Western Culture

Definition of western culture
The term "Western culture" is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies.
The concept of western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic and philosophical principles which set it apart from other cultural spheres. Much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon.
The term has come to apply to countries whose history is strongly marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Australasia, and is not restricted to Western Europe.
Some tendencies that define modern Western societies are the existence of political pluralism, prominent subcultures or countercultures (such as New Age movements), increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration.

History of Western Culture
The Roots of the Western civilization may be traced back to 9000 BC, when the first great cultures grew out of agricultural cores in South-West Asia, China, Pakistan, Mexico, and Peru. The Westernmost of this Old World's agricultural cores, the area around the headwaters of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Jordan Rivers in South-West Asia, spread outwards across Europe. [1] Western culture in its strictly European geographical range began with theGreeks, was enlarged and strengthened by the Romans, reformed and modernized by the fifteenth-century Renaissance and Reformation, and globalized by successive European empires that spread the European ways of life and education between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. European Culture developed with a complex range of philosophy, medieval scholasticism and mysticism, Christian and secular humanism. Rational thinking developed through a long age of change and formation with the experiments of enlightenment, naturalism, romanticism, science, democracy, and socialism. With its global connection, European culture grew with an all-inclusive urge to adopt, adapt, and ultimately influence other trends of culture.
The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire.[12] The Eastern Mediterranean was home to the highly urbanized cultures that had Greek as their common language (owing to the older empire of Alexander the Great and of the Hellenistic successors.), whereas the West was much more rural in its character and more readily adopted Latin as its common language. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe was substantially cut off from the East where Byzantine Greek culture and Eastern Christianity became founding influences in the Arab/Muslim world and among the Slavic peoples. Roman Catholic western Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the perceived civilized world.
Use of the term West as a specific cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Western Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. In the past two centuries the term western world has sometimes been used synonymously with Christian world because of the numerical dominance of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism compared to other Christian traditions, though this dominance is somewhat recent. As secularism rose in Europe and elsewhere during the 19th and 20th centuries, the term West came to take on less religious connotations and more political. connotations, especially during the Cold War. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use and meaning of the term.

Concepts of what is the West arose out of legacies of the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, ideas of the west were formed by the concepts of Latin Christendom and the Holy Roman Empire. What we think of as Western thought today originates primarily from Greco-Roman and Germanic influences, and includes the ideals of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, as well as Christian culture.
[edit]The Classical West

Alexander the Great
In Homeric literature, and right up until the time of Alexander the Great, for example in the accounts of the Persian Wars ofGreeks against Persians by Herodotus, we see the paradigm of a contrast between the West and East.
Nevertheless the Greeks felt they were the most civilized and saw themselves (in the formulation of Aristotle) as something between the wild barbarians of most of Europe and the soft, slavish Middle-Easterners. Ancient Greek science, philosophy,democracy, architecture, literature, and art provided a foundation embraced and built upon by the Roman Empire as it swept up Europe, including the Hellenic World in its conquests in the 1st century BC. In the meantime however, Greece, under Alexander, had become a capital of the East, and part of an empire.
For about five hundred years, the Roman Empire maintained the Greek East and consolidated a Latin West, but an East-West division remained, reflected in many cultural norms of the two areas, including language. Although Rome, like Greece, was no longer democratic, the idea of democracy remained a part of the education of citizens.[citation needed]
Eventually the empire came to be increasingly officially split into a Western and Eastern part, reviving old ideas of a contrast between an advanced East, and a rugged West. In the Roman world one could speak of three main directions; North (Celtic tribes and Parthians), the East (lux ex oriente), and finally South which implied danger, historically via the Punic wars (Quid novi ex Africa?) The West was peaceful[citation needed] – it contained only the Mediterranean.
Christianity emerged from Judaism on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and both spread around the Roman world, with Christianity being the more popular religion. With the rise of Christianity, much of Rome's tradition and culture were reshaped by that religion, and transformed into something new, which would serve as the basis for the development of Western civilization after the fall of Rome. Also, Roman culture mixed with the pre-existing Celtic, Germanic and Slavic cultures, which slowly became integrated into Western culture starting, mainly, with their acceptance of Christianity.

