Society: the basics CHAPTER Eleventh Edition Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture 2 This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: - Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; - Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; - Any rental, lease or lending of the program.
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis What is Culture? Culture –The ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life –Non-Material Culture Includes ideas created by members of a society –Material Culture Refers to physical things
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis What is the difference between the terms culture and society? Culture is a shared way of life or social heritage Society –Refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture Neither society nor culture could exist without the other
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Have you ever traveled to another land that you did not know much about? How did you feel in this unfamiliar environment? Culture Shock –Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life No way of life is “natural” to humanity Animal behavior is determined by instinct –Biological programming over which each species has no control
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Intelligence: Do humans rely upon instinct or culture for survival? History took a crucial turn with the appearance of primates –Have the largest brains relative to body size of all living creatures
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Intelligence: Do humans rely upon instinct or culture for survival? 12 million years ago, primates evolved along two different lines –Humans –Great apes –Distant human ancestors evolved in central Africa
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Intelligence: Do humans rely upon instinct or culture for survival? Stone Age achievements marked the points when our ancestors embarked on a distinct evolutionary course –Made culture their primary strategy for survival
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Intelligence: Do humans rely upon instinct or culture for survival? Homo Sapiens –“Thinking Person” Modern Homo Sapiens –Larger brains –Developed culture rapidly –Used wide range of tools and cave art
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis How Many Cultures? One indication of culture is language Globally, experts document 7,000 languages Coming decades might see the disappearance of hundreds of languages
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis How Many Cultures? Why the decline? –High-technology communication –Increasing international migration –Expanding global economy All are reducing global diversity
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis The Elements of Culture Though cultures vary greatly, they have common elements –Symbols –Language –Values –Norms
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Symbols Humans sense the surrounding world and give it meaning Symbols –Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture Human capacity to create and manipulate symbols is almost limitless
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Symbols What meaning do you attach to a red light? What about a dozen roses? Entering an unfamiliar culture reminds us of the power of symbols –Culture shock is really the inability to “read” meaning in unfamiliar surroundings
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Symbols Why is culture shock considered a two- way process? Symbolic meanings also vary within a single society –What meaning is attached to the confederate flag in the U.S.?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Language A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another Heart of the symbolic system –Rules for writing differ
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Language Key to Cultural Transmission –The process by which one generation passes culture to the next What is meant by the following statement? –“Language is the key that unlocks centuries of accumulated wisdom.”
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Does language shape reality? Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf –Each language has its own distinct symbols Serve as the building blocks of reality All languages connect symbols with distinctive emotions
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Does language shape reality? Sapir-Whorf thesis –People see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language –Evidence does not support the notion that language determines reality the way Sapir and Whorf claimed
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Values and Beliefs Values –Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living Beliefs –Specific statements that people hold to be true
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Key Values of U.S. Culture Robin Williams, Jr. (1970) 1.Equal opportunity 2.Individual achievement and personal success 3.Material comfort 4.Activity and Work 5.Practicality and Efficiency
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Key Values of U.S. Culture Robin Williams, Jr. (1970) (continued) 6.Progress 7.Science 8.Democracy and Free Enterprise 9.Freedom 10.Racism and Group Superiority
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Key Values of U.S. Culture Do you believe that William’s list of key values are still reflective of the core cultural values central in today’s society? Can you see how cultural values can shape the way people see the world? For example, how does our cultural emphasis on individual achievement blind us to the power of society to give some people great advantages over others?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Values: Often in Harmony, Sometimes in Conflict Cultural values go together One core cultural value contradicts another –Equal opportunity vs. racism and group superiority –Can you recognize any other value contradictions?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Values: Often in Harmony, Sometimes in Conflict Value conflicts –Causes strain –Often leads to awkward balancing acts in our beliefs –One value is more important than another
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Emerging Values Can you think of any values that have changed over time in the U.S.? U.S. has always valued hard work
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Emerging Values Recently, placed increasing importance on leisure –Time off from work to Travel Read Community service –Importance of material comfort remains strong –More people are seeking personal growth
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Values: A Global Perspective Values vary from culture to culture Lower-income nations develop cultures that value survival and tend to be traditional Higher-income nations develop cultures that value individualism and self- expression
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Norms –Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Norms People respond to each other with sanctions –Rewards or punishments that encourage conformity to cultural norms –If you violate a cultural norm, how are you sanctioned? If you conform to cultural norms how are you rewarded?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Norms Mores (“more-ayz”) or taboos –Norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance Folkways –Norms for routine or casual interaction –People pay less attention to folkways What would our society look like if there were no norms governing peoples’ behavior?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Norms As we learn cultural norms, we gain the capacity to evaluate our own behavior Shame –The painful sense that others disapprove of our actions Guilt –A negative judgment we make of ourselves –Only cultural creatures can experience shame and guilt
