Culture

[grasshoppa]

"The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another." Now to the point of this thread... What are your opinions on culture in general, your culture, and others? Should we embrace culture, reject culture, or is it unavoidable? Just a few questions to get the discussion started, please do not limit your post to my questions only. Too much like a school assignment or what? Here's some more terrence mckenna for you, to help stimulate a discussion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOy3H4yyocQ

[Scatterbrain]

"Culture is not your friend"? The guy is crazy. "It creates consumer mania. It preaches endeless forms of false happiness." What the f*ck is he talking about? I can see consumism in christmas and birthdays but that's just a (very) small fraction of human culture and both, especially birthdays, have upsides and meaning. Let's all pray that one day Mr. Mckeena will rise from the dead and reveal to us the secret of true happiness.

[tkdyo]

culture is part of who we are, in my eyes it is unavoidable. If you have any opinion, then you are at the groud works of culture, even people who do not want a culture are a culture in and of themselves. I think culture is a good thing, it doesnt have to control our lives, it simply is a nice blue print for some correct paths to take. I find the opposite of what Mckeena says to be true, many people feel very happy when they are acting in culture such as festivals, or traditional music. The only bad part of culture were the parts that infringe on human freedom, but very few country's culture depends on that anymore.

[awoke]

"Culture is not your friend"? The guy is crazy. "It creates consumer mania. It preaches endeless forms of false happiness." What the f*ck is he talking about? I can see consumism in christmas and birthdays but that's just a (very) small fraction of human culture and both, especially birthdays, have upsides and meaning. Let's all pray that one day Mr. Mckeena will rise from the dead and reveal to us the secret of true happiness. Consumerism only in Christmas and Birthdays????? you're kidding dude. I think culture can be a good thing, but it can also be a very bad thing. people stop thinking for themselves, they hold the ideals of their culture, even if they no longer know what they are. It also creates a lot of conflict. We stop seeing people as individuals, but instead as "one of those people" etc.. that being said, culture can also be a very good thing. gives people a place to belong, markers to identify like minded people etc... I think its inevitable also. at some point, having no culture, becomes a culture. a culture of no culture if you will. look at the Punk movement, kids rebelling against fashion and the stat quo, just created a different kind of fashion, and a new stat quo.

[tkdyo]

^exactly what I said but better explained, by George, I think hes got it!!!

[Scatterbrain]

Consumerism only in Christmas and Birthdays????? you're kidding dude. Give me one example of a cultural event that creates "Consumer mania".

[Original Poster]

You can't reject culture, culture is the sum of everyone's values, traditions and ways of thinking in a society. If everyone rejected it, they'd simply form a new one by the very means of hanging out with each other and having to come up with ways to spend their time.

[Howie]

You should specify A culture or culture as a process or adjective. BIG differences Well there are good cultures and bad cultures. I like to call them environments and a result there of. Culture as I know it, should be embraced. It is so so important and it spawns things such like "development or improvement of the mind by education or training." The quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, an excellence in the arts, manners. All these aspects trickle down into other aspects of that society and perpetuates more growth and creativity.

[awoke]

Give me one example of a cultural event that creates "Consumer mania". every other day of the year. if you want a set day, Black Friday. (day after thanksgiving). but were a consumer society, thats all we do is work and consume. everyone wants the new ipod, the new flavor of chips, the new shoes, etc..etc...etc... we want it cheap, easy, and fast. our whole country is filled with consumerism everyday. we are consumers on a large scale.

[Howie]

Different influences (culture) leades to differant cultures. So what is the specific topic at hand? The original thread implies both.

[Scatterbrain]

every other day of the year. if you want a set day, Black Friday. (day after thanksgiving). but were a consumer society, thats all we do is work and consume. everyone wants the new ipod, the new flavor of chips, the new shoes, etc..etc...etc... we want it cheap, easy, and fast. our whole country is filled with consumerism everyday. we are consumers on a large scale. The thing is I'm not from the USA, so no thanksgiving or black friday. If you're going to refer to any act of buying a product as consumerism then consumerism is not necessarily a bad thing.

[grasshoppa]

If everyone rejected it, they'd simply form a new one Isn't that the same thing as saying aethism is a religion? As for rejection or acception, I think the goal of every individual should be to free themselves of the culture they were raised and born to accept, and create their own personalized 'culture'. "It creates consumer mania. It preaches endeless forms of false happiness." Look around you. Everything in western culture is based on consumerism, we are capitalists (and we say it with pride...). What is the point of you going to school for the entirety of your childhood/adolescence? In the end you wind up with a job which supports you with money so you can raise a family, go out there, and start shopping. Essentially we've turned our countries into shopping malls, and we love it! You can't reject culture, culture is the sum of everyone's values, traditions and ways of thinking in a society. Correction: Culture is the product to which every value, tradition, and way of thinking is averaged out and then sold through various forms of media.

[Scatterbrain]

Consumerism is the product of the modern world, not of culture. As long as we are human, culture will always be around.