So many definitions, so much confusion
these definitions have a few things in common:
- "groups of people"
- "learned knowledge"
- "shared behavior"
- "held in common"
- "traditions"
- "transmitted from generation to generation"
What is learned, and how?
- speech
- religion
- livelihood
- value systems
- technology
- housing
- foods
- music
- and on, and on, and on...
Let's narrow it down to a few elements
- language
- values, norms, and beliefs
- social activity and interaction
- arts and sciences
Language
- a set of symbols used to assign and communicate meaning
- spoken words
- written symbols
- these enable us to name or label the things in our world so we can think and communicate about them
Values, norms, and beliefs
Values:
- democracy
- capitalism
- education
- how society should conduct its business
- how individuals in society should behave
- norms have the "should" idea
- what is "normal" ?
- religion
- faith
- family
Social activity and interaction
groups, organizations, institutions
- Ravens fans
- the Republican Party
- war veterans
- German-Americans
- the Lost Boys of Sudan
- social studies teachers
- the Methodist Church
- marathon runners
- the Directors Guild of America
- Facebook members
Arts and sciences
literature
- novels
- poetry
- plays
performing arts
- dance
- music
- film, television
visual arts
- drawing
- painting
- photography
- iconography
Culture - some definitions
- learned, shared behavior that is held in common by a group of people, empowering them with a "way of life"
- systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people
- learned behavior of a group of people, generally considered to be the tradition of that people, transmitted from generation to generation