The Early Modern "Age of Discovery," first led by Portugaland Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries with France and England following in the 17th century, faded into the "Age of Enlightenment" of the 18th century, characterized by the military advantage of Europeans from the development of firearms and other military technologies. The "Great Divergence" became more pronounced, making the West the bearer of science and the accompanying revolutions of technologyand industrialisation. Western political thinking also spread rapidly and in many forms around the world. With the early 19th century "Age of Revolution", the West entered a period of empires, massive economic and technological advance, and bloody international conflicts, that continued into the 20th century.
As Europe discovered the wider world, old concepts adapted. The area that had formerly been considered "the Orient" ("the East") became the "Near East", as the interests of the European powers interfered with Qing China and Meiji Japan for the first time, in the 19th century.[10] Thus, theSino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 occurred in the "Far East", while the troubles surrounding the decline of the Ottoman Empire simultaneously occurred in the "Near East".[11] The term "Middle East", in the mid-19th century, included the territory east of the Ottoman empire but West of China - i.e. Greater Persia and Greater India, but is now used synonymously with "Near East" in most languages.

A feature of Western culture is its focus on science and technology, and its ability to generate new processes, materials and material artifacts.[21]
It was the West that first developed steam power and adapted its use into factories, and for the generation of electrical power.[22] The electrical motor, dynamo, transformer, and electric light, and indeed most of the familiar electrical appliances, were inventions of the West. The Otto and the Diesel internal combustion engines are products whose genesis and early development were in the West. Nuclear power stations are derived from the first atomic pile constructed in Chicago in 1942.
Communication devices and systems including the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, communication and navigation satellites, mobile phone, and the Internet were all invented by Westerners.[23] The pencil, ballpoint pen, CRT, LCD, LED, photograph, photocopier, laser printer, ink jet printer, plasma display screen and world wide web were also invented in the West.
Ubiquitous materials including concrete, aluminum, clear glass, synthetic rubber, synthetic diamond and the plasticspolyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and polystyrene were invented in the West. Iron and steel ships, bridges and skyscrapers first appeared in the West.Nitrogen fixation and petrochemicals were invented by Westerners. Most of the elements, were discovered and named in the West, as well as the contemporary atomic theories to explain them.
The transistor, integrated circuit, memory chip, and computer were all first seen in the West. The ship's chronometer, the screw propeller, the locomotive,bicycle, automobile, and aeroplane were all invented in the West. Eyeglasses, the telescope, the microscope and electron microscope, all the varieties ofchromatography, protein and DNA sequencing, computerised tomography, NMR, x-rays, and light, ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy, were all first developed and applied in Western laboratories, hospitals and factories.
In medicine, vaccination, anesthesia, and all the pure antibiotics were created in the West. The method of preventing Rh disease, the treatment of diabetes, and the germ theory of disease were discovered by Westerners. The eradication of that ancient scourge, smallpox, was led by a Westerner, Donald Henderson. Radiography, Computed tomography, Positron emission tomography and Medical ultrasonography are important diagnostic tools developed in the West. Other important diagnostic tools of clinical chemistry including the methods of spectrophotometry, electrophoresis and immunoassay were first devised by Westerners. So were the stethoscope, electrocardiograph, and the endoscope. Vitamins, hormonal contraception, hormones, insulin, Beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, along with a host of other medically proven drugs were first utilised to treat disease in the West. The double-blind study andevidence-based medicine are critical scientific techniques widely used in the West for medical purposes.
In mathematics, calculus, statistics, logic, vector, tensor and complex analysis, group theory and topology were developed by Westerners. In biology,evolution, chromosomes, DNA, genetics and the methods of molecular biology are creatures of the West. In physics, the science of mechanics and quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics were all developed by Westerners. The discoveries and inventions by Westerners in electromagnetism include Coulomb's law (1785), the first battery (1800), the unity of electricity and magnetism (1820), Biot–Savart law (1820), Ohm's Law (1827), and the Maxwell's equations (1871). The atom, nucleus, electron, neutron and proton were all unveiled by Westerners.
In finance, double entry bookkeeping, the limited liability company, life insurance, and the charge card were all first used in the West.
Westerners are also known for their explorations of the globe and space. The first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth (1522) was by Westerners, as well as the first to set foot on the South Pole (1911), and the first human to land on the moon (1969). The landing of robots on Mars (2004) and on an asteroid(2001), and the Voyager explorations of the outer planets (Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989) were all achievements of Westerners.
Elements of Western culture have had a very influential effect on other cultures worldwide. People of many cultures, both Western and non-Western, equate modernization (adoption of technological progress) with Westernization (adoption of Western culture). Some members[who?] of the non-Western world, such as M. K. Gandhi, have suggested that the link between technological progress and certain harmful Western values provides a reason why much of "modernity" should be rejected as being incompatible with their vision and the values of their societies. These types of argument referring to imperialism and stressing the importance of freedom from it and the relativist argument that different cultural norms should be treated equally, are also present in Western philosophy.

