Culture and Communication

Summary

The script delves into defining culture as a learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish groups. It explores how culture influences communication, touching on concepts like individualism vs. collectivism, context attention, power distance, and comfort with ambiguity. The speaker stresses the importance of recognizing and appreciating cultural differences in communication.

Takeaways

• 🥤 A carbonated sugary beverage, often referred to as 'pop' in American English, varies in terminology across different regions and cultures.
• 🌟 The response to someone sneezing, such as 'God bless you' or 'gesundheit', is culturally learned and can differ from person to person.
• 🚜 Participation in activities like tractor pulls illustrates regional cultural variations, where some may be familiar while others may not understand the concept.
• 🌐 Culture is a learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group from another, and it is not something genetically predisposed.
• 🏷 Symbols like the American flag and activities like baseball represent cultural identity and are meaningful within a specific cultural context.
• 🗣 Language is a key component of culture, including not only the primary language spoken but also the unique slang, shorthand, and acronyms used within a group.
• 🏛 Values such as liberty, freedom, and equality are central to American culture and are shared among its members, guiding beliefs and principles.
• 📈 Norms in a culture, like饮食习惯 or driving on the right side of the road in the U.S., establish what is considered 'normal' and are learned and followed by members of the culture.
• 🌏 Co-cultures exist within a broader culture, representing various subgroups with distinct symbols, languages, values, and norms, such as regional differences within the U.S.
• 👥 In-groups and outgroups are used to distinguish between those who share our cultural experiences and those who do not, influencing our perceptions and interactions.
• 🌀 Culture is not equivalent to ethnicity, race, or nationality, but it often follows these lines due to people tending to learn and share cultural aspects with similar others.

Q & A

What is the definition of culture mentioned in the script?

Culture is defined as the learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms used to distinguish one group of people from another.

Why is it important to understand the difference between culture and ethnicity?

Understanding the difference is important because culture is learned and shared, while ethnicity is based on genetic and ancestral ties. Recognizing this helps avoid ethnocentrism and fosters appreciation for diverse cultures.

What is the significance of symbols in a culture?

Symbols are significant in a culture because they represent specific ideas and values important to that culture, such as the American flag or apple pie.

How does language play a role in culture?

Language is a shared component of culture that includes not just the primary language spoken but also slang, shorthand, and acronyms specific to a group.

What are values in the context of culture?

Values in culture refer to the shared principles and beliefs that guide behavior and decision-making within a group, such as liberty, freedom, and equality in American culture.

What are norms, and how do they differ across cultures?

Norms are the standards or expectations of behavior considered normal within a culture. They can vary widely across cultures, influencing everything from饮食习惯 to social etiquette.

What is the concept of co-cultures discussed in the script?

Co-cultures are subsets of a larger culture that share distinct symbols, language, values, and norms. They can be regional, occupational, or based on hobbies or interests.

How does culture influence communication?

Culture influences communication by shaping the symbols, language, values, and norms that people use and expect in communicative contexts.

What is the difference between individualism and collectivism in cultures?

Individualism focuses on personal achievement and self-reliance, whereas collectivism emphasizes group cohesion and interdependence.

Why is it important to be aware of ethnocentrism when discussing culture?

Being aware of ethnocentrism is important to avoid the belief that one's own culture is superior, which can lead to misunderstandings and disrespect for other cultures.

How does the concept of context play a role in different cultures' communication styles?

In low context cultures, like the United States, communication is explicit and direct. High context cultures rely more on nonverbal cues and implicit meanings.

What is the impact of viewing time differently across cultures?

Cultures that view time as a strict commodity (monochronic) value punctuality and schedules, while cultures with a more fluid view of time (polychronic) may be more flexible and less rigid about deadlines.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Cultural Communication and Identity

The paragraph discusses the importance of understanding cultural differences through common examples like the regional names for a carbonated sugary beverage and responses to someone sneezing. It explores how these differences can be identifiers of a culture and influence communication. The speaker emphasizes the impact of culture on every aspect of life and the need to define culture to examine its intersection with communication. Culture is defined as a learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group from another. The paragraph concludes by highlighting that culture is not innate but is learned and shared from family, community, and peers.

