angel4hope Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 " ............If ethnocentrism seems to be an inevitable outcome belonging to a culture, there is probably no other way of being. Survival and self -esteem depend on those among whom we are born. By now, to be human we need the instructions transmitted through culture almost as much as we need the genetic instructions. How else would we talk, read, count, think? The genes cannot teach these skills; we must learn them from men and women who speak our language, from the knowledge stored in bokks and other symbols systems. But in the process of teaching us how to be human, culture begins to make its claims. Just as genes use the body as a vehicle for their own reproduction, a culture also tends to use individuals as vehicles for its own survival and growth. In order to ensure this end, it must convince us of its superiority........."--------- Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi----THE WOLD OF CULTURE- this is a very menaingful excerpt from Csikszentmihali's essay on culture... what do u guys think about it- analyze it- agree disagree- give me some feedback- im myself agree with him very much so--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 Oh, please, not such name... how does one pronounce it ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 My-Hal-E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 My-Hal-E that's the easy part what about the last name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teutonic Knight Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 that's the easy part what about the last name? Pronounced chick-sent-me-high-ee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 Ok, thants. As to the quote, it seems an interesting way, personalizing culture and genes. But this excerpt is to short to understand what the author wants to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 I don't agree much with the quote, as presented. It seems to categorize everything learned by a child under the umbrella of "culture" ... of course that is too simplistic of a view but as noted above, we are not sure what position the author is taking (it's just a small quote). Science, logic, mathematics, music, dance, group and social behavior, morality, and many other things are "learned" concepts that far transcend just culture. For example there are some fundamental universal truths in mathematics that are culture-invariant. We recently had a discussion on morality here and whether it is a product of the intelligent mind or passed down from generation to generation (maybe as part of the culture) ... well, my position was and is that morality is a product of an intelligent mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 " ............If ethnocentrism seems to be an inevitable outcome belonging to a culture, there is probably no other way of being...." Hmmm.... although the quote within itself is not probably not indicative of what the author is trying to say, I would raise my objection right from the beginning. Everyone belongs to some extent to a 'culture' - is the author implying that everyone is ethnocentric, and believes their culture to be superior? I think this is false. We see many examples today in multicultural societies - like right here in Canada - where different cultural groups co-exist, mutually acknowledge differences, and yet there is little animosity or segregation. In fact, in this type of environment, (urban, cosmopolitan) it is highly regarded to be informed, or at least aware of cultural differences. And the tendency is towards ethnic/cultural inclusiveness as opposed to ethnocentrism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 I don't agree much with the quote, as presented. It seems to categorize everything learned by a child under the umbrella of "culture" ... of course that is too simplistic of a view but as noted above, we are not sure what position the author is taking (it's just a small quote). Science, logic, mathematics, music, dance, group and social behavior, morality, and many other things are "learned" concepts that far transcend just culture. For example there are some fundamental universal truths in mathematics that are culture-invariant. We recently had a discussion on morality here and whether it is a product of the intelligent mind or passed down from generation to generation (maybe as part of the culture) ... well, my position was and is that morality is a product of an intelligent mind. My esteem for you, just increased of one Fadixian unit after this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiner Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 (edited) In a way it's true, because the society you live in definitely has an impact on you, in the way you act, think, what your priorities are, etc. But then there are some issues that transcend culture as Sip says. Some cultures impose themselves on you more harshly than others. In these cultures everybody acts/thinks more or less the same, and very little diversity and individuality is tolerated. Other cultures are more vast, individuals can develop very differently from one another, and more is tolerated. I think the statement applies more to the first case. Vava you are talking about the second case using Canada as an example. I wonder when the author wrote that and how many different cultures he had been exposed to before his observations. Edited October 24, 2003 by shiner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel4hope Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 you guys keep in mind that the author is speaking ofisolated cultures- not westernized---etc. also, i am quite aware that this is nether all the way true or false- its controversial, one of the aspects it touches on is one of the main controversies is sociology and psychology- nature vs. nurture- in nature being genetic predispositions, and nurture being the environment- be it society or just planet earth- and the author in this essay mentions many things about armenians and how the turks brutally slaughtered many in the genocide-i guess it wuold have been better if i posted the whole essay- but its too long to type out- i suggest it as reading material if youre interested in such things as i am..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 -i guess it wuold have been better if i posted the whole essay- but its too long to type out- Too long to type out??? What are you? Lazy??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOTH Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 My esteem for you, just increased of one Fadixian unit after this post. LOL - yeah - Sip just normally acts dumb - to impress the girls...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 LOL - yeah - Sip just normally acts dumb - to impress the girls...LOL Thoth, you know that statement really got me thinking. I think you're on to something there!!!! and Domino, thanks!!! But I'd prefer a raise on the $5000 ... dual monitors ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel4hope Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 no hunny im not lazy- its just that i have a life.... <_< and i dont want to sit here and waste my time w/some pple who are gonna critisize me any way....and type a 20pg paper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 no hunny im not lazy- its just that i have a life... I think he was joking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 no hunny im not lazy- its just that i have a life...I think he was joking Yes, in fact, i WAS joking - hence the ' ' at the end of my post... no offense intended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel4hope Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 cool- sorry bout the misunderstanding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted October 25, 2003 Report Share Posted October 25, 2003 That's ok - thanks for posting the excerpt... too bad there isn't already an electronic version on-line... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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