Question

How do cultures differ: Communication, space, social organization, Time, Environmental control and Biological variations?

Answer 1

" You have to taste a culture to understand it. "

- Deborah Cater

A culture is a way of thinking, a set of values, a belief system, tradition due to age, religion ethnicity ,gender that influences our behavior. The cultures differ because they have differences in their values, beliefs,behavior and norms which are inter linked with each other. Culture is a socially transmitted behavior that is shared by a same social group of same nationality,ethnicity, religion etc. It gives way for people their ways to see the world and interpret life.

There are various cultural differences in communication among various group of population. Different cultures are different in use of language, signs and symbols while communication. Every culture has a different meaning of words behavior and gestures. This leads to miscommunication and misinterpretation of our thoughts and action. for example:

• use of different languages in different country.
• Use of thumbs up to show a mark of victory but in some country its considered as mark of insult.
• The references used in books are different according to ones culture.
• The use of touch while conversation is appreciated in some culture but in some its prohibited.
• In some group of people direct eye contact is important for communication whereas in some its a sign of disrespect.

Space is something that varies from culture to culture depending on where you live. The space between people or things in a room have different meaning to people of different culture. Every culture do not appreciate invasion of one's personal space. Example: In American culture, close contact while communicating or entering to one's personal space is considered a part of effective communication. But in Islamic and Hindu communities this is not permitted.

Social organizations consist of a network of relationship among various group and how they are interconnected to each other. So a social organization has to communicate with people of different cultures. This throws a challenge to the management of such organizations which has to understand the opinions, values and beliefs of these varied people and maintain a bridge between them. The people of all cultures need to be respected and presence of these diverse population shall lead to many innovations.

The passage of time has brought a vast diversity in culture in almost all countries across the world. In the modern world with the fast growing technologies and their adoption have changed the cultural behavior in many groups. In past time. The use of time and the perception people about time is also different in various cultures. Its perception is different mainly in non verbal communications. Example: Punctuality in maintaining time, willingness to wait, reaction to time pressure varies with different cultures.

In case of environmental control, the culture acts as a control mechanism, it carries information how behavior and artifacts has to be created. In maintaining the cultural collection of different groups, environmental collection plays a significant role. These environmental changes can damage the constitution of such materials. So the environmental factors like heat, sound, light,temperature needs to be controlled.

The biological variations in humans are reflected by both hereditary factors and natural and social environment. The biological variations are influenced by the diverse culture. Example the racial discrimination in various cultures based on color of skin. The genetic makeup of various group of population tends to evolve differences in culture adoption and cultural practice. The perception of biological variations like in some countries blacks are treated as slaves any many other is different in various cultural groups.