Cultural Assignment #1

Greg Sporko

Cultural Assignment #1

Dr. Dories

8 April 2012

All around the world, there are a lot of different groups of people who encompass their own unique culture and have their own set of ways of fulfilling their duties. Where we live and the history behind it is the main focus when looking at different cultures and that is what really sets people apart from each other throughout the world, and these things should be understood when traveling to different areas other than your home nation.

A big social interaction that I am a witness of is American Football. America started this sport to show true American toughness and strength, and watching it today definitely exemplifies those values. Watching it on television with my friends and especially going to the games to watch first-hand shows true American culture just from the sights and sounds of the fans and even the smell of popcorn and beer in the air. Football and baseball are Americas past times and were there for people when they have nothing else to turn to. Most Americans love the game so much and are so dedicated to it that some buy season tickets and make it to every game. Other countries are not this dedicated to sports and America has definitely shown its full support behind the game, making it a main focus when examining American Culture.

When I was in high school as a senior, we organized something called “Freshman Friday,” when we make the freshman and sophomores who were trying out for the football team come to the cafeteria during our lunch period. We made them due “Trojan” Jacks (Jumping Jacks with our own twist to it) in front of everyone in the cafeteria because that’s what we had to do when we were that young. This is unique to our group because we were the only high school in the area who did it and it was a tradition passed down since the school started, making it a pretty special one.

A good example of individuality happened last semester in my psychology class. We were split up into groups of 4 and were assigned a project due the next week. We got together a few times during the week expect for one kid who obviously did not care much about us or the group because he kept blowing us off. This shows true individuality because he did not put his priorities in order when he knew the project was important and he definitely deserved the grade he received.

Other cultures are definitely much different than America’s because most would say that our ways of doing things are ridiculous and out of the ordinary, but we are  a strong country that holds onto our culture and loves how we are.

Individualism as a cultural value

1. Name three topics that Americans often think that it is rude to talk about. For each, why do you think that Americans think that they are rude topics?

- Three topics that Americans often think are rude to talk about are body weight, divorce, and finances. People should not ask each other how much they weigh because some people are very sensitive about their weight and become self conscious whenever the topic is brought up. Divorce is another sensitive issue to bring up to someone in a conversation who has gone through it or is close to someone who has. It is personal to that person and they probably do not like talking about the situation so therefore it is rude to bring it up. It is rude to bring up finances because some people boast if they have a lot of money and people do not like when others flaunt things, especially when money is such a big deal in the US.

2. How do concepts such as the care of the elderly and Buddhist philosophy provide strikingly different models for behavior in Thailand and the United States?

- In the US, if an elder in a family such as a grandmother/grandfather is sick or incapable of taking care of themselves, their children or grandchildren usually turn to sending them to either a nursing home or simply getting a nurse to come to their house. Americans usually have their own priorities and own lives to worry about, and most people see it as an inconvenience to have their elder live with them because they have other things to tend to. Families in Thailand are pretty much the exact opposite because each member of the family has very close ties to each other. Due to their culture, the elderly are extremely cherished and children of them or grandchildren do not hesitate to have them live with them if need be.

3. What incidents in your own life experience illustrate the value placed on individualism in American culture, that other cultures might find strange? (Be specific)

- Just like most Americans, I want to be successful in my life and make a lot of money no matter what it takes. This is pretty much the basis of American culture because most people have this “American Dream” to be rich and own a nice house with a lot of valuables. Other cultures see this as stupid because most others do not care about money as much as we do, they just want to be intelligent without caring if they are successful or not.

Learning from Ladakh and The Global Village Finally Arrives

1. How has the introduction of a money-based economy distorted relationships between people and made them dependent on things they didn’t even know existed?

-          The introduction of a money-based economy has definitely made an impact on people. It has distorted relationships because people have become selfish; we either want more and more money or want to pay as little as possible to get the things we want. Money creates competition between people and relationships change because of it, and everyone just wants to buy the better, more high tech inventions.