Positive Impacts in the Western Culture 1. Women Emancipation
The emancipation of women, i.e. their liberation from religious, legal, economic, and sexual oppression, their access to higher education, and their escape from narrow gender roles is not easily achieved. The struggle for sexual equality has a long history and is likely to continue for some time. Even if it should soon be won in the industrial nations, it may well rage on in many "underdeveloped" countries.

In traditionally patriarchal societies any improvement in the status of women has far-reaching consequences and produces fundamental political changes. Therefore it is always resisted by the established powers. However, it seems certain that they will ultimately have to relent, because the emancipation of women is both necessary and desirable. It will provide for a greater degree of social justice and thus benefit everyone. Indeed, from the beginning, the great "feminists" or champions of women's rights have always insisted that they worked in the interest of the whole human race. The feminist movement therefore has always been a humanist movement. Some of its representatives were reformers, others revolutionaries, but virtually all of them worked for a better, more equitable, and more humane world. Much can be learned from their experiences. They often suffered ridicule, persecution, and defeat, but also won admiration, support, and victory. Gradually, they achieved many of their goals. Their opponents, on the other hand, learned that a just cause cannot be suppressed forever. Where needed reforms are consistently blocked, revolution becomes inevitable.

Emancipation has brought woman economic equality with man; that is, she can choose her own profession and trade; but as her past and present physical training has not equipped her with the necessary strength to compete with man, she is often compelled to exhaust all her energy, use up her vitality, and strain every nerve in order to reach the market value. Very few ever succeed, for it is a fact that women teachers, doctors, lawyers, architects, and engineers are neither met with the same confidence as their male colleagues, nor receive equal remuneration. And those that do reach that enticing equality, generally do so at the expense of their physical and psychical well-being. As to the great mass of working girls and women, how much independence is gained if the narrowness and lack of freedom of the home is exchanged for the narrowness and lack of freedom of the factory, sweat-shop, department store, or office? In addition is the burden which is laid on many women of looking after a "home, sweet home" --cold, dreary, disorderly, uninviting--after a day's hard work. Glorious independence! No wonder that hundreds of girls are so willing to accept the first offer of marriage, sick and tired of their "independence" behind the counter, at the sewing or typewriting machine. They are just as ready to marry as girls of the middle class, who long to throw off the yoke of parental supremacy. A so-called independence which 1eads only to earning the merest subsistence is not so enticing, not so ideal, that one could expect woman to sacrifice everything for it. Our highly praised independence is, after all, but a slow process of dulling and stifling woman's nature, her love instinct, and her mother instinct.

