Culture of human beings: Encyclopedia - Culture of human beings

Culture of human beings

The culture of human beings can be defined as follows:

One common understanding of culture is to see it as consisting of three elements: values, social norms, and artifacts. Values are ideas about what is important. Norms are expectations of how people ought to behave. Each human culture has different methods, often called laws and legal systems, of describing and enforcing its norms, though there are unwritten expectations and informal sanctions too. Artifacts – things, or material culture – derive from the culture's values and norms.

Culture of human beings - Language

The faculty of speech may be a defining feature of humanity, probably predating phylogenetic separation of the modern population. (See Proto-World language, Origins of language.) Language is central to the communication between humans. The Hebrew word for "animal" (behemah) means "mute", defining humans as the "speaking animal" (animal loquens), though some scientists argue that non-human animals are able to use language too, and that non-human primates are able to learn human sign language [1] [2] (pdf), a subject of ongoing controversy among linguists. Language can be central to the sense of identity that unites cultures and ethnicities.

The invention of writing systems some 5000 years ago, allowing the preservation of speech, was a major step in cultural evolution. Language, especially written language, is sometimes thought to have supernatural status or powers. (See Magic, Mantra, Vac.)

The science of linguistics describes the structure of language and the relationship between languages. There are estimated to be some 6,000 different languages used today. Most of them are spoken languages; the remainder are sign languages.

Culture of human beings - Race and ethnicity

Some categorize themselves and others humans in terms of race or ethnicity. Racial categories are usually based on biological qualities, such as skin color, facial features, ancestry, and genetics. Ethnic groups are usually based on cultural, linguistic, religious, racial, or political affiliations. Conceptions of race and ethnicity, as well as specific groupings, are often controversial due to their impact on social identity and hence identity politics. Because children are often characterized as belonging to the same race or ethnicity as their parents, race or ethnicity are related to concepts of kinship and descent.

Artifacts, technology and science

Archaeology, Technology, Science, Civilisation

Human cultures are both characterised and differentiated by the objects that they make and use. Archaeology attempts to tell the story of past or lost cultures in part by close examination of the artifacts they produced. Early humans left stone tools, pottery and jewellery that are particular to various regions and times.

Improvements in technology are passed from one culture to another. For instance, the cultivation of crops arose in several different locations, but quickly spread to be an almost ubiquitous feature of human life. Similarly, advances in weapons, architecture and metallurgy are quickly disseminated.

Such techniques can be passed on by oral tradition. The development of writing, itself a type of artifact, made it possible to pass information from generation to generation and from region to region with greater accuracy.

Together, these developments made possible the commencement of civilisation and urbanisation, with their inherently complex social arrangements. Eventually this led to the institutionalisation of the development of new technology, and the associated understanding of the way the world functions. This Science now forms a central part of human culture.

Culture of human beings - Religion

Scientists and naturalist philosophers largely agree that humans consist of a body alone (roughly the physicalist or reductionist view); or that they also have minds, the locus of, or another word for, consciousness (roughly the dualist position).

However, many people further believe that humans also have a soul or spirit that survives death; that is, they believe there is an afterlife. There is debate within religious organizations as to whether non-human animals can be said to have souls; some believe they do, while others believe that souls are exclusively human, or that there are group souls held by the community of animals. Others again, beginning with Thales of Miletus, believe that plants also have immortal souls. This section details various ways that humans are defined by religious groups, as well as some of the ways that the religious beliefs are ritually expressed.

Culture of human beings - Animism

In some animistic worldviews found in hunter-gatherer cultures, the human being is often regarded as on a roughly equal footing with animals, plants, and natural forces. Therefore, it is morally imperative to treat these agents with respect. In this worldview, humans are considered a denizen, or part, of nature, rather than superior to or separate from it. In such societies, ritual is considered essential for survival as it wins the favor of the spirits of one's source of food, shelter, and fertility and wards off malevolent spirits. In more elaborate animistic religions, such as Shinto, there is a greater sense of a special character to humans that sets them apart from the general run of animals and objects, while retaining the necessity of ritual to ensure good luck, favorable harvests, and so on.

Most animistic belief systems hold that the spirit survives physical death. In some systems, the spirit is believed to pass to an easier world of abundant game or ever-ripe crops, while in other systems (e.g., the Navajo religion), the spirit remains on earth as a ghost, often malignant. Still other systems combine these two beliefs, holding that the soul must journey to the spirit world without becoming lost and thus wandering as a ghost. Funeral, mourning rituals, and ancestor worship performed by those surviving the deceased are often considered necessary for the successful completion of this journey.

Rituals in animistic cultures are often performed by shamans or priests, who are usually seen as possessing spiritual powers greater than or external to the normal human experience.

Animism is the belief that objects and ideas including animals, tools, and natural phenomena have or are expressions of living spirits.

Culture of human beings - Mysticism

Mysticism views humans as susceptible to an ineffable experience or realization of unity with the Absolute (see enlightenment, immanence). In monotheistic mysticism, the mystical experience focuses upon unity with God. Essentially mystic movements include Vedanta, Yoga, Zen and other schools of Buddhism, the Eleusian cults, Neoplatonism, Christian mystic orders, Jewish Kabbalah and Hasidism, Islamic Sufism, and the contemporary New Age. Mystical spiritual practices and experiences possibly, but not necessarily, coupled with theism or religious institutions have been present in all societies.