05:01

🏛️ Symbols, Language, Values, and Norms in Culture

This section delves into the components that make up culture: symbols, language, values, and norms. Symbols are the visual representations that hold specific meanings within a culture, exemplified by the American flag and baseball. Language is the common tongue or communication style shared among members of a culture, including slang and jargon. Values are the principles or beliefs shared by a culture, such as liberty, freedom, and justice in the United States. Norms are the standards or expectations of behavior within a culture, like饮食习惯 and driving on the right side of the road. The paragraph illustrates how these elements come together to form a culture and distinguish it from others.

10:01

🌐 Co-cultures and Regional Variations

The paragraph discusses the concept of co-cultures, which are subsets of a larger culture that an individual may identify with, such as regional cultures or those based on hobbies and interests. It explains how these co-cultures contribute to the diversity within a broader culture like the United States. The speaker uses examples such as the Midwestern American culture of tractor pulls and the cultural differences between various regions of the United States to illustrate the idea that culture can vary greatly even within a single country. The paragraph also touches on the idea of in-groups and out-groups, which are parts of our cultural identity that we associate with (in-group) or distinguish from (out-group).

15:04

🌏 Understanding Regional Cultures and Ethnocentrism

This section explores how geography and history can influence the development of regional cultures, using the example of Indiana's cultural divide due to its topography and the immigration patterns that influenced its cultural values. The paragraph also discusses how cultural values are often shared among people of similar ethnicities, races, and nationalities, even though these characteristics are not the same as culture. The speaker addresses ethnocentrism, the belief in the superiority of one's own culture, and provides examples of how it can be subtly perpetuated, such as through the use of outdated maps that place Europe at the center of the world.

20:05

🌍 Ethnocentrism in Mapping and Cultural Differences

The paragraph focuses on the issue of ethnocentrism, particularly in the context of map projections. It contrasts the outdated Mercator projection, which inaccurately enlarges Europe and North America, with the more accurate Gall-Peters projection that provides a truer representation of the world's continents. The speaker points out the subtle ways ethnocentrism can influence perceptions of cultural superiority and the importance of recognizing and challenging these biases. The paragraph serves as a reminder that cultural differences are not about superiority but about acknowledging and respecting diversity.

25:06

🕰️ Cultural Influences on Communication Styles

This section examines how cultural factors such as individualism versus collectivism, attention to context, deference to power, comfort with ambiguity, and views on time influence communication styles. The United States is characterized as an individualistic, low-context, low-power distance culture that prefers clarity and punctuality. The speaker encourages an appreciation for these cultural differences and adaptability in communication to foster effective intercultural exchanges. The paragraph concludes by inviting further discussion on intercultural communication and the omnipresence of culture in communication contexts.

Keywords

💡Carbonated sugary beverage

A carbonated sugary beverage refers to a sweet drink that contains carbonation, often known as 'pop' or 'soda' depending on regional vocabulary. In the script, it's used to illustrate how language varies by region, indicating cultural differences in something as common as a soft drink.

💡Regional variation

Regional variation refers to differences in customs, language, or behavior that occur from one region to another. The script uses the example of what people call a carbonated beverage to highlight how these variations can be as simple as vocabulary or as complex as cultural practices.

💡Sneeze response

Sneeze response is the social or cultural reaction to someone sneezing, which can vary from saying 'God bless you' to 'gesundheit'. The script discusses this to show how even small social interactions are influenced by cultural norms.

💡Tractor pull

A tractor pull is a competition where modified tractors pull a heavy sled over a set distance. It's mentioned in the script to demonstrate how certain cultural activities might be completely normal to some and foreign to others.

💡Culture

Culture is defined in the script as a learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group from another. It's central to the video's theme, emphasizing how culture shapes communication and interaction.

💡Symbols

Symbols in the cultural context are objects or actions that represent something else, like the American flag representing the United States. The script explains how symbols are part of what makes up a culture.

