The Nature and Dynamics of Culture

Key Insight

Culture, an elaborate network of artificial instincts, enables millions of strangers to cooperate effectively by shaping thoughts, behaviors, desires, and rules from birth through myths and fictions. Historically, scholars mistakenly viewed cultures as complete, harmonious, and unchanging entities, such as 'Samoan Culture' or 'Tasmanian Culture,' believing they only changed due to external forces. However, contemporary understanding acknowledges cultures are in constant flux, transforming in response to environmental shifts, interactions with other cultures, or, crucially, through their own internal dynamics.

Unlike the consistent laws of physics, every human-made order is inherently packed with internal contradictions. These unresolved contradictions serve as culture's engines, fueling change as societies constantly attempt to reconcile them. For instance, medieval European nobility simultaneously adhered to the conflicting values of Christianity, which preached meekness and renunciation, and chivalry, which glorified honor and violence. This tension led to developments like the Crusades, military orders such as the Templars, and much medieval art and literature, including tales of King Arthur.

A modern example is the inherent conflict between equality and individual freedom, fundamental values since the French Revolution. Ensuring equality often curtails individual freedoms, while maximizing freedom can short-change equality, a dilemma evident in political history since 1789. Nineteenth-century liberal regimes prioritized freedom, leading to conditions for the poor as described by Charles Dickens. Conversely, Communism's egalitarian ideal, as depicted by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, produced brutal tyrannies. This contradiction persists in contemporary politics, such as the American debate between Democrats (seeking a more equitable society through taxes, potentially infringing on spending freedom) and Republicans (maximizing individual freedom, even if it widens the income gap). Such tensions are not defects but vital assets, serving as culture's creative and dynamic engines. The ability to hold contradictory beliefs and values, known as 'cognitive dissonance,' is essential for establishing and maintaining human culture, compelling thought, reevaluation, and criticism; understanding a culture means exploring its 'catch-22s' where rules and standards clash.

This section discusses how post-Agricultural Revolution societies became larger and more complex, sustained by elaborate imagined constructs. Early twentieth-century scholars believed cultures were complete, harmonious, and unchanging, only alterable by outside forces. Today, scholars recognize cultures as constantly in flux due to environment, interaction, and internal dynamics. Every human-made order has internal contradictions, which act as engines of change as cultures try to reconcile them. Examples include medieval European nobility's conflict between Christianity and chivalry, leading to the Crusades and military orders, and the modern political order's contradiction between equality and individual freedom, as seen in various political systems and contemporary American debates. These contradictions are not defects but vital assets, fostering creativity and dynamism, and the capacity to hold contradictory beliefs (cognitive dissonance) is crucial for human culture.