SOCA01H3 Study Guide - Promiscuity, Then Language, Human Behaviour
Document Summary
Culture is a shared set of symbols and their definitions. Humans thrive in their environments because of their unique ability to generate and use culture. Culture includes the ability to think abstractly, cooperate and make tools and other artifacts. The development of culture makes people freer, people have more choice in how they live. The development of culture puts limits on who we can become. Side note: chapter 2 introduced concrete/abstract levels of experience. Concrete level focuses on your empirical sensations of touch, taste, smell, sound and sight. Culture allows our sensory experiences to become meaningful. Once your cultural experience conditions you to interpret concrete experiences a certain way, this becomes your reality. Culture refers to high culture (culture consumed by upper classes: ex: ballet, opera) or popular culture/mass culture (culture consumed by all classes) Sociological definition: shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real life problems. Symbols: concrete things or abstract terms that represent something else.
