“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them apart” ~ Confucius
“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them apart”, stated Confucius, a Chinese philosopher. He used the word “habits” to refer to the environment, culture and society in which we live. Of course, many people support the idea that nurture shapes human behavior, yet some people still attest that it is nature that greatly influences our behavior. It is so controversial an issue that many educated figures debate on. In my viewpoint, although some people show some evidences that biological roots shape our behavior, I still believe that what truly affects it is culture due to threes basic reasons.
People are born in a blank state, waiting to be written on. Since the first second they exist in this world, human infants are entirely shaped by the environment around them. They start to see the world, learn to smile, cry, and laugh, and start to assimilate the group’s cultures as they are growing up. They learn what they should do and should not do by socializing with others. Calhoun, Light, and Keller (1998) state in his book titled “Understanding Sociology” about a girl named Anna who had been placed in a foster home in the forest and kept alive by milk provided by her mother, but had never communicated and cuddled or played with other people. After five years without seeing the outside world, she was finally discovered deaf and mentally retarded. She did not walk, talk, smile, cry, dress herself, and even feed herself when hungry. Later, she was placed in the ordinary life as the other people at the age of six years old. With great attention, she slowly began to talk, walk, and play with other children and also learnt how to take care of herself. She began to develop human interest and ability. This example sufficiently proves that socialization is a head machine that controls human behavior, not heredity.
Another evidence that is strong enough to show that culture influences human behavior is that culture provides the blueprint that people in society use to guide their relationships with others (Shepard & Greene, 2001). What people do and don’t do, what they like and dislike, what they believe and don’t believe, and what they value and discount are all based on culture. The best example to illustrate this is the irrefutable reality that different cultures raise different people. Despite the fact that two brothers are born from the same mother and have the same type of blood, they behave differently from each other, for they are brought up in different cultures, one of whom grows up in Asia and the other one in Western country. Their beliefs, values and social perspectives are markedly different. In addition to this, in our country, people who are well-educated seem to behave differently from those who are in decadent social conditions. Not only are their views of the world not alike, but also their ways of dealing with the problems vary from one group to another. Shortly, culture provides a guideline to people's behavior.
Last but not least, people act in different ways regardless of their instinct. As we know, non human creatures, especially insects, mostly depend on instincts they have inherited from birth for survival, but human being does not. What people behave greatly varies from one perception to others, for what they undergo is differently at different time according to different circumstances. If, for example, all people behaved in a unique way that is determined by instinct, there would be no ideologies in this globe. They would all agree with the same idea and perform the same thing, but indeed it is not like this. They are all different.
Some nations, such as China, have adopted vigorous birth-control policies aimed at reducing birth rates. They use the billboards to remind people of social desirability of one-child families. In France and several other northern European countries, in contrast, fertility is at or below the replacement level. The government of these nations encourages people to have children through billboards, which say “There is more to life than sex… France needs children”, in the streets. (Keller et al., 2001)
It clearly shows us that people behavior has to respect to formal rules of the society, social norms as well as social values, known as culture. Deliberately or unintentionally, their behavior is mostly controlled by external factors, which is nurture not nature.
On the opposite side of the issue are those who argue that heredity has strong influence on human behavior. They state that culture shapes only a small segment of our behavior; thus the ways we act are virtually controlled by biological roots. No one can change their sex, race and mind. They further say that if an infant born girl, she will perform girlishly since her behavior is determined from birth. It is corresponding to ascribed status that no one asks for it. It is maybe right; they, however, ignore the fact that it is experiences people accumulate and culture in which people live that guides people behavior. Culture is more important than instinct in determining human behaviors (Shepard & Greene, 2001, p.73). If, for instance, women had instinct of mothering, then all women would love and protect their children. In fact, some women do not want to have children, and some even sell their children to work as prostitutes in the streets because of poverty. Hence, biological root is just something we have inherited from birth but has very little function in guiding our behavior.
As the aforementioned evidences I still strongly agree that culture is really a powerful thing that engulfs human behavior. It is the lens we use to see the world and try to incorporate into our self-concept in order to use it as guides we live by. Regardless of what we are and where we are from, all of us behave in a way that we think well-adapt to our group reference. People behaviors are flexible as a result of culture.