Culture of human beings - Polytheism

In polytheistic religions, humans are mainly characterised by their inferiority to the gods, sometimes reflected in a hierarchical society ruled by dynasties that claim divine descent. In religions that believe in reincarnation, most notably Hinduism, there is no impermeable barrier between animals, humans, and gods, as the soul may migrate across different species without losing its identity.

Polytheism is the concept of gods as supernatural or very powerful intelligent beings, mostly imagined as anthropomorphic or zoomorphic, that want to be worshipped and appeased by humans, and are present from the beginning of history, possibly reflected in Stone Age artwork. sacrificial rites evolved into institutionalized pagan religions led by clergies (e. g. Vedic religion, (practice of clergies continued in Hinduism, which, however developed monotheistic theologies, such as monistic theism, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Germanic paganism).

Culture of human beings - Monotheism

Monotheism generally believes that a single deity, who is either the only one in existence, or who incorporates or excels all lesser deities, created the humanity. Humans are thus bound by filial and moral duty, and cared for by paternal providence. In all Abrahamic religions, (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), humans are lord, or steward, over the earth and all other creatures, a little lower than the angels (see Great Chain of Being), and are alone in possessing a conscience.

In Judaism and Christianity, humanity is seen as unique among creatures in being made in the image of God, and intended for a relationship of love and obedience with God. However, it is believed, humanity's disobedience or sin broke that relationship, resulting in the Fall. Consequently, humanity is currently not living up to its intended potential for life, joy, and freedom, and instead suffers under the power of sin and death. According to the Hebrew Bible, God chose the Jews as a special people, and determined that all other people were to remain under the Noahide Laws, reflecting an emphasis on the fate of the community over the fate of the individual. Christianity introduced a greater emphasis on the individual, as well as the ideas of salvation, divine grace, and divine incarnation. Subsequently, the fusion of Hellenic and Christian thought led to the development of theology. Islam, established six centuries after Christianity, rejects the Christian belief in divine incarnation and the view of Israel as a chosen people, but retains the view of " mankind in Islam as vicegerent of Allah on Earth" http://www.humanrights.harvard.edu/documents/regionaldocs/cairo_dec.htm and the only incarnate beings capable of free will (or of sin) or acting contrary to their nature.

Hinduism also later developed monotheistic theologies such as monistic theism, which is different from Western notions of monotheism.

Culture of human beings - Humanism

Humanism as a philosophy defines a socio-political doctrine the bounds of which are not constrained by those of locally developed cultures, but which includes all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. Because collective spirituality often manifests as religion, the history of which is as factious as it is unitive, secular humanism grew as an answer to the need for a common philosophy that transcended the cultural boundaries of local moral codes and religions. Many humanists are religious, however, and see humanism as simply a mature expression of a common truth present in most religions. Humanists affirm the possibility of an objective truth and accept that human perception of that truth is imperfect. The most basic tenets of humanism are that humans matter and can solve human problems, and that science, freedom of speech, rational thought, democracy, and freedom in the arts are worthy pursuits or goals for all peoples. Modern humanism depends on reason and logic and rejects the supernatural.

See also: Atheism, Atman, Conscience, Ecstasy (state), Ethics, God, Humanism, Human realm, Incarnation, Karma, Korban, Morality, Mystic, Prayer, Rationalism, Reincarnation, Religion, Resurrection, Ritual, Sacrifice, Salvation, Sin, Soul, Spirituality, Worship

Culture of human beings - Society

Although many species are social, forming groups based on genetic ties, affection, self-defense, or shared food gathering and distribution, humans are distinguished by the variety and complexity of the institutions that they form, both for individual and group survival and for the preservation and development of technology and knowledge. Group identity and acceptance can exert a powerful influence on individual behaviour, yet humans are also able to form and adapt to new groups. An individual may develop strong feelings of loyalty towards such groups.

Sociology is the science that describes the interaction of human beings, while cultural anthropology describes different human societies.

The human individual often develops a particularly strong attachment to a small group, typically including his closest biological relatives: his mother, father, and siblings. A similarly strong attachment may be forged with a small group of equals, resulting in peer groups of individuals of similar age, typically of the size of ten to twenty individuals, possibly related to the optimal size of a hunting party. Group dynamics and peer pressure may substantially influence the behaviour of group members. (See also Asch conformity experiments.)

Larger groups of humans can be unified by notions of common ancestry (tribes, ethnicities, nations) or common geographical location and material interests (states), which are often further divided into social classes and hierarchical structures. A tribe may consist of a few hundred individuals, while the largest modern state, China, contains over a billion. Violent conflicts between states are called wars. Loyalty to a larger group of this type is called nationalism or patriotism. In extreme cases, feelings of loyalty towards an institution or authority can become pathological, leading to mass hysteria or fascism. (See also Milgram experiment, Stanford prison experiment.)

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