Question

Why is culture often taken for granted and considered as being "natural" for members of the society in which it is practiced?

What is ethnocentrism? Discuss how ethnocentrism can have both positive and negative consequences for group life. Provide examples to illustrate your discussion of the positive and negative consequences of ethnocentrism.

Describe the process of cultural diffusion and explain how it contributes to cultural leveling. Give an example

Edward Wilson believes that sociobiology explains human behavior more accurately than sociology does. Wilson claims that human behavior is the result of natural selection. However, most sociologists disagree with his ideas. Discuss the reasons why sociologists disagree.

What is a culture war? Are culture wars beneficial to society?

Answer 1

Culture is a set of beliefs or ideas or values that a group of community has towards religion. Culture is laid down from years, people usually do not question what they see everywhere. It is practised right from their forefathers and hence it is considered as natural. People usually question some unusual thing and then compare their own thing.For eg: Indians, sitting crossed legs and eating food, Japenese people also sit on floor with a small table and eat food. This thing is very unusual for the western culture, but Indians or Japenese would have questioned their own ideas.

Ethonocentricism is judging other culture and values solely by the standards and the values of own's culture. I am born in India,, India has very good amount of cultural diversity. I had been to UK for a 8-9 months, there at that time observed the cultural difference and as said unconsciously I was being ethonocentric. I observed that people over there talk less, do not maintain neighbourhood, or do not live in joint families as Indians do, which is very good at times, because there are less quarrels, more scope for being creative and nobody would interfere much. But I was pregant there, there I saw it only husband and wife who do things together, only husband helps wife. Whereas in India there are many people who help the pregnant lady, they talk a lot about preganany and use of classical music, or pregnancy yoga, rich nutrious food in pregnancy.

Cultural diffusion is a spread of cultural beleifs and social activities from one group to another, through cultural diffusion people become culturally rich.It can take place due to spread of ideas through technology, economics, globalization etc. Eg: Many western people buy porcealin cups made in China for teas. cultural levelling is when two distinct cultures become increasingly similar towards each other. Fot eg: in India, tradiional vegetables were always sold in market, but due to influence of western culture people do not hesitate to buy from malls, similalrly in western culure the Indiam idea of Yoga, meditation, chanting of OM etc has become very popular.

Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to examine and explain social behaviour in terms of evolution