Published in · 4 min read · May 22, 2020
How do we identify culture and its impact on us, in our society and everyday life?
To understand this, we need to explore how culture manifests itself through 6 different elements.
Rituals
Similar to Independence Day rituals, we have rituals throughout our society that can be daily, weekly, monthly, or annually or even longer. Rituals, in many cases, are one-off special events such as a graduation or wedding that marks the start of a new chapter. Many Americans attend a religious service daily or weekly or have a special meal.
Rituals are essential and valued as ways to connect and relate and to celebrate life together in various ways.
Rituals contribute to our culture and the “norms” that we expect of each other, leading us to our next element.
Norms
Norms are the way we describe the standards or expectations for how we live and can be either formal and informal.
For example, formal norms are laws and regulations, such as paying our taxes and not robbing a bank. These norms are set for us.
On the other hand, informal norms, also known as customs, are those that exist throughout our culture and have developed over time. These may include a gentleman holding the door open for a lady or saying thank you after someone does something kind. These are customs that have evolved and will continue to do so. For example, with Covid-19 forcing us to keep our physical distance, shaking hands may become a thing of the past!
Values
Values are the next cultural element. Values involve how we judge what is good or bad, and the principles we want to uphold.
For example, the United States was founded upon the values of individual liberty and independence. In other countries, such as many Asian nations, there is an emphasis placed on the value of conformity and compliance. These cultural values and differences among cultures can often cause friction and conflict as different cultures look to impose their values on others; such was the case of colonization hundreds of years ago.
Symbols
Symbols take on incredible importance in our culture and can manifest both in objects, such as the American Flag as a symbol of patriotism, as well as gestures such as the peace or “ok” hand sign.
Symbols can be extraordinarily powerful in conveying a message without words and may have negative or positive connotations depending on the culture it is within.
For example, the Swastika, the most known symbol of the Nazi party and the devastation it caused, was originally an Indian symbol of spirituality.
Especially before we had the power of the internet, video, or even photographs, symbols were and continue to be a powerful way to identify culture.
Language
Language is perhaps one of the most common ways we relate to culture. Language bonds us with the essential ability of communication. Before language, humans had very primitive ways of communicating with hand gestures and drawings. Through the power of language, we introduced the power of storytelling, which enabled humans to pass down oral history and eventually led to written language. With this new way of communicating, we can document our history, send messages to faraway lands, and ultimately capture our learnings and entertainment in books and now directly through the internet.
Artifacts
Our last primary element of culture is Artifcatins, which are the physical embodiment of the other cultural aspects. Whether this is the United States flag, an automobile, or a cellphone, artifacts are the items that we look back on and identify with a particular culture, period, or civilization.
For example, the pyramids of Egypt are a giant artifact from an ancient civilization, in the same way, that a cannon was a weapon associated with a specific time of human history.
While artifacts often relate to or complement other elements of our culture, they are unique in that they are the material hints we leave behind for future generations. For example, what will someone in the year 2200 think of an iPhone? At some point, we will evolve past the iPhone and then it will serve as an artifact of a previous civilization.
While often subtle, these cultural elements appear throughout our society and cultures. Usually we take things for granted as “fact” or “set in stone” that are just a ritual or norm that’s become incredibly ingrained in our habits from years of practice and reinforcement.
Are there any cultural elements that you now realize exist?
What are the key elements that define your culture?
