Breaking the "limits of our culture" takes keeping an open mind. It takes experiences, traveling, education, and variety in life, you need to be open for the unknown and the new and then you won't be limited. It can be very challenging to do because a lot of us, as humans get very stuck in “our ways”. I think the best ways to incorporate breaking through the limits of our cultures are by trying new things and breaking through what society calls “The Norm.” We all need to break out of the box of our cultures because getting out of your comfort zone is not a bad thing and can really open all of us up to new and exciting things.I do believe that Ruth is right about that we are “creatures of our culture.” And that what we do as a whole has shaped what we have become and how we are perceived to everyone else as "our culture".
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Creatures of our Culture
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Hi Morgan.Segall
ReplyDeleteI like that you talked a lot about breaking the limits of our culture, because I think that it is important to recognize that we are limited to begin with. People who don’t think that they have the option to break through cultural norms often miss out on a lot of new experiences. I have a friend who spends a lot of time following paranoid news stories about what not to eat, where not to travel, or what not to do. She allows these stories, which are products of our culture, to rule her life. When I told her that my husband and I wanted to go on a road trip to Mexico, she told us that we were insane and we were going to be killed. Alas, we made it there and back and gained a lot of new insights and had a lot of fun along the way. I agree with you that opening ourselves to new experiences is an excellent way of helping to break the limits of culture.
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteI like how you stated that we need to break out of our box. That is exactly what we place ourselves in when we are closed off to other cultures; a box. I agree that traveling and experience is a way to go beyond these limiatations that we construct. I discussed that culture is learned (343) and that this is how I justify Ruth Benedicts staement. We are taught what to be and how to act (351). However I believe that to change this it must occur early. Childhood should be where it begins. I think that you said we "get stuck in our ways" and it is really hard to change this even with traveling and experience.
I completely agree that breaking the limits of our culture requires education and travel. I believe that education would only get you half way though. The best way to break the limits is traveling to other places and stepping out of your comfort zone. I wish that I was able to travel more. I would love to go to Europe and experience all of those cultures first hand.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with breaking out of the box. I am a cautious person but some of the best experiences I have had were when I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit.
After writing about culture and how individuals experience the unknown as you stated I feel so happy that others can see that going out there and being proactive about other cultural experiences as a good thing. There are so many narrow minded individuals of today and I wounder what they would have to say! Probably that their way is the right way, but like you had written we all have to make that effort to try, like traveling. One thing i wanted to say is that its not necessary to go across the globe to learn or experience a different culture, try a neighbor, or a friend, try a grandparent or an uncle. Everyone has a story. I enjoyed the discussion so much. thank you!
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