Culture is what defines people in its group identity. A harmonious set of traits, values and features developed over many years and centuries that characterise us and help us live with each other.
I was in India attending a lecture on philosophy taught by a spiritual teacher who introduced the concept of the collective ego. In negative terms, that is when anyone stands up for their own national, ethnic or other group they identify with.
Whatever you might think of the archetypal division between the individual self and the collective, different group identities and identity politics as a whole, humans seem to be naturally geared towards the effort of survival. Survival of the self, of the family, of the tribe, nation or civilisation and survival of all humanity as one.
Ancient and still famed civilisations include the Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Indus and Western. Cultural traits derived from those (and many more) are expressed in a diversity of rich languages, rituals, symbols, art, food, beliefs and lifestyles.
When you visit anyone’s house in Italy, a homemade espresso coffee is almost always on offer as a welcome drink. Sharing this boost of dopamine together is a form of ritual known to everyone there. In my host country of Thailand, before stepping into someone’s house, it is mandatory to take off your shoes. How rude would it be not to!
My grandfather was a practising Catholic and his son, my uncle, a priest dedicated to helping people with substance abuse problems. As a child I was brought up as an observant Catholic and attended mass every Sunday, often as an altar boy, dressed up in robes, standing next to the priest. Both Italian food and the Catholic church represented a large cultural influence on my early life, before I became an atheist for a few years and, more recently, turned to Eastern philosophy and new age spirituality, coupled with rice and Asian style curries as my regular type of home-cooked food.
How much has my culture changed then? 15 years in the English – cosmopolitan melting pot of London taught me lots of new things about the international ways of living in globalised cities. Hanging out with old friends in my town in Italy started to feel like reverse culture shock.
Nothing compared to returning to Europe after a 1 year round the world trip, living like a backpacker and travelling largely in emerging countries in South America and Asia. The kind of lifestyle, daily routine and freedom I allowed myself then was remarkable and unprecedented. I was part of a distinct subculture, a community of fellow backpackers on a global trail of hostels, transports and hangouts. Travelling is one of the best ways to gain exposure to diverse and different people. I love travelling and I love the cultural differences and related potential for personal growth I experience while doing it.
A striking form of cultural trait is the use of language and how language forms to depict daily life can tell a lot about a culture. Learning English and then Spanish brought me close to those cultural identities.
How polite and yet informal the English seemed to me, with all their please-s and sorry-s. How wonderful the use of first name emails and the absence of a formal address form. In Italian (and Spanish) we would never address someone we don’t know or someone older using a second person pronoun. Conventions require a more formal “she” or “he” instead of “you”. I love the British way of doing business, so direct and straightforward.
The common religious practice of infant circumcision, ancient and sacred in some parts of the world, is perceived by some Western critics as a form of abuse. Unwed polyamory and “play parties” are a fringe feature in some Western countries and in Koh Phangan, another interesting form of subculture and unimaginable in traditional Muslim nations. Who decides how to dress, what is polite to say and more generally what is right or wrong? Culture does.
According to Wikipedia, humans acquire culture through the learning processes of acculturation and socialisation, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. Parents, the education system and increasingly the omnipresent media help shape what we are.
Pop culture, music, TV and the mass media are a lens on human identities. Indian Bollywood comedies have a rather distinct flavor compared to American Hollywood films. The USA, possibly the most culturally dominant country on earth, is a huge exporter of its products, values, customs and models of civilisation. Burgers, Coca Cola, Michael Jackson and the striving for material success and social mobility exemplified by the American dream are globally recognised North American icons.
Countercultures can be defined as movements in a society that disrupt and permanently change some of its cultural values. Notable examples were Romanticism or the Non-conformists of the 1930s. What has the global pandemic of Covid-19 done to change the way we perceive reality is still to be seen.
Will we lose our cultural identities in a globalised and interconnected world? Become much more homogeneous as people? Is this useful and desirable or terrible and frightening? I am not sure.
Osho, one of my favourite teachers, was quoted to say: “Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole existence. Why limit yourself to small things? When the whole is available”.
Beyond basic survival, if maximising well-being and minimising suffering are worthy goals, connecting with others and a sense of belonging are linked to a desire for social identity.
This I believe is a fundamental human need and to see it manifested in many creative colours, shapes and forms is a large part of an interesting, diverse and fulfilling life.