2. Democracy
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.
A democracy (a word from the Greek language, demokratia meaning rule by the people[1]) is a kind of government. A democracy is a system where people are able to decide how their country or communityshould be run.
The most common type of democracy is representative democracy, where people elect their leaders (normally by holding an election) who decide the laws.[2] Elections are usually held every few years. When they happen, whoever gets the most votes will end up with the most power, until the next election.
An important part of representative democracy is political parties. Politicians will belong to a political party, an organisation of politicians with similar ideas on what to do. Therefore, in elections, people will not just vote for a single person but for political parties.
To become a stable democracy, a state usually undergoes a process of democratic consolidation.
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Kinds of democracy
There are two kinds of democracy: Direct and indirect .
In direct democracies, everyone has the right to make laws together. One modern example of direct democracy is a referendum, which is thename for the kind of way to pass a law where everyone in the community votes on it. Direct democracies are not usually used to run countries, because it is hard to get millions of people to get together all the time to make laws and other decisions. There is not enough time.
In an indirect, or representative democracy, people choose representatives to make laws for them. These people can be mayors, councilmen, members of Parliament, or other government officials. This is a much more common kind of democracy. Large communities like cities and countries use this method, but it may not be needed for a small group.
Ancient origins
This kind of government was developed long ago by the ancient Greeks in the city of Athens. They had everyone who was a citizen (slaves,women, foreigners, and children could not vote) got together in one area. The Assembly would talk about what kinds of laws they wanted and voted on them. The Council would suggest the laws. In the Assembly, the participants are only the citizens. In the Council, they would pick them by draws(lot). The participants in the Council would change every year and the amount of people in the Council is at the most 500. The Greek citizens would pick a leader by writing the name of their favorite candidate on a piece of stone or wood. The person with the most votes became the leader.
[change]Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, there were many systems in which there were elections or assemblies, although only a few people could join in at this time. The Parliament of England began from the Magna Carta, a document which showed that the King's power was limited, and protected certain rights of the people. The first elected parliament was De Montfort's Parliament in England in 1625.
However, only a few people could actually join in. Parliament was chosen by only a few percent of the people (in 1780, less than 3% of people joined in).[5] The ruler also had the power to call parliaments. After a long time, the power of Parliament began to grow. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the English Bill of Rights made Parliament more powerful.[5] Later, the ruler became a symbol instead of having real power.[6]

3.Racism are kept apart:
A race is a group of people who have the same skin color and physical features. There are a few main races in the world, like Europeans or Caucasians, Blacks, or Asians.
Racists are people who believe that some races are better and more important than others. They think that their own race is the best and that other races are physicallyand mentally inferior to them. In many cases racists feel threatened by others. Racism exists in many countries.Minorities are often discriminated against and have problems getting jobs, houses or the same education as others.
There has been racism throughout history. Westernscientists and philosophers have often tried to prove that white people are supreme to others. In the past,governments have often justified their legal and economic system with racism. It has led to slavery and even the cold-blooded murder of whole population groups. Racism has made people afraid of their leaders.
Racism is usually defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group as a whole less desirable, more desirable, inferior or superior.[1][2][3 4.Education
The world is becoming smaller and more united demands are made more unifying be it the life we live, values we emulate, and education we pursue. Predominantly, westerners colonize the mentality of all people across the globe which creates such unity in diversity. Such global phenomenon transforms a unique and ideal culture to a one-size-fits-all melting pot of identity with superiority of Western touch. I believe this create more havoc and dilemma rather than bringing unity and common identity.

