Cummunity and Culture (Notes)

* “Differences in communication have given rise to differences in language, in thinking, in systems of belief and culture generally. These differences have made hostility among societies endemic and seemingly eternal.” Isaac Asimov * What happens in one part of the world touches all parts of the world
Intercultural Communication Present and Future
Independent economic, technological, political, and social relationships – globally * Globalization
Negative or positive?
The common theme is connectedness
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in something worldwide in scope. * World trade and international business * The ability to move products, equipment, people, information and securities around the world with little concern for national or international borders. * How will the economy be managed and controlled? * Do we need new organizations to set up better international standards of conduct? * Technology and travel * Technology has expanded the ability of people throughout the world to connect with each other * Increasing competition for natural resources * We need to consume more resources to sustain this economic growth * Particularly harmful to third-world nations * Rising prices and food scarcities * Global competition for food – especially fish * International conflict and security * The world is more dangerous than it used to be * We need better intercultural communication skills so that we can meet each other’s needs * Environmental challenges * Global warming * Increased desertification * Water shortage * Need communication skills to help resolve all these problems * World health issues * Interconnectedness influences health care concerns – think about how quickly AIDS traveled around the world * Shifting populations – increasing demographic changes * Immigration * Population is increasing * Driving growth in the U.S. instead of birth * The aging U.S. population * Will this shift cultural views? * Multicultural society * Is there an emergent global culture? * Intercultural communication – interaction between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication taking place. * Dominant culture * The group in power (in terms of control) * The election of Obama may be a signal of the diffusion of power historically held by white males (in the U.S.) * Co-cultures * Other cultures that exist in the presence of the dominant culture * Can be based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, etc. * Communication is at the heart of all human contact and it has the power to create and destroy. * Functions of communication: * Gather information about others – essential in dealing with strangers * Fulfill interpersonal needs – we are social creatures * Establish personal identities - * Influence others – shape others to behave the way we want * Communication is a dynamic process in which people attempt to share their internal states with other people through the use of symbols. * Principles of communication: * It is a dynamic process – it is never ending * It is symbolic – an expression that represents something else * Communication is symbolic because there is not direct mind-to-mind communication between people. * It is contextual – the way we communicate depends on our culture, environment, occasion, time, the number of people we are with or addressing * We must learn how to communicate effectively in different situations * It is self-reflective * It teaches us to communicate – some things we learn consciously some things we learn without thinking about it at all * It has consequences – All of our messages do something to someone else (as well as to us). * Culture * Culture is a communication system * You learn your culture via communication * A different way of thinking and behaving * “Culture is to a human collective what personality is to an individual.” * You are not born into a world that has meaning for you. * The basic functions of culture: * To lay out a predictable world in which you can be fully grounded and have a sense of your surroundings. * Elements of culture: * History * Provides guidance in daily life and teaches lessons * Religion * Used for social control, conflict resolution, explanations of the unexplainable, and emotional support * Values * Broad guidelines for social living * Social organizations * Family, government, school, tribes (social systems) * Language * Human cultures could not exist without language * The main way to share culture is through language * Characteristics of culture: * Enculturation – the total process of learning one’s culture * The formal teaching of culture is left to schools and churches etc. * It is learned through: * Proverbs * Reflect wisdom, biases and superstitions * One can learn a lot about a culture through it’s proverbs * Folktales, legends and myths * Explain the fundamentals of human existence – why we are here, who we are, where we are going * Ideas about life, death, relationships, nature * Every culture has its own creation story * Art * Art is a mirror of society * Helps to explain gender, identity and status * Makes dominant cultural themes visible and tangible * Mass media * Created, designed and used to reach vey large audiences * Media is one source of cultural messages * It is shared * The key elements of a culture must be shared * A common set of ideas, values, perceptions, standards of behavior * It is transmitted from generation to generation * The values considered central must be passed on * It is based on symbols * The method of culture exchange * Language is arguably the most important cultural symbol * It is dynamic * Culture is subject to change – it is now inevitable due to the IT revolution * But just because people in Beijing dress the same as people in Paris doesn’t mean they share the same culture * It is an integrated system * If you touch one part of a culture you touch all of that culture * All parts of culture are related to each other * “God gave to every people a cup, a cup of clay, and from this cup they drank life…They all dipped in the water but their cups were different.” – The Bible * Individual Uniqueness * But we are more than our cultures * Reality is not the same for all people * Behavior takes place within a cultural setting * Stereotyping * A collection of false assumptions that people in all cultures make about the characteristics of members of various groups. * Objectivity * It is very difficult to communicate with others while suspending personal judgment.