💡Language

Language, as it pertains to culture, includes not just spoken words but also shared jargon, slang, or communication styles within a group. The script discusses how language is a key component of culture.

💡Values

Values are the principles or standards of a person or society. The script talks about American values like liberty and justice, showing how values are a core part of cultural identity.

💡Norms

Norms are the typical or expected behaviors within a group or society. The script uses examples like饮食习惯 to show how norms can vary greatly between cultures.

💡Co-cultures

Co-cultures are smaller cultural groups within a larger culture, each with its own unique norms and values. The script discusses how individuals can belong to multiple co-cultures, such as being part of a sports team or a hobby group.

💡Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is superior to others. The script warns against ethnocentrism, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and respecting cultural differences.

💡Communication

Communication is the process of exchanging information, ideas, or feelings. The script ties communication directly to culture, showing how cultural factors like individualism versus collectivism can influence communication styles.

Highlights

A carbonated sugary beverage is referred to differently across the United States, with 'pop' being the American answer and 'soda' possibly indicating a different regional background.

Responses to someone sneezing can vary greatly from 'God bless you' to 'gesundheit', indicating cultural differences in etiquette.

Participation in a tractor pull is an example of a regional cultural activity that might be familiar to some and foreign to others.

Culture is defined as the learned and shared set of symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group from another.

Culture is not innate but is learned and shared through family, community, and peers.

Symbols such as the American flag and baseball represent American culture and its values.

Language is a key component of culture, with even a shared language like English having different dialects and slang within various cultures.

Values like liberty, freedom, and justice are central to American culture and distinguish it from others.

Norms in the United States include饮食习惯 and driving on the right side of the road, which are not universal practices.

Co-cultures exist within a broader culture, representing various subgroups such as regional, professional, or hobby-based communities.

In-groups and outgroups are classifications based on cultural belonging and identification.

Ethnicity, race, and nationality are not the same as culture but often correlate with it due to shared learned behaviors.

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one's own culture and can skew perspectives, such as in the outdated Mercator map projection.

The Peters projection map provides a more accurate representation of the world's geography, challenging ethnocentric views.

Culture influences communication in various ways, including individualism versus collectivism, directness versus context, and comfort with ambiguity.

The United States is characterized as a low-context culture where communication is typically explicit and direct.

Power distance is lower in the United States, where authority is recognized but not rigidly adhered to in communication.

Uncertainty avoidance in the United States indicates a preference for clear communication and structured time management.

The concept of time can significantly differ across cultures, with the U.S. valuing a strict, monochromatic view of time.

Adapting to different cultural contexts is crucial for effective intercultural communication.

Transcripts

Let me ask you a couple of important questions.

If I were to ask you, what do you call a carbonated sugary beverage,

sometimes comes in a can and what would you call a beverage

like that just in general?

Not a specific product or or brand, but what would you call something like that?

I mean, hopefully you said pop, which is the American answer.

If you said soda, you may be a communist,

something to examine about yourself, but hopefully you said pop.

We know that there are different

variations of that right across across the country and in different places.

What about this?

What if somebody sneezes?

What do you say in response to somebody who sneezes?

Do you say, God bless you? Do you say gesundheit?

You say salute.

Do you say, you know, don't sneeze on me ever again?

What is it that you say to that person?

That, again, will vary from person to person and

depending on what they learn growing up. Right.

What about this one? Another key question here.

Have you ever been to a tractor pull or you know where you've known

somebody who pulled in a tractor, Paula, or,

you know, participated in a tractor pull in any way?

That's another kind of regional variation in some ways.

There are some areas where you're like, well, yeah, of course, I've

been to a tractor fall and maybe even pulled in a tractor pull.

And there are others are like, what does a tractor pull?

And why would you do that?

So these are all examples, though,

of just different things that may seem totally normal to one person,

but totally abnormal to another person that really are identifiers of a culture

and ways that we can look at cultures as examples of culture and culture impacts.

It influences every aspect of our life and certainly

in intersects and influences our communication.

And that's really what we want to look at in this brief little mini lectures,

defining culture and then examining where it kind of intersects

with communication, how it impacts and influences communication.

