We tend to underestimate the role of culture in our daily lives. We think of culture as something that is part of our lives and fail to recognize it is culture that drives our behaviors. Culture is so much more than religion, language, food, and holidays. Culture is what allows humans to survive and thrive in nearly every climate on this planet.

When we compare humans to all other living species, one thing humans lack is innate behaviors. Innate behaviors are those things animals just do; it’s hardwired in their DNA from birth. Birds fly and build nests, wolves hunt in packs, a giraffe eats plants, and a whale knows to surface from time to time when it needs oxygen. Innate behaviors are how these animals survive in their particular habitat. The keyword here is habitat. You don’t see giraffes in the cold and snowy mountains, apes and monkeys need jungles to survive, tropical saltwater fish die if moved to a cold mountain river. These animals have innate behaviors that keep them alive in their habitats, but those innate behaviors are what make them vulnerable anywhere else.

Humans are different because we lack a lot of these innate behaviors. Our basic innate drives for food, water, shelter, and companionship do not limit us to one particular climate or habitat on Earth. But on their own, they’re not entirely sufficient for survival either. What makes up the difference? Culture.

Culture helps us understand what to eat, proper clothing and shelter to protect us from the environment, and probably most importantly, how to live in clustered populations cooperatively with other humans.

Culture is what allows us to be so adaptable and the only species suited to living in almost every environment.

Culture has a relationship with the environment. Our culture is shaped by the environment, what we eat, wear, what we grow for food, use for shelter; and the environment is shaped by our culture, how we change the environment to suit our needs, alter the physical landscape, and overcome its otherwise harsh conditions to survive and thrive.

Culture allows us to be flexible in order to survive and operate in this world. We saw how this worked during COVID, our lives dramatically changed in a short period of time, and we normalized new behaviors, and made other behaviors that were no longer helpful for survival and made those feel wrong and taboo.

Shaking hands, the most polite and acceptable gesture, became dangerous. I remember watching people in movies sit shoulder to shoulder in crowds, shaking hands with strangers and having feeling this innate rejection of that behavior. What the heck are they doing all crowded together like that, I might think for a split second. That is the power of culture. It adapts in nearly any direction to keep us safe, alive, and productive.

Identifying Culture

We can break culture up into two categories: material multure and non-material culture.

Material culture is all the physical stuff you can see: food, clothing, jewelry, art, religious artifacts, tools and technology, shelter and architecture, and the list goes on.

Non-material culture is all of the symbolic stuff or beliefs and ideas you cannot see: religious or spiritual beliefs, etiquette, rituals, meaning of holidays, values, ethics, and so on.

The lines between what is considered material culture vs. non-material culture are not always clear-cut. For example, a flag is something you can see and hold; it’s made up of a material and is therefore material. But the meaning behind a flag is clearly symbolic, a belief, non-material. Music includes physical instruments. Certain types of instruments are characteristic of different cultures. Music styles, on the other hand, are non-material; you can’t exactly see them, but you can hear them. The same can be said for artistic styles or architecture.

The key here is not to think about something cultural and figure out if it is material or non-material, but instead to understand that culture is made up of material and non-material aspects.

Cultural Complex

Some cultural items are more complex and hold direct cultural meanings and uses. Take, for example, a car. In the United States, a car can be a status symbol. Different types of cars might represent different types of cultural values or ethics. A Prius projects a set of values different than a giant F150 pickup truck. A Tesla projects a status and meaning different from a Nissan Leaf, even though both are electric cars.

The Culture Iceberg

Staying with the example of the automobile and a cultural complex, we can think of culture as an iceberg. There is the physical thing you can see, but there is a greater depth of meaning below the surface. When observing human behaviors, the observations of interactions and physical behaviors are apparent.

Picture this example. Someone looks like they are in a hurry to get into a grocery store. They are walking briskly through the parking lot, and as they approach the door, they walk past someone walking at a slower pace. They swing the door open and walk inside. A third person observes this happening, catches the door before it closes, and stops to hold the door open for the person to walk in.

