Wk 9.1 Creatures of Culture

I agree that we are “creatures of our culture” where one is shaped by one’s own learned culture. As one grows up, family, peers and society in general teach us what values should prized or not, how to behave within different situations, what meanings or expectations are derived from messages or from people, what is polite and what is considered rude or taboo, and other such things. Therefore, as we continue to repetitively continue our learned patterns from our culture, we tend to instinctively confine ourselves to our particular beliefs, habits and concept of reality and impossibility.

In order to break through the constrictive limits of our respective cultures, it is important to understand that there are vast and different yet acceptable and “right” ways to live and understand the world. Other vital points are that we must always be open-minded, non-judgmental, striving to learn more about what’s beyond our individual “world”, thereby learning how to interact in a way that is respectful to their culture and their identity, especially as we are likely to be in contact with various cultural communities.