So let's start off by getting on the same page with what

we mean by culture, because sometimes there are some

misunderstandings or misnomers about culture and what how it comes about

and what it means.

So let's get on the same page here and let's define culture.

Culture is the learned and shared set of symbols language,

values and norms used to distinguish one group of people from another.

That's all. Culture is really not all it is. It's a lot.

There's a lot of

complicating factors in here, but it's the learned and shared set of

symbols, language, values and norms used to distinguish

one group of people from another.

So let's take a look at this

in pieces and examine what this means, what implications this has for us.

So first of all, we need to understand that culture is learned and shared.

It's not something that's genetically predisposed.

It's not something that we're born with or born into, depending on our

or our nationality or where we're born. Our

culture is quite simply learned and shared

and are things we pick up from our family, from our community, from our peers

that establish what is normal, what is expected,

what is appropriate for us,

and what is not you know, what is considered none of those things.

But those are things that we learn over time.

They're not, again, not a genetic predisposition.

It's not something we're born with.

Culture is learned and shared by definition.

Yeah.

So what is it that we are learning and sharing what we're learning

and sharing these four different

components of culture that we identified in that that that definition.

But let's take a look at each of those then individually here.

The first is symbols.

Every culture is going to be made up of different symbols that are important

to that culture and have specific meaning for that culture.

So if we just take, for example, the culture of the United States,

the culture of America, and the symbols that are that are present

in American culture include things like the flag.

The flag is an important symbol.

Now, in reality, the flag is a piece of fabric of specific colors

and in and different pattern or a specific pattern,

since it's really a piece of cloth and or pieces of cloth they're put together.

But the symbolism behind that, what it represents

for, for us as individuals, for us as a country is really, really powerful.

So the American flag is a powerful symbol that we hold here in the United States

and others. Baseball, for example.

There are football in here, too, if you want to.

But these these national pastimes, these sports, you know,

baseball is considered

America's pastime, although that, you know, again, could be changing.

I don't know.

But but still, the you know, as far as right now,

baseball is still considered America's pastime.

So baseball's a very American thing.

And it's a symbol of America, apple pie.

And when you throw all these together, right, you get as American as apple pie.

But also we hug how much more American can you get than an apple pie

sitting with a baseball and baseball bat on an American flag.

Right.

I mean, those are things that are that are prototypical American.

They symbolize America. They have meaning.

They represent things for us and and then for our culture.

So they are symbolic of American culture and the things that we hold important.

So a culture is made up, first of all, of symbols.

Every culture is made up of these different symbols.

Different types of symbols,

represent specific ideas and have particular meaning for that culture.

Every culture is also represented then by a language, by particular language.

You know, again, sticking with the American theme, our language

not technically officially in that we don't have an official language,

the United States, but predominantly United States.

We speak English, but there are lots of languages that are spoken here.

But English is kind of the

predominant one,

the common language that most people speak here in the United States.

So we share that language.

But in any culture, whether it's your place of business

or your group of friends, you're going to have a specific language

that goes along with that.

Even if it's all English, everybody in your organization

where you work or where you go to school may speak English,

but there's a particular shorthand at times, right?

Or abbreviations that you might use, acronyms that you might have.

So there's a language that is specific to that culture as well.

And so that's part of

a shared component of culture.

Is that they have these symbols that are represented,

but also the shared language that is that is shared and learned

throughout the members of that culture.

Then you also have this idea of values every culture shares a set of values.

All the members of that culture share those values theoretically.

Right?

So again, if we go back to the United States, what are some of the important

values of the culture of the United States of America here?

You know, liberty, freedom, independence, those are all things that our country

was really founded

on, the idea of liberty and freedom and independence of of the individual.

And so so

those are important values for people in the United States

that we hear a lot about the value of justice,

this fair and equitable justice, and that justice is blind.

And in the United States, again, that

theoretically or aspirationally,

I should say, that justice would be blind and that it would be fair and equitable.

And that's something we strive toward and something we

we purport to be working toward.

