Culture and Formation of Culture Essay Example for Free

Culture and Formation of Culture Essay The word culture can be referred to the behavior of the human beings specifically with the objects, things and commodities around them and these objects are used as an essential part of this behavior. In this sense it is only the ability of the mankind to create a culture. And culture itself will include all the norms and behaviors of human beings like language, customs, beliefs, religions, tool, techniques, arts, rituals, ceremonies and common practice of every day life. There are numerous definitions of culture and every anthropologist has a different view about it. Some has defined culture as â€Å"learned behavior† or â€Å"ideas in mind† or â€Å"a logical construct†, but the most favored definition is that culture is â€Å"the abstraction from behavior† (Culture). Certeau (xi) states that Culture is the combination of every day practices of the societies. But instead of making the unit force an individual he has taken a more economist perspective and regarded them as â€Å"consumers† (Certeau, xi). While John Fiske produced a two economic theory and regards culture as a parallel economy against the financial economy and has named it as â€Å"cultural economy† (Fiske, 538). As every economy has a capital the cultural economy’s capital consists of pleasure and meanings (Fiske, 541). Frederick Engels while speaking in the context of history defines culture as â€Å"traditions, which haunt human minds† (Engels, 10). Speaking conclusively culture is not only behavior neither an action, but it is the combination of abstraction and behavior or a behavior explicating a concept. Formation of Culture: According the theory of evolution, the advancement of the human behavior from natural to learned and freely variable behavior, the particulars of which have the tendency to be transferred to the next generation and has the ability to evolve into a system of things. Thus culture is a man made environment brought into existence by the human ability to symbol. When a culture is established then it has a life of its own. It is a range of things and events in a cause and effect relationship (Culture). Different theorists have argued about the formation of culture in their own specific way and style. According to Bourdieu â€Å"cultural needs are the product of upbringing and education† (Bourdieu, 42). He initially states that the production of cultural goods as well as the description of different ways of appropriating these goods as work of arts as well as providing social conditions, which are considered legitimate (Bourdieu, 42). He further emphasis that all social practices, which are the core of any culture, are traced back to education or social origin (Bourdieu, 42). On the other hand Fiske says that culture is the opposite force developed in response to the producers of consumer goods. He states that culture is the parellel economic system, which runs in response to the financial economic system. According to him it’s capital is meanings and pleasure (Fiske, 538). This is a more economic perspective of rather than the anthropological perspective. Theodor Adorno while discussing the evolution of popular music culture states that the popular music culture and its hold on the masses is because of the urge to distract the individuals from the current realities to the world of fantasy, and popular music has the ability to distract the listener from it (Adorno, 80,81). Thus according to him a culture evolves as a reaction of the current cultural norms. That is the main reason that the popular culture did not evolved before the industrial revolution. Social Relations: Social relations are the behaviors of different social groups related to and in response of each other. Thus speaking about the ruling class, which is also regarded as the elite class or aristocracy is the social group, which has the means of production at its disposal Thus the ruling ideas and concepts are the expressions of dominant material relationships (Marx Engels, 8). According to Marx and Engels the historically speaking the relationship of the individual and the ruling class are reflected by the dominance of ideas and concepts during the dominance of that ruling class. For instance during the dominion of the aristocracy the concepts of loyalty and honor were dominant, while during the dominion of the bourgeoisie the concepts of equality and freedom were dominant (Marx and Engels, 8). The relation between the ruling class and the lower class has two ways. Either it leads or it dominates. The first relation is with its allies while the second is with its enemies (Gramsci, 12) Thus the social relations between the aristocracy has two conditions. If the aristocracy has friendly terms with the lower class, the lower class will follow accordingly under its leadership. But if the lower class does not consent the way the ruling class leads it will refuse to follow. As a result the ruling class will try to dominate the lower class in order to maintain its status. Marx has regarded the aristocracy as the material forces of production, which sometimes come into conflict with the property relations that is the lower class and results in the social revolution (Marx, 9). Engels says that the economic political and traditional i. e cultural factors are interrelated and they in combination play the determined role in the formation of history. Thus history is the product of the combine efforts of the economical, political and demographical factors. Thus one can very easily find the social relation between the economy, politics and cultural norms. Works Cited Adorno, Theodor W. â€Å"On Popular Music† Studies in Philosophy and Social Sciences. 1941. Bourdieu, Pierre. â€Å"Distinction and The Aristocracy of Culture†. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. 1984, Routledge, London. Certeau, Michel de. â€Å"The Practice of Every Day Life† 1984, Berkley University California Press. â€Å"Culture. † Encyclop? dia Britannica. 2007. Encyclop? dia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 8 May, 2007. Fiske, John. â€Å"The Popular Economy† Television Culture. 1987, Routledge, London. Gramsci, Antonio. â€Å"Hegomony, Intellectuals and the State† Princeton Notebooks, Lawrence Wishart, London. Marx, Karl. â€Å"Base Superstructure† A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. 1976, Foreign Languages Press, Peking. Marx, Karl Engels, Federick. â€Å"Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas† The German Ideology. 1970, Lawrence Wishart, London. Marx, Karl Engels. â€Å"A Letter to Joseph Bloch† Selected Letters. 1977, Foreign Languages Press, Peking.