Every culture has its own unique tapestry of tradition, customs, and education system that are weaved and intertwined to a wonderful piece of identity. The craze and fascination for a more liberal lifestyle and carefree attitude propelled by westerners foster an ugly habit of colonial mentality which most people become more xenocentric forgetting the culture they believe in. Though some culture persists to continue the value of discipline and respect to be inculcated in most young people, the mere influence brought about by television, radio and everything shown to the public change people's perspective in a flash. In addendum, educational system of most countries are now tailored and curtailed in the syllabus of western ideologies and philosophies which made most time-tested teaching methods got lost in oblivion.

To specify my point, the Philippines has always been one of the remarkable countries to exhibit its pride and nationalism as shown in their battles for independence. A century passes by, Filipinos forget even kissing of hands, greeting of elders, and helping of others since books, movies, and television shows tolerate such violence and disrespect. The Juan dela Cruz who is known for his discipline and religiosity is slowly morphing in a makeshift and trying hard Uncle Sam fanatic. Furthermore, the country's educational core is revised to the ideals of American system which focus more on content rather than substance like morality and values. From a respectful individual, we make a mean and spoiled brat. (399 words)

Getting acquainted with other culture is tolerable since we learn to be a better version of ourselves, but forgetting one's roots in the expense of becoming a hilarious imitation or cultural faux pas is preposterous.

After all, the essence of eclecticism in getting the best of both Eastern and Western culture is to imbibe the spirit of identity and recognition to one's origin rather than embracing a new one which can just be an ephemeral and passing trend.

Positive impacts are high when compared with negative impacts.
Its accepted globally in any rapid development there will be high possibilities of negative also to grow along with the good.
Importance is being given to women and to their feelings.
Democracy is being used which was in discussion so far.
Racisim is kept apart.
But on the whole we lost our patriotism.
Culture is spoiled.
More number of divorce.
Earlier India is known for affection that people show on each other but now only money money and money.
Everyone want to go abroad and start praising the roads and people of other country but they forget to follow the same discipline in their own country when they comeback.
One reason they say is they are educated. positive impacts are that girls have come forward and we are adopting to more democratic ideas. Freedom of India and its transformation was only possible through modernisation.but it has its negatives.drugs and alcohols were introduced by it. Culture is forgotten by it. No patrotic feeling.

Western culture is neither homogeneous nor unchanging. As with all other cultures it has evolved and gradually changed over time. All generalities about it have their exceptions at some time and place. Globalism has spread western ideas so widely that almost all modern countries or cultures are to some extent influenced by aspects of western culture which they have absorbed. In the later 20th to early 21st century, with the advent of increasing globalism, it has become more difficult to determine which individuals fit into which category.
How there is head and tail for a coin, there is both positive and negative impact of western culture on the world and especially on todays young generation , On one side we enjoy our so-called rich culture and really admire it. THE WAYS OF LIVING HAS BEEN GREATLY ENHANCED by the western culture WHICH IS GOOD FOR SUCCESS AND GROWTH OF a COUNTRY AND HELPFUL FOR IT IN HEADING TOWARDS SUPER success . But on the other side; this culture mainly adopted by us has given rise to Individualization. Individualization has broken up many cultural systems, paving way for the youth to fall prey to drug addictionand many other ill practices. This stage is the most vulnerable period of life where the youth need guidance, counseling, education and care by parents. Culture” and “Tradition” are more significant in a country like India which has always been cherishing its rich culture and heritage and it’s quite well known for it worldwide. But these things are now just on paper and are slowly losing their sheen. Why? The younger generation are the representatives of India in a true sense of the word. We are the sole cherishers of India’s pride and its heritage which actually lies in its culture, its diversity, its uniqueness. In such a scenario, where the point of a rich cultured country like India is facing the problem of losing its culture, are we, the youth;
Western Culture Has Brought More Negative Impacts On The Malaysian Youth.