 

2. How does the incident of a shopkeeper and his former neighbor illustrate the change for the worse that has overtaken the Ladakhis since money became the medium of exchange?

-          It illustrates a change for the worse because the shopkeeper is putting money and his work in front of his former neighbor/friend. When the man left his shop with less money than he was promised, their relationship definitely changed from good to bad, and this signifies how money has taken over the area and changes people’s attitudes toward eachother. These changes will definitely continue and will probably get worse over the next decades to come.

 

3. Choose one sentence in this essay that either is the most powerful or tells you something that you did not know. Why is this sentence important?

 

-  The sentence that is the most powerful to me is, “More and more of the globe looks like America, but an America that is itself looking more and more like the rest of the globe.” This sentence is important because it pretty much says that the whole world is changing slowly but surely, and America as well as other countries throughout the world is resembling each other more and more each year, whether it be through simple companies or food corporations.

4. Name two positives and two negatives of a multi-cultural / globalized world (either listed in the text or in your own opinion).

- Two positive effects of this globalized world are: Goods and people are transported with more efficiency and speed, and the communication between the individuals and corporations in the world increases. Two negative effects of this globalized world are: You lose your sense of self and who you really are and where you come from.

Globalization of Eating Disorders and Macho Men

1. Write a paragraph describing what influences have shaped your views regarding body image.

- Growing up, I was very involved with sports and always watched the NBA and the NFL, and within the last few years watched the UFC. When I saw how the players and fighters in each of these sports performed, and how their athleticism created such a dominant individual, it made me want to be just like them. These were probably the greatest aspects of my life that truly influenced me and my body image. With these influences, I strived to get to the gym every day so I could become more and more like my idols, and tried to accomplish my dream of being a professional athlete. Along with sports, celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone have influenced me a lot too, especially with his roles in the “Rocky Balboa” movies series and Rambo.

2. Do you think American culture has different expectations on men and women regarding body image? Why or why not? (Use an example or two to prove your point)

- Yes, American culture definitely has different expectations on men and women regarding body image, but to an extent because it still somehow involves both sexes developing eating disorders and becoming obese. In the US today, the media makes girls look like sex objects and not just beautiful women. Like the article said, these images definitely have a larger influence on them than teachers or parents, and girls develop a sense that they need to be similar to these images. This makes some girls become depressed and develop eating disorders and sometimes even anorexia. Throughout my high school years, I have seen much of this happening to girls. Many of the overweight girls hung out with skinnier girls, and I believe that could’ve made them depressed that they could not be more like their friends. With males, the media is blowing up their images with body builders and professional athletes, and like the article said, guys are turning more to steroids to cheat their way to becoming more like them.

3. When you think of the term “masculine”, list the first three things that come to mind and why they are thought to be masculine.

 

-          The first three things that come to my mind when I think of the term “masculine” are muscles, facial hair, and Sylvester Stallone. I think of muscles because these days most men that are thought to be masculine have huge muscles and are really strong. I think of facial hair and especially moustaches because whenever I watched the show “Friends” I saw Tom Selleck and whenever he was involved in episodes he was always the legitimate manly-man, and the moustache just ties into my belief of this masculinity. Lastly, Sylvester Stallone’s roles in Rocky and Rambo show what a true man and war hero is, and his muscular and defined image is the epitome and symbol of masculinity.

 

4. List two ways that American males are pressured to act masculine. In each Case, describe whether or not they are helpful or harmful to males and why.

 

-          Two ways that American males are pressured to act masculine are to impress women and to be better than other males in a variety of ways. In the first case, I think that it is more helpful to males because these days the media makes most girls see attractive guys as strong and muscular, and this forms an attitude within some guys to go to the gym more and stay in shape. In the second case, guys are constantly competing to be better than each other, whether it is by lifting more and being bigger than other guys, being an incredible athlete, or just simply being having a leader’s mentality. I feel that as guys grow, our mentality changes towards masculinity, and the more muscular we are doesn’t seem to matter as much.