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ideal and Real Culture Values and norms do not describe actual behavior so much as they suggest how we should behave How does Ideal culture differ from real culture? Hint: Infidelity A culture’s moral standards are important –“Do as I say, not as I do”
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Image Bank
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Technology and Culture Every culture includes a wide range of physical human creations called artifacts Material culture can seem as strange to outsiders as their language, values, and norms Society’s artifacts partly reflect underlying cultural values Why do we value automobiles in the U.S.?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Technology and Culture Material culture reflects a society’s level of technology –Knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings The more complex a society’s technology, the easier it is for members of that society to shape the world for themselves
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Technology and Culture Lenski –A society’s level of technology is crucial in determining what cultural ideas and artifacts emerge or are even possible
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Technology and Culture Lenski (continued) –Sociocultural Evolution The historical changes in culture brought about by new technology In terms of four major levels of development –Hunting and gathering –Horticulture and pastoralism –Agriculture –Industry
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Technology and Culture Lenski (continued) –How would our lives be different if our society had not evolved to an industrial level of development?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Hunting and Gathering The use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation for food Oldest and most basic way of living Today, supports only a few societies Societies are small Simple and egalitarian way of life Limited technology
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Hunting and Gathering These societies are vanishing as technology closes in Studying their way of life produced valuable information about our socio- cultural history and our fundamental ties to the natural environment
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Horticulture and Pastoralism Horticulture –The use of hand tools to raise crops Pastoralism –The domestication of animals Many societies combine agriculture and pastoralism Pastoral and horticultural societies are more unequal
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Agriculture Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or machines “Dawn of Civilization” because of inventions Large food surpluses Agrarian society members became more specialized in their work
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Agriculture Agriculture brought about a dramatic increase in social inequity Men gained pronounced power over women at all levels
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Industry The production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery Occurred as societies replaced muscles of animals and humans Industrialization pushed aside traditional cultural values
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Industry Schooling is important because industrial jobs demand more skills Industrial societies reduce economic inequality and weaken human community
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Post-Industrial Information Technology Many industrial societies have entered a post-industrial era –New information technology –Industrial societies center on factories that make things –Post-industrial production centers on computers and other electronic devices
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Post-Industrial Information Technology Many industrial societies have entered a post-industrial era (continued) –Information economy changes skills that define a way of life –People must learn to work with symbols as society now creates symbolic culture on an unprecedented scale
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Diversity In the U.S., we are aware of our cultural diversity Japan –Historical isolation –Most monocultural of all high-income countries U.S. –Centuries of heavy immigration –Most multicultural of all high-income countries
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis High Culture and Popular Culture Cultural diversity can involve social class In the U.S., what type of person is more likely to attend the opera? Rich or Poor? Does high culture mean superior culture? High Culture –Refers to cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis High Culture and Popular Culture Popular Culture –Describes cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Subculture –Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society’s population
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Subculture Why is it considered easy but inaccurate to put people in sub-cultural categories? –Almost everyone participates in many subcultures without much commitment to one of them –Ethnicity and religion set people apart with tragic results
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Subculture Why is the U.S. viewed as a melting pot? –Nationalities blend into a single “American” culture –How accurate is the melting pot image? Subcultures involve not just difference but hierarchy What we view as dominant or “mainstream” culture –View the lives of disadvantaged people as “subculture” Sociologists prefer to level the playing field of society by emphasizing multiculturalism
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Multiculturalism –A perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting respect and equal standing for all cultural traditions –U.S. society downplayed cultural diversity Defines itself in terms of its European immigrants, especially the English
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Multiculturalism E pluribus unum –“Out of many, one” Motto symbolizes not only our national political union but also the idea that the varied experiences of immigrants from around the world come together to form new ways of life
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Multiculturalism English way of life –Historians reported events from the English and European point of view –Eurocentric The dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Multiculturalism Language –Controversial issue –Some believe English should be U.S. official language –Afrocentrism Emphasizing and promoting African cultural patterns A strategy for correcting centuries of ignoring the cultural achievements of African societies and African-Americans
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Multiculturalism What are some arguments that you can think of in favor of our society sharing a common culture? Further, can you think of any arguments against multiculturalism?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Image Bank
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Counterculture Cultural diversity includes outright rejection of conventional ideas or behavior
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Counterculture –Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society –Counterculturalists favor a collective and cooperative lifestyle “Being” more important than “doing” –Some people “dropped out” of the larger society –Do countercultures exist in the U.S. today?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Change Most basic human truth, “all things shall pass” Change in one dimension of a cultural system usually sparks changes in others