Essay --

Have you ever seen commercials on television advertising allergy medications? The advertisement explains that taking the medication can cause abnormal sleep patterns, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itching, watery eyes, rashes, and headaches. A conclusion could be made that the side effects of the product would be much worse than the allergy problem. However, people still buy the product. The lengths an average person will go in order to get a quick fix is amazing. It is this way of thinking that makes tanning beds so popular. Over the last decade, cancer causing tanning beds have given self-image issues to people across the world. For, example a self proclaimed â€Å"child of the 70’s†, Donna Moncivaiz soaked in the sun whenever possible. As an adult she graduated to tanning beds and allowed her teenaged children use them also. Two years ago 51 year old Donna was diagnosed with melanoma. She had lost her gallbladder. Her daughter has also been diagnosed with an early stag e of melanoma. Donna states â€Å"If I had known what I know now, it never would have happened.† Many people will do things that will make you think that tanning is something they need to survive like spending millions of dollars in a life time for tanning beds, ending up becoming addicted to it, as well as they could get many types of skin cancers later on in life. All these things just for something that can hurt you in your life time and can kill you as well. So why even start? So why do people go tanning? Many people go tanning to get the feeling of beauty. In society today, having a tan is thought to be one of the most attractive and appealing senses to the opposite sex. Unfortunately, tanning beds are used most frequently among teenagers. This is especially harmful bec... ... cause death to someone. Skin cancers are separated into two categories. First one is malignant melanomas and non melanoma. The first is basal cell carcinoma; basal cell carcinoma begins in the lowest layer of the epidermis, the basal cell layer. Basal cell cancer accounts for 75% of all skin cancers. This type of skin cancer tends to be slow growing and is usually is found in areas that are highly exposed to sunlight, such as the head or neck. People with lighter skin are more likely to get basal cell cancer than are dark skinned people. The second type is called squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 20% of all skin cancers, and penetrates the skin more than basal cell would, therefore, is considered to be more harmful. The growth of a squamous cell is more quicker than a basal cell. It can spread to the lymph nodes, arms, neck, and the head.

