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1-Page Summary of Beyond Culture
Overview
Globalization has torn down barriers. People from different countries are now living together in one neighborhood, and you can travel to a new place quickly by plane or text.
As a global society, we have overcome the world’s physical and technological barriers to connect easily with one another. We can now communicate across borders more easily than ever before. However, there is still a hurdle to connecting that remains: culture.
Even though we’ve made many cultural advancements, there are still barriers that divide us. Culture determines how we act and think in groups. We often misunderstand behaviors that are unfamiliar, which can lead to problems. Here you’ll learn what those barriers are and how to overcome them.
This article will teach you the similarities between German and programming languages, why your Brazilian colleague won’t have an excuse for being late, and why Pueblo Indians consider Western schools to be poor.
Big Idea #1: Your actions and thoughts are shaped by the culture in which you grow up.
Human beings are influenced by their culture. They’re born into a certain community and grow up with certain ideas, customs and social mores that shape how they act and think throughout their lives.
From birth, we begin to learn from the people around us. As a result, our actions are influenced by those that surround us. Over time, learned behaviors become unconscious habits and eventually second nature. By the time we reach adulthood, these ingrained habits have been internalized and become part of who we are as individuals.
For example, how people greet each other is different in various cultures. In Japan, people bow to show respect or gratitude. Inuits rub noses together to convey the same thing. Such behaviors are performed automatically depending on what culture you’re in and what’s expected of you there.
So, what other cultural practices does a culture carry with it? Different cultures usually speak different languages. Some researchers have argued that the language a group speaks affects how they think. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the way people see the world is significantly influenced by their language.
In English, you can tell someone, “It rained yesterday.” It’s unclear whether you know it rained because you got caught in a downpour or saw puddles on the ground last night. In contrast, the Hopi of Arizona encode such details through verbs in its spoken language. This communicates to the listener not only information but also from where that information came from.
Big Idea #2: You perform learned cultural rituals on a daily basis – often without even realizing it.
Small talk is a common ritual that people perform in social situations. It’s also called small talk because it generally consists of short questions and answers. When you meet someone at a cocktail party or other informal gathering, you might ask “How are you?” The person will answer briefly, then move on to another topic like the weather or their kids. Small talk can be used as an opener for more substantive conversations.
Different cultures have different ways of handling disputes. In England and America, people might try to avoid confrontation by hinting that something is wrong before sending an emissary or directly confronting the other party. However, in Latin America and Mediterranean countries, people prefer not to confront coworkers or family members unless they feel it’s necessary.
They do this because they are afraid that the other party might take revenge, which could lead to a cycle of retaliation.