 

The new politics of consumption

1. Schor argues that our consumer culture (focused on money and purchasing material items) creates a “dis – ease” and “alienation”. Whether you agree with her or not, in what ways could a societal focus on buying material items create alienation or isolation?

I definitely agree that our consumer culture has evolved into one that could create alienation or isolation. I think that our country has developed into one where people buy senseless things based on want and not need. In the mid-1900s most people were the exact opposite. They would buy things that they actually needed to survive; they didn’t just waste it away like people today, and that creates isolation because everyone just wants to be competitive and buy better things. Technology has definitely created alienation, part of it being video games like Xbox or Playstation. People are able to play online against others and some become so connected to it that they do not develop a social life other than talking to people at their own separate homes, therefore causing alienation.

 

1. Since 1980 the average American income has decreased when inflation is taken into account. If average salaries were to increase to a more reasonable income, would it solve any of the problems listed in your first answer? Why or why not?

No I think that it would make the problem worse, because more money equals more buying which would probably result in more video game consumption. People would become a lot more alienated in the homes and the reduction of contact with humans would definitely be a factor. Also, people would feel the need to become better than everyone else by buying more expensive stuff, and would probably buy a lot of it.

1. Schor writes about “competitive consumption” or the idea that we need to keep up with the norms of people of our social group or those in higher economic positions. Name 2-3 societal factors that encourage “competitive consumption”.

Well, nowadays there are so many corporations that relentlessly compete with each other to make better products. The technology that is made and the advertisements that follow are 2 societal factors that encourage competitive consumption. A good example would be cell phones. These corporations strive to be better than everyone else so they post ads and make TV commercials to encourage potential buyers.

1. In what ways does “competitive consumption” influence your identity? What about the identities of your friends or family? Give specific examples.

It influences my identity in several ways. It influences what kind of technology I use, how I treat people, and what I wear. Growing up, when I saw celebrities with all their fancy clothes or gadgets, I knew that I could not afford any of it but I always bought something similar. It was the same way with my group of friends; we all wanted to stand out more than other people at school, so we bought some similar items to do so. My brother and I always tried competing with each other to see who could have the best stuff, but my mom tried to get us similar things to avoid arguments between us.

Moral Machines

1. I think that this incident is very likely, simply because we rely too highly on machines to get things done. Even though they are helpful in some instances, the negatives definitely outweigh the positives, which definitely could result in the deaths of many people and losses of billions of dollars. It seems to me that there are more important things to worry about than simply keeping energy costs down, because if we chose to continue running the coal-burning generators at peak capacity, there will without a doubt be a fatal incident and will result in blackouts. Everyone needs to stop worrying so much about money and start thinking about peoples well being because stuff like this will happen if we don’t act on it. I’m sure some people would disagree because they think that as long as they have money everything will be fine, but not enough people think about the bigger picture. Artificial Intelligence could be necessary to help avoid this incident, and I really hope that it does because this event really could be catastrophic. If this were to happen, the public would react very harshly but would hopefully do something to help the cause. Like the article said, we shouldn’t be afraid of these events to happen; we should take initiative and do something about it before it does.

2. Personally, I think that our technology in a few years will be developed enough to create Artificial Intelligence with these standards. With all of the brain scanning technology that confirms our decision making skills and moral values, I think that scientists will be able to convert those into a robotic figure that will be able to take demands from humans and be an asset to the world. Isaac Asimov definitely had a good head on his shoulders when he created the 3 Laws of Robotics, but like the reading said, he did not confront the fact that these robots could cause harm to humans if designs were not perfected. That is why engineers need to be patient and wait till the perfect time to take action and put these robots on the market. If these robots actually do become a part of our everyday lives, I think that our identities will suffer greatly and humans will never be the same. People will become lazy and rely on these robots to do everything for them, and eventually our values that humans have cherished for all eternity will be completely shattered.