On the surface, we see 3 people: one in a hurry, one holding a door, and a third walking into the grocery store. Obviously, all three are headed into the grocery store. Below the surface, you might be thinking that the first person was a little rude to just walk past someone, especially if that person was much older. And the third person, who stopped to hold the door open, would be doing so because of a cultural behavior norm.

So much of what we call good manners are really just cultural behavior norms that exist below the surface and allow us to live in a society with other people who share similar behavior patterns. Some of these norms are pretty similar across cultures, and some are quite different.

For example, individuals in Asian cultures were earring face masks long before COVID-19. In the year 2017, for example, it would be common to see someone walking through the street or into a store wearing a face mask. Prior to COVID-19, it would seem pretty odd to see someone doing the same thing in the United States. Asian cultures place collective importance over the individual; someone with a simple head cold walking into a crowded market unmasked would be disrespecting that community importance. In the United States, we are more individualistic. We tend to think of ourselves and value our individual comfort and well-being. So wearing masks during COVID-19 to protect the community was something we had to get used to doing.

Here are some questions to think about as we unpack culture and think of it as an iceberg:

• How do we show affection, respect, and well-being toward one another?
• How do we (or do we) greet strangers?
• Why is it common to see cupholders in American cars but not cars built for drivers in Europe?
• Why are drive-throughs so common here but uncommon in other parts of the world?
• Why do so many Americans define their identities by the type of work they do for a living?
• What does our transportation system of roads built for cars instead of pathways for buses, trains, and pedestrians reveal about us?
• In Italy, it is common for shops and offices to close in the middle of the day for workers to go home for lunch and take an afternoon nap; what does that reveal about their values.
• In the United States, we glorify hard work, long hours, and dedication to our place of employment. What cultural values does that reveal?
• What kind of ceremonies can we see that mark the moment or celebrate a child turning into an adult?
• How do we show and or identify social status and class?

Subcultures

There are various types of subcultures that emerge within a culture. Think of the differences between urban culture and rural culture. In rural areas, it is common to know all of your neighbors. In urban populations, it is not uncommon to live in an apartment building full of strangers. We also see subcultures emerge within regions. High school kids in Texas show off elaborate mums for homecoming dances and football games.

Subcultures are common at the local level, with certain towns celebrating and marking significant events. Agricultural regions might hold celebrations for a particular harvest important to the region’s agricultural production, such as the Garlic Festival in Gilroy or the Strawberry Festival in Watsonville. Hearing Mr. Gregoria’s morning roooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr and wearing black and gold on Fridays is another example of a subculture. Classroom culture, and knowing what is fine to do in one class but not okay to do in another class is an example of subculture on a smaller scale. You and your friend group might have your own subculture. Families frequently have subcultural practices.

Attitudes Toward Cultures

It’s difficult to identify all of our own cultural practices because to us they are just normal. We take them for granted and don’t notice them much (unless you take a human geo course, of course). It is easier to notice other cultures, and we tend to have different reactions toward them.

Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the position of separating what one’s own culture tells them about a situation and viewing a behavior or trait through the lens of an outside culture. It is a general philosophy of understanding that different cultures hold different values, norms, and taboos, and a willingness to respect a behavior or request even if it feels awkward and counter to one’s own culture. When visiting homes in Asia or people from Asian cultures, it is common to take off your shoes at the door before walking into a home.

Cultural Ethnocentrism

On the other hand, cultural ethnocentrism is a perspective that one’s own culture is superior to others or a refusal to respect certain behaviors or requests because they run counter to one’s cultural norms and values. At an extreme level, this perspective might manifest itself as xenophobia or racism. This was a common perspective of many white Europeans during the time of colonialism and imperialism toward cultures in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Traditional Culture vs. Popular Culture

Finally, we can categorize cultures into traditional culture, also referred to as folk culture, or local/native culture; and popular culture, also referred to a pop or global culture.