Walking Between Worlds: Episode VIII

A summary from the podcast Walking Between Worlds. Listen now from your favorite podcast app.

Why Cultures are Different.

Guest: Karen Hedinger, Language Acquisition Trainer.

The Bible says in Genesis 11 that after the great flood, all humans were living in one area. They decided to get together and build a tower. That tower is known as the Tower of Babel, which was a testament to the human's greatness, in defiance of God's command to spread out and fill the earth. God came down and confused their language. People started grouping according to their language, and they started spreading out. In the New Testament book of Acts, the Apostle Paul says, "From one man He made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth. And he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands."

One reason why cultures are different is that God made them different. He certainly made the language different. As humans spread out over the face of the earth, they lived in different environments. All humans have to meet their basic needs. We all need to eat. We all need to be clothed. We all need relationships. The way different people group and meet essential needs depends on where they live, the environment around them, and the available natural resources. All of these things make cultures develop differently.

For example, foods represent different cultures.

Economics is affected by the perception of available resources and items that can be acquired. Each of these cultures, especially in urban settings, are surrounded by other cultures. Through this develops commerce. Each of these interactions leads to the development of relationships. Somebody has an item that someone else might want, so they learn to barter and how to trade. Through these exchanges comes the intermingling of cultures. And yet, these interactions and exchanges don't come without friction, without troubles, without problems.

Cultures are different because the world is different. People are different, and environments are different.

As people in a certain culture work together, not only have they decided what is important, but then they teach it to their children. These patterns are then passed on from generation to generation. In some cultures, passing traditions and teachings from one generation to the next is very important. While in other places, it might not be as nearly as important.

In some places, like where our offices are located in Portland, Oregon, flexibility is more of a value than tradition. Oregon folk history tells that when the wagon trains traveling West got to a certain point on the Lewis and Clark trail, they had a choice of traveling South to San Francisco and the gold rush or North to farmland in Oregon. Tradition, then, tells that true Oregonians are hardworking, salt of the earth kind of people who wanted to develop their farms. They were true pioneers. Lazy people went to California to get rich. Again, this is folklore in Oregon, and at times the justification for the disdain Oregonians have for Californians. While this folklore may not be accurate after being passed down through generations of Oregonians, the facts matter little against the presupposition about the nature of Californians. Every time people like this meet their presuppositions is reinforced as they perceive the nature of Californians through an Oregonian filter. Therefore, our presuppositions are confirmed by our experiences, and the tradition of animosity between Californians and Oregonians continues.

This kind of bias can be found between many different groups in multiple cultures throughout history across the world. Furthermore, when these kinds of biases are found in a collection of individuals then the group reinforces the presuppositions of the individual, strengthening their bias.

Differences in cultures that appear tangibly that can be noticed, many times, reflect deeper values that the culture holds. Language can demonstrate this. Language is more than written or spoken shared language. There are multiple ways to communicate an idea, including a host of non-verbal communication signals and even silence. Many languages have "honorifics," which can be the beginnings or ending of words, words, or phrases that are used to show honor. When two Koreans that about the same age meet one of the first questions, they'll ask is how old they are. With obvious age differences, there is an assumption of who is older, but with people who are close in age, discovering the elder is important. The age will determine the honorific they are given and the deference the other will give to the older, even if it is just by a day. Language can show things like that. There are honorifics in many languages. In English, the honorific seems less formal and more intuitive. Talking to a peer is usually different than talking to an older person like a grandparent. The vocabulary is different, and topics many times are different between the two groups. Also, in American culture, referring to teachers and professors as Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Dr. are examples of honorifics. The challenge in American culture is discovering where those honorifics are appropriate and where they are not. In the American South and parts of the Mid-West, honorific titles are important in learning someone's status. Calling someone by "Mrs." or a professional by "Dr." may be significant to some, while others see it as excessive and prideful.

Again, these are generalities rather than rules for different places in America.

In the same way, gestures, body language, posture can all communicate honor and respect or disrespect. Dressing up, like for a formal dinner or prom, is often a way respect is shown. Everything changes a bit between a formal dance and a backyard party. There is a tradition with these kinds of events. Non-verbals can often speak louder than verbal or written languages.

When an idea or event is important to a culture, there are usually more ways to communicate that idea — for example, rain. When living in the Mid-West is was surprised that rain almost exclusively came with thunder and lightning. I even experienced a snowstorm with thunder. I didn't even know that was possible. When finding out, I lived in the Northwest, one of my friends who was a native of the Mid-West commented that I must know a lot about thunder and lightning. The idea didn't make a lot of sense to me until I realized she had rarely seen rain without a thunderstorm, and the Pacific Northwest was known for having consistent rain most of the year. The fact is that in the Pacific Northwest, thunderstorms are rare except during the height of the summer heat. Yet having experienced so much rain, the residents of the Pacific Northwest know a lot about rain and have multiple words to describe the nature of rain. There is a difference between a mist, a sprinkle, a drizzle, freezing fog, straight rain, a downpour, and a gulley washer. At the same time, the Pacific Northwest does not have a diverse language to describe a tornado because they are rare, and experience with twisters is mostly unheard of.

One of the things that show the values of a culture are the sayings.

Some of the most common sayings of Americans are, "You can't argue with success." Success is significant to Americans. It can override almost anything. "Live and let live." Americans like their independence. Therefore, we need to be tolerant of that others won't interfere with the individual's rights and decisions. "Time flies when you're having fun." Americans like their fun, entertainment. There's an attraction towards celebrities and Hollywood. "Shop 'til you drop" embodies the value of consumerism. "Just do it," a corporate logo, extolls the value of hard work and achievement. "You're only young once," and similar to it is "You only live once," also known at "YOLO." Do whatever you can when you have the chance. This is the deep cultural value that developed the idea of the "Bucket list" and "Better off to burn out than fade away." American culture extols the values of youth and opportunity. Another phrase that promotes the American values of success, thrift, and hard work is "Time is money." Another saying is, "Rules are meant to be broken," which comes from the rebel attitude found in many Americans. All of these values are hardwired into the American culture, some going back to the founders and founding principles.

While these are American phrases, every culture has its sayings, proverbs, or idiomatic phrases that extol cultural values. As CultureBound works with people to learn a new culture and understand the people and learn the language, a great place to go is to their proverbs and their idiomatic phrases. Most of these sayings link to a culture value. Ironically, advertising is a new form of a proverb and idiomatic phrase that encapsulates a culture idea. Values underly almost everything, but the values differ from culture to culture.

A question for our readers.

What are some phrases that come to mind that embody your cultural values?

What values to they point to?

What is Walking Between Worlds?

Walking Between Worlds is a podcast hosted by CultureBound. CultureBound is a training organization that specializes in Culture and Language. This podcast focuses on the secrets of culture to enrich our interactions with others. The topics covered relate to culture and building connections with people across cultural differences, specifically as it relates to American culture in a world that is globalizing. Walking Between Worlds is about how to navigate relationships in a cross-cultural context. This is a sneak peek into the material that CultureBound covers. We also have premium content and training on our website CultureBound.org that you can take today!