And hope to equality.

This idea of equality that every person has an equal opportunity

here in the United States, or at least an equitable opportunity

theoretically to to to be successful, to have the life they wish

and the at least the opportunity to work toward that as much as possible

without discrimination

based on religion and race and color and those types of things.

But equality is a value that we espouse here in America.

So we have those different values that we share as part of our culture.

Now, we also have norms, things that are, you know, considered

quote unquote, normal for a particular society.

In the United States.

We have those as well that vary from other cultures around the world.

Maybe, for example, we are prolific meat eaters

in the United States, but not of course, they're vegetarians and vegans

and so forth.

But for the most part, we eat meat, and specifically we eat meat

from typically from cows and pigs.

And as opposed to other animals, you know, or,

you know, what we hunt deer, rabbit, those types of things.

But we're big on hotdogs and burgers.

Off the grill.

So we're big meat eaters here in the United States.

That's a norm here that we would eat those types of foods here.

It's a norm for us to drive on the right hand side of the road

and not the left hand side of the road. Right.

The way that we typically where we find ourselves driving, hopefully

ideally is on the right hand side of the road.

We live in usually single family dwellings,

these homes that are intended for for one family, maybe an extended family,

but and have larger yards as opposed to other parts of the world

where they, you know, an apartment or a flat would be more typical

for even a family of of any size as opposed to a single family

dwelling with a larger yard just in terms of space constraints.

And things. In that sense, we tend to have more space.

So we have these different types of dwellings.

So that's the norm here in the United States.

So, you know, again, these four things make up every culture.

And it's not just based on, you know, countries we'll talk about, but

any culture that you can think about, the school where you attend

or the business where you work or or any, you know, group of friends that you have.

And I bet you can identify symbols that are important to that to that culture.

And a language that is shared among that culture.

Even again, going beyond just, you know, whether you're all speaking English,

you're all speaking Spanish or whatever

there's a language that will be kind of a shorthand

or an acronym that, you know, may apply to that specific culture.

There are different values that your spouse and norms

that you would have for any culture that you're going to be a part of.

So culture is a learned and shared set of these four things

symbols, language, values and norms.

In addition to the components of culture.

One of the things that the definition that we looked at identified was that

culture is a way that we distinguish one group of people from another,

that cultures used to distinguish

one group of people from another through these different components.

But in so this creates what we call then

co cultures and co cultures.

We all have multiple co cultures in a sense, right?

We think of ourselves as as one person.

Then we are,

you know, as part of one culture, maybe the culture,

the United States, our culture, our community, whatever.

But the truth is we have multiple co cultures within us as to other people.

Everybody else has multiple co cultures that we belong to.

We espouse all those four things.

Four So if we think about it, for example, in a broader context,

we think about the United States in the place of the world

and our place in the world.

And we think, well, the United States is different

and we are we have different

as we talked about different symbols, language, values and norms

maybe than other parts of the world.

So we think, OK, well, America is a culture then.

Right now, the United States is representative of a culture,

and it is the United States has its own sort of culture.

But then we know that within the United States,

even though there there are various regional differences, right.

That the people from the Midwest say things

differently than people from the South or the West.

Or the East Coast or something.

So, for example, just to reach back to the very beginning,

we talked about the you call it a pop or soda.

And hopefully, again, hopefully you're saying pop, but somebody from the Midwest,

we say pop or I say pop, at least my community that we said pop.

And people who say soda are weird to us, but

or that, you know, that I grew up growing to tractor pulls

and different things like that.

So because I'm from a very small town and that was a part of our world.

And so people who didn't grow up doing that, I'm

doing other things that would be a part of their culture that's different.

So even within the United States, we have multiple cultures just regionally, right?

And you could keep going down to where different states have different

cultures and different different

cultures exist within different communities.

And all you have to do is walk into the lunchroom

of any high school across the country to see that there are cultures

that exist in there. Right.

There's a table over here at lunchtime of of the jocks in the table

of the theater, people in the table with the band, people and so forth

that are really representative of different cultures

and the truth is, if you think of any hobby that