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Change Cultural Integration The close relationships among various elements of a cultural system –Some parts of a cultural system change faster than others –William Ogburn (1964) Technology moves quickly, generating new elements of material culture faster than non- material culture can keep up
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Image Bank
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Change Cultural Lag –The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Change Cultural changes are set in motion in three ways: –Invention The process of creating new cultural elements that change our way of life –Discovery Recognizing and better understanding something already in existence
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Cultural Change Cultural changes are set in motion in three ways: (continued) –Diffusion The spread of objects or ideas from one society to another
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Confucius –“All people are the same; only their habits are different”
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Ethnocentrism –The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture –Exhibited by people everywhere –Can you give examples of how ethnocentrism can generate misunderstanding and sometimes conflict?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Cultural Relativism –The practice of judging a culture by its own standards –Alternative to ethnocentrism –Requires openness to unfamiliar values and norms –Requires the ability to put aside cultural standards known all our lives
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Why is it important for businesses in the global economy to have an awareness of cultural patterns around the world?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Cultural relativism problems –If almost any behavior is the norm somewhere in the world, does that mean everything is equally right? –We are all members of a single human species, what are the universal standards of proper conduct? –In trying to develop universal standards, how do we avoid imposing our own standards on others?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis A Global Culture? English is firmly established as the preferred second language in most parts of the world –Are we witnessing the birth of a global culture?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis A Global Culture? Societies around the world have more contact than ever before –Flow of goods –Flow of information –Flow of people
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis A Global Culture? Three important limitations to the global culture thesis: –Flow of goods, information, and people is uneven –The global culture thesis assumes that people everywhere are able to afford the new goods and services –Although many cultural elements spread throughout the world, people everywhere do not attach the same meanings to them
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Theoretical Analysis of Culture Sociologists investigate how culture helps us make sense of ourselves and the surrounding world –Examine several macro-level theoretical approaches to understanding culture
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Theoretical Analysis of Culture Sociologists investigate how culture helps us make sense of ourselves and the surrounding world (continued) –A micro-level approach to the personal experience of culture Emphasizes how individuals conform to cultural patterns How people create new patterns in their everyday lives
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis The Functions of Culture: Structural-Functional Analysis Explains culture as a complex strategy for meeting human needs Draws from the philosophical doctrine of idealism Structural-functional analysis helps us understand unfamiliar ways of life Cultural universals –Traits that are part of every known culture
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis The Functions of Culture: Structural-Functional Analysis As it relates to culture, what are the functions of sports, July Fourth celebrations, and Black History Month?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis The Functions of Culture: Structural-Functional Analysis Strength of structural-functional analysis lies in showing how culture operates to meet human needs This approach ignores cultural diversity Emphasizes cultural stability, downplays the importance of change
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Inequality and Culture: Social-Conflict Analysis Draws attention to the link between culture and inequality Any cultural trait benefits some members of society at the expense of others Culture is shaped by a society’s system of economic production How might a social-conflict analysis of college fraternities and sororities differ from a structural-functional analysis?
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Inequality and Culture: Social-Conflict Analysis Social-conflict theory is rooted in the philosophy of materialism Social conflict analysis ties our cultural values of competitiveness and material success to our country’s capitalist economy Views capitalism as “natural” Strains of inequality erupt into movements for social change
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Inequality and Culture: Social-Conflict Analysis Social-conflict approach suggests that systems do not address human needs equally Inequality, in turn, generates pressure toward change Stressing the divisiveness of culture, understates ways in which cultural patterns integrate members of a society
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Evolution and Culture: Sociobiology Sociobiology –A theoretical approach that explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture –Rests on the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species –Natural selection Organisms change over a long period of time
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Four Principles of Natural Selection All living things live to reproduce themselves Some random variation in genes allows each species to “try out” new life patterns in a particular environment Over thousands of generations, the genes that promote reproduction survive and become dominant
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Four Principles of Natural Selection Large number of cultural universals reflects the fact that all humans are members of a single biological species Sociobiology provides insights into the biological roots of some cultural patterns Defenders state that sociobiology rejects past pseudoscience of racial and gender superiority
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Four Principles of Natural Selection Research suggests that biological forces do not determine human behavior Humans learn behavior within a culture Contribution of sociobiology lies in explaining why some cultural patterns are more common and seem easier to learn than others
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Freedom To what extent are human beings, as cultural creatures, free? Does culture bind us to each other and to the past? Or does it enhance our capacity for individual thought and independent choice? As symbolic creatures, humans cannot live without culture
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Society: the basics, Eleventh Edition John J. Macionis Culture and Human Freedom Culture is a matter of habit, which limits our choices and repetition of troubling patterns Culture forces us to choose as we make and remake a world for ourselves The better we understand the workings of culture, the better prepared we will be to use the freedom it offers