others learn how to practice medicine. So, in some ways, a
culture varies from person to person.
So, how much of a culture needs to be shared before it’s
considered culture? I’ve just shown that something that is
cultural does not have to be shared by each and every person
in the culture–it doesn’t have to be one hundred percent shared.
So what is the cut-off point? Well, that’s hard to say. And, there
are some things that every person in a culture shares, like a
language for example. And then there are things
that some people or some subgroups of people share, like a
certain religion. And then there are things that are individual,
that are done by just one person or maybe a few people. So,
culture is shared, but it’s also complicated.

To add to this complexity, there are also subcultures and

countercultures, which are different from the mainstream
culture. Let’s look at subcultures first. Subcultures are a group
of people within a culture that have some kind of unique beliefs
or behaviors, but also still share things in common with the
mainstream culture. Subcultures are subsets of the mainstream
culture. An example is seen with the Amish communities in the
United States. These communities speak a German dialect
called Pennsylvania Dutch (but they also know some English,
too). They wear a certain style of clothing, which is different
from what a typical American wears, and they don’t use modern
American conveniences like cars. They are very religious, and
keep to themselves, limiting contact with other Americans. But
even though they are very different from mainstream American
culture, they still share some American ideas and values, like
hard work and independence.
Here are some other examples of subcultures. There can be
regional subcultures, like the difference between the southern
states and the northeastern states in the USA. And subcultures
may involve sexual orientation, like a gay subculture and a
straight subculture. There can also be other kinds of
subcultures, such as a corporate subculture and a subculture of
college students.
Some societies are made up of a bunch of subcultural groups.
These are called pluralistic societies. Canada and the United
States are examples of pluralistic societies. The subcultures in
these countries can be of different religions, different ethnicities,
and different social classes, for example.

Now let’s look at countercultures. Countercultures are a group

of people that intentionally take on beliefs and behaviors that
are the opposite of the mainstream culture. For example, there
was a counterculture in the 1960s in the United States, where a
group of people called “hippies” did the opposite of what
mainstream society expected, such as taking drugs, opposing
commercialism, and dressing in a certain style that was in
contrast to the norm at that time. Punk culture is another
example of a counterculture. It focuses on things like non-
conformity and anti-consumerism, and people wear brightly
colored hair, tattoos, and piercings.
So, culture is shared, but not 100 percent among its members,
and subcultures and countercultures add even more
complexity. So, in a way, culture is shared, except when it’s not.