Cultural Basics

Global issues and responsibilities

Basic Cultural Differences
Cultural differences abound in our lives every single day. I may notice that someone with a different cultural background than my own reacts differently to a certain situation than I do. This is most likely based in culture differences. Perceptions are rooted in culture, and our perception is often our reality.

Cultural Truisms
(Developing Intercultural Awareness, by L.R. Kohls, Washington, DC: SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research), 1981)
· Human beings create culture
· Thousands of years ago, in isolation, groups of people developed their own culture.
· Each group found a way to solve these 10 basic problems

• Food
• Shelter
• Social structure
• Protection
• Religion
• Clothing
• Family structure
• Government
• Arts/crafts
• Knowledge/science

· Different groups developed different solutions to the 10 problems
· No absolutely “right” ways were found, just right ways for each group
· Each group created a culture of its own, not “better” or “worse” than those of the other groups—just different
· Each group comes to believe its ways are best—they become ethnocentric
· When children are born, they are enculturated—they are taught the group’s ways
· As long as each group remains isolated, no intercultural communication problems exist.
· Problems occur when persons from one group try to communicate with persons of another group


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Last Modified: 09/19/2003