Culture

The distinguishing mark of the human race from all the creatures is that we are rational beings. That means that we are capable to think and reason out our actions, to reflect and to ponder, to subscribe to a certain form of morality and ethics, to convey deep emotions, to understand concepts and learn, and to be able to regulate our instincts.

This rational characteristic allows us to discern and look for the truth, instead of just acting based on instincts. For example, if an animal is hungry it will hunt and search for food in whatever circumstances possible. For a human being who is a vegan, she may choose the food she will eat and even resist the desire of eating meat and dairy products. Although she can, she can withstand the urge of dining out on things not included in her self-made vegan diet.

This ability is linked by evolutionists to how creatures evolved through time, and animal behavior is directly correlated to the level of its intelligence. By this criteria alone, humans ranks to be the highest in all forms, while dogs and dolphins are said to be high in intelligence, as well.

Psychologists subscribe to the view that behavior is learned overtime. That means that as we grow older, we sort to adopt the behavior of everyone around us. Good or bad, these habits are soaked up by our mind like a sponge. As behavior is learned, and then as society brings out its prejudice to certain behavior that makes us hate what we learned, we tend to repress feelings and try to blend with everybody, since humans are social beings that needs to belong.

Humans then look at society like a mirror, often accusing his neighbors of certain things he saw the piece of himself from others. He then tend to repress more feelings that he finds to be embarassing to be found out, all because he is avoiding society's prejudices. As social agents do the same, the behavior that is left can be gleamed from the behavior from everyone else in the community, all as something that is acceptable in the standards of society. And that's what is called as culture.

x-------x

Picture from Pexels.