Biology Coursework: Effect of Sugar Solution on Potato Chips Essay

Planning Before planning the experiment, I will research osmosis, so that I can make predictions. This will help me to discover how to make this investigation fair and safe. Planning ahead will help me find out the order in which to carry out the experiment. This should lead me to good results at the end of the experiment. Hypothesis Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. When a potato is placed in water, the cells will expand by gaining weight depending on the concentration levels of the solution. When the concentration of the water is lower, more water molecules are allowed to pass through the potato cell. This causes the potato to gain weight and expand. If the concentration levels of the solution are higher, the cells will lose water and cause the potato to lose weight and therefore shrink. Prediction I predict that when the lower the concentration of sugar solution in the water, the more the potato will expand by osmosis. When the concentration of water is identical to the concentration of the potato cell, there will be no increase or decrease in weight. This is because the amount going into the cell will be the same as the amount going out. As soon as the water concentration becomes higher, the cells will shrink because more water will be leaving the cell than entering it. In distilled water alone, I predict that the water in the potato will be more concentrated. Because of this, the water should transfer from the solution to the potato, and the potato will gain weight. In the 0.2 molar solutions, the substances will be very similar in concentration. There should be little change to the size and weight of the potato. When the potato is placed in 0.4 molar solutions, the substances will still be very similar but the concentration of the water solution should be slightly greater to that of the potato. This will cause the potato to shrink slightly. As the molar solutions get higher, the water will transfer more and more from the potato to the water solution, therefore decreasing its size and weight. The most extreme shrinking should occur when the potato is placed in 1.0 molar solution, as here the difference in the water concentration is at its largest. Safety I will be using a very sharp knife, which could injure someone if it is not handled properly. And I will also be careful that the solutions do not get into my body internally as I am not fully aware of the damage it could cause. Method I will cut chips from the same potato because different potatoes may act differently and affect the results. I will cut them 15mm long exactly with square ends 5mm wide and 2mm thick. I will use a chopping and knife for this. They all need to be exactly the same size to ensure that it is a fair test. I will weigh the chips to ensure that they are the same size and weight. This will also give us a measurement to compare them to afterwards. I will use three identical potato chips in each solution. This is because the experiment may not go to plan. If we have three chips, an average can be taken at the end of the experiment to obtain more accurate results. The three potatoes will be placed in 6 different solutions, 1.0 being the strongest and distilled water being the weakest. The solutions I will use are as follows: 0.0 (Distilled water) 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 The boiling tubes will be placed in a rack with an equal amount of molar solution. This is because identical solutions are needed for it to be a fair test. The potatoes will be covered with the solutions, if not the water will not be able to pass in and out and the potatoes would dry out. The solutions will all need to be the same temperature and the chips will need to remain in the test tube for the same length of time. The length of time I have chosen to keep the potatoes in the solution is 5 minutes. This should be enough time for the osmosis to take affect. When the potatoes are removed from the solution, the osmosis stops. I will then dry the potatoes using a paper towel being careful so that none of the potatoes fall apart. I will place them into sets of three depending on when which solution they were placed in and weigh and measure them. To get the most accurate results, I will take the average reading of the three pieces. I will then analyse my results and see if they match my prediction.

Memory Is Not Accurate For Details Of Past Events Over An...

According to Parkin (1999) memory is the erudition of fresh information connecting variations in the synaptic connections amongst neurons dedicated for the stowage of material. However, memory is also the ability to recall information and this is a point where the phenomenon of human memory falters. This essay will argue that human memory is not reliably accurate for details of past events over an extended time period and under experimental conditions. This is supported by firstly Zhu et al. (2011), whose results intensely advocated that short-term contact to misinformation can lead to long-term false memory. The results showed a positive correlation between the amount of misinformation and the number of false memories recalled. To add to this, Vitevitch, Chan, Roodenrys, (2012) examined how network structure influences recall in long and short term memory. The results showed that participants falsely recognized more words with low connection to network structure than high connectio n to network structure. That is, the higher the words’ connection to neural networks, the less chance the participant would produce false memory. These results showed a negative correlation between the connection to neural networks and the amount of false memories produced i.e. if a participant had low connection they would produce more false memories than if they had high connection. Evidence The aim of the study by Vitevitch, Chan, Roodenrys was to examine how network structure influencesShow MoreRelatedLong Term Memory Storage System1537 Words   |  7 Pagesskill to remember the people, events, and locations come across the path of everyday life is a primary structure of cognition that shows behavior. 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