An Evolving Culture

There have been so many cultural changes simply within the last century, and I do feel that cultural change is an evolutionary process. Nobody in the past would have expected that contemporary culture will be so cyber-focused, but reality has shown that what began as something so rare has expand into something nearly everyone can have some sort of access to the internet.

Who would have thought that social networking would become such an essential part of our lives?

When I first joined Facebook and used Google, I did not anticipate their scale and their impact today. I also feel that when these companies first started, they had not really anticipated this either, regardless of how ambitious they were or what high hopes they held.

Because of their presence and the dynamics of the industries where competition and product innovation have urged on an economic change, we (consumers and commoners) have also actively participated in this process to generate further progress in changing our culture, society, and lives.

Undoubtedly, the world has been changing. It is almost as if we need to actively participate in social networking sites now in order to stay competitive or to simply show that we've "kept up" with the world. I would hate to think that this was a coherent plan of some human mastermind out there, but rather, it was something that has evolved out from different actions, thoughts, and trends of the times.

On a more personal note, I was very against joining Twitter or even posting certain statuses on Facebook because I didn't feel that people really needed or cared about what breakfast I hated that morning. But now I have a Twitter (tweet!), Blogspot, LinkedIn, YouTube, you name it!

How have you seen culture evolve in our world & in your life?

Culture: Something You Have or Do?

A traditional dance performed by a group of dancers from Germany

Culture is not something that we are born with. It doesn't come naturally to us like breathing, but it becomes so influential in our lives that it is almost as natural as breathing and eventually leads us to naturally identify ourselves with it. But, is "culture" something you have or something you do?

Culture is learned, and it is not inborn or instinctive. The most common way of learning is active and repeated participation, and because of this factor, I lean towards saying that “culture” is something that we do.

Considering using "culture" as a verb instead of a noun - "culturing," because it truly is an endless and ongoing activity. As we practice certain customs and follow certain traditions, we are showing others the values that we've learned from a particular culture. Our understanding & expression of our own culture will continue to change and develop based on our thoughts and decisions throughout different stages in life.

"Have" has the connotation that culture is something you can hold on to, that it’s comparable to an object. Since I do think that culture is an ongoing activity, I did not feel that considering it to be an object was fitting to its definition. However, I also realize that culture is something that you can lose. How can you lose something if you didn’t have it in the first place?

Do you feel like culture is something you have or something you do?