3. There are plenty of positive and negative effects that artificial intelligence could have on this earth. On the positive side, they would be very beneficial to hospitals and to the elderly that are need of help, they would help largely in discovering more about outer space, they would be able to do things that humans could never do, they would be a great asset to military combat, etc. For the negative approach, if they are not perfected, they could easily turn on humans and become harmful to us. Also, like I said before, many humans will eventually rely on them to do everything and we will become lazy and unproductive citizens. All these factors need to be taken in account when developing this artificial intelligence, and I think that once they are perfected, they will be more beneficial than harmful to us.

4. Yes this has happened to me before when I was typing my senior paper in high school. I was on a role the day that I started it and I was about to be three quarters done with the paper and something went wrong with the computer and out of nowhere it just shut down. The idiot that I was forgot to save it throughout the whole time I was typing, and I lost the whole thing and was forced to start the paper from the beginning all over again. Another time a machine caused problems for me was when I was playing my xbox one day, and out of nowhere I got the red ring of death. If you do not know what this is, it is simply a “General Hardware Failure” in which somewhere inside of the xbox, a unit or component is not operating properly. The only way to fix it is to send it to Microsoft and that’s exactly what I had to do.

Morality

1. When I was first asked that question, my instant reaction was that Mother Teresa was definitely the most admirable, but after reading on I changed my mind and think that Norman Borlaug is. Before reading this I honestly had no idea who he was, and I doubt most people did. He never sought to be involved in the media, and it seems that all he cared about was keeping his mind on his work and really striving to reduce world hunger. That is a factor I truly admire because he wasn’t fed up with himself and did it for a bigger cause than just becoming famous, he did it for the overall benefit of the people. Mother Teresa was without a doubt a saint, but the contributions Borlaug made to save billions of lives overshadows hers despite what she has done and that has led me to this decision.

2. If I were to choose two living people that are the most admirable in my life, I would choose my Dad and my Grandma. I chose my Grandma because she is the most kind hearted and loving person I have ever met in my life. Growing up, I was always able to see her and hang out because we lived so close to each other, and being around someone like her extremely benefited me in my life and largely influenced who I am today. She was just one of those admirable people who would always put everyone else’s best interests in front of her own, and she was never satisfied unless everyone was happy. I consider her a saint because of all this, and I am more than grateful to have such an amazing person in my family and in my life. Next, I chose my Dad because he has an outstanding sense of a moral conscience. Before high school, I was a good student that got really good grades, but when high school came around I lost focus in my studies and my grades suffered for it. My dad was always there talk to me about hard work and the benefits that result from it in the long run, but in high school I just shrugged off what he tried teaching me because I lived in the present and never thought about the future. Now that I am in the college scene, I look back to what he has taught me and it has really inspired me to do my best and keep trying until I reach my goals. I would definitely say that what I have learned from them has largely influenced the way I make moral judgments.

3. For the most part I do believe that morality is universal, but only to a certain degree. Part of what people see as moral comes from the way they were raised but there are still some exceptions. I think that most middle class and upper class people have good heads on their shoulders and know right from wrong, but when it comes to people in third world countries; they have to break some of the norms or morals of society just to get by. Especially with most gangs, there really is not much of a sense of morality. I have read about some gangs, and to become a member a part of initiation would be to rape a woman. The world definitely has some exceptions to universal morality, but aside from some third world countries and gangs people have a good moral sense.

4. The five elements of morality that Haidt names are harm, fairness, community (group loyalty), authority, and purity. I think that Americans tend to rank harm and fairness first out of all of them. Harm is an essential one because whenever someone or something is harmed in the US, Americans make a huge deal out of it depending on how close their relationship is to whatever was harmed. Same with fairness, I’d say most people tend to look at numerous perspectives on issues and try to be fair depending on what the issue is and who is involved. Other countries might have some similar views on these two moral elements, but Americans tend to have stronger feelings towards them.

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