People are born in a blank state, waiting to be written on. Since the first second they exist in this world, human infants are entirely shaped by the environment around them. They start to see the world, learn to smile, cry, and laugh, and start to assimilate the group’s cultures as they are growing up. They learn what they should do and should not do by socializing with others. Calhoun, Light, and Keller (1998) state in his book titled “Understanding Sociology” about a girl named Anna who had been placed in a foster home in the forest and kept alive by milk provided by her mother, but had never communicated and cuddled or played with other people. After five years without seeing the outside world, she was finally discovered deaf and mentally retarded. She did not walk, talk, smile, cry, dress herself, and even feed herself when hungry. Later, she was placed in the ordinary life as the other people at the age of six years old. With great attention, she slowly began to talk, walk, and play with other children and also learnt how to take care of herself. She began to develop human interest and ability. This example sufficiently proves that socialization is a head machine that controls human behavior, not heredity.
Another evidence that is strong enough to show that culture influences human behavior is that culture provides the blueprint that people in society use to guide their relationships with others (Shepard & Greene, 2001). What people do and don’t do, what they like and dislike, what they believe and don’t believe, and what they value and discount are all based on culture. The best example to illustrate this is the irrefutable reality that different cultures raise different people. Despite the fact that two brothers are born from the same mother and have the same type of blood, they behave differently from each other, for they are brought up in different cultures, one of whom grows up in Asia and the other one in Western country. Their beliefs, values and social perspectives are markedly different. In addition to this, in our country, people who are well-educated seem to behave differently from those who are in decadent social conditions. Not only are their views of the world not alike, but also their ways of dealing with the problems vary from one group to another. Shortly, culture provides a guideline to people's behavior.
Last but not least, people act in different ways regardless of their instinct. As we know, non human creatures, especially insects, mostly depend on instincts they have inherited from birth for survival, but human being does not. What people behave greatly varies from one perception to others, for what they undergo is differently at different time according to different circumstances. If, for example, all people behaved in a unique way that is determined by instinct, there would be no ideologies in this globe. They would all agree with the same idea and perform the same thing, but indeed it is not like this. They are all different.
Some nations, such as China, have adopted vigorous birth-control policies aimed at reducing birth rates. They use the billboards to remind people of social desirability of one-child families. In France and several other northern European countries, in contrast, fertility is at or below the replacement level. The government of these nations encourages people to have children through billboards, which say “There is more to life than sex… France needs children”, in the streets. (Keller et al., 2001)
It clearly shows us that people behavior has to respect to formal rules of the society, social norms as well as social values, known as culture. Deliberately or unintentionally, their behavior is mostly controlled by external factors, which is nurture not nature.
On the opposite side of the issue are those who argue that heredity has strong influence on human behavior. They state that culture shapes only a small segment of our behavior; thus the ways we act are virtually controlled by biological roots. No one can change their sex, race and mind. They further say that if an infant born girl, she will perform girlishly since her behavior is determined from birth. It is corresponding to ascribed status that no one asks for it. It is maybe right; they, however, ignore the fact that it is experiences people accumulate and culture in which people live that guides people behavior. Culture is more important than instinct in determining human behaviors (Shepard & Greene, 2001, p.73). If, for instance, women had instinct of mothering, then all women would love and protect their children. In fact, some women do not want to have children, and some even sell their children to work as prostitutes in the streets because of poverty. Hence, biological root is just something we have inherited from birth but has very little function in guiding our behavior.
As the aforementioned evidences I still strongly agree that culture is really a powerful thing that engulfs human behavior. It is the lens we use to see the world and try to incorporate into our self-concept in order to use it as guides we live by. Regardless of what we are and where we are from, all of us behave in a way that we think well-adapt to our group reference. People behaviors are flexible as a result of culture.
Date: 2011 Assignment GS301
Edited by Lecturer: Thun Virak
References:
Calhoun, C., Light, D. & Keller, S. (1995). Understanding sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shepard, J. M., Greene, R.W. (2001). Sociology and you. Illinois: National Textbook Company.
Edited by Lecturer: Thun Virak
References:
Calhoun, C., Light, D. & Keller, S. (1995). Understanding sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Shepard, J. M., Greene, R.W. (2001). Sociology and you. Illinois: National Textbook Company.
No comments:
Post a Comment