Western culture is a body of knowledge derived from reason that began in Ancient Greece. There and in the Roman civilization it developed until the start of the Middle Ages when it largely vanished from Europe. During the Middle Ages, Western culture resided, instead, in the Arab / Persian world to a modest degree. Today, Western culture has at least some presence in nearly all nations of the world. It does not currently exist, however, anywhere in a perfect and complete form. Wherever Western culture exists, it is at least partially mixed, and often largely mixed with non-Western culture. Western culture represents knowledge developed from the reason that has been made possible because of a vast accumulation of understanding related to human nature, including nature and reality, happiness, rights, individualism and science and technology.

In Malaysia, Western culture came into influence when the Portuguese arrived in Malacca in 1509, and then captured Malacca in 1511. After that, Malacca had continuously fallen into the hands of Dutch, and then the British. The British gave the most impact to our country, as they changed the administration of the Malay States in Peninsular Malaysia. Since then, our people had been exposed to strong influences of the Western culture, for example in our lifestyle, clothings, language, attitude and thinking. Till now, our country is still under the influence of Western culture, mostly the British, as we are still using the English Law as reference for the legislation in our country.

Today, most of the youths in our country are influenced by Western culture. Western culture can be positive, for example, listening of western music and watching western movie can improve our language and increase our knowledge in Science and Technology. We can interact easily with tourist from other countries and leave a good impression to them.

NEGATIVE INFULENCES: 1. Culture is spoil.
India is a secular country where the people have the freedom to practice any religion and also to convert into another religion of their choice.So, all the cultures are freely accepted and respected by the Indians.

But, the influence of western culture started in India during the 19th century when the british established their colony in the country.

The culture of India has been shaped not only by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages. Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8,000 BC and has a continuous recorded history for over 2,500 years.

But due to the increasing development... Due to globalization… the rich culture of India is disappearing. The most impact is of western culture on India culture. Western culture is based more on materialistic factors where as our culture has a spiritual base.

The culture of India is been disappearing by many ways… the youths in India do not respect their elders, the families in India live separate... And thus have lost contacts with their other relatives…

the big point which is making the culture of India to disappear in bollywood… the dressing style of the actresses, the slang word used in movies are been influenced the youth to bad step of life. The young ones try to act the same as these actors do which is very bad to the culture of India…

the lack of morals, the lacking faith in God, having late night parties, the influence of drugs and alcohols, least interest in Indian languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Celebrating mothers day, fathers day, valentine day, fools day etc rather than celebrating our Indian festivals and thus wasting their precious time of life, Thinking to be independent at an early age

Culture of a country is generally based on the way of living in that country. This way of living is very much attached with the climate and the living conditions. Dresses are so developed to suit the weather of a particular area. Modifications are always welcome. Especially when new materials and technologies are available. Even in such cases one gives importance to the climate of that locality. You cannot expect a person in South India to dress like a man in Simla.

Culture is based on the values attributed to the personality and morals of a person in a society. We expect a person to behave in a particular manner in front of fellow persons. We give much respect to family relatios. In Western system not much importance is given to these relations.

Expressions of love in Western and Eastern countries are different. They do have physical expressions done in public (like kissing etc.), whereas we cannot even think about it.

2. More divorces. 3. “The cultural behavior in the Western world is around self-fulfillment,” he continued. “We look for what is easy and feels right for ourselves. In a relationship, you need to mold yourself to the other’s needs – and the two do not go together.” 4. People search for a sense of fulfillment outside marriage, he explained. “It could be work, study, writing on Facebook or meeting other people,” he said. The common factor is that people “look for ways to fill that emotional need, and it hurts the relationship,” he said. 5. The best way to immediately boost a relationship is simply to listen, he said. “People talk without listening to the other side. We need to learn to listen to what our spouse is saying, that renews the connection,” he explained. 6. Another problem is rushed marriages, he added. “People meet today through Facebook, and that’s a trend particularly after an emotional shake-up,” he related. “They meet and marry quickly. We see a lot of weddings that happened, for example, after Gush Katif, and some did not turn out well. People need wisdom and guidance before getting into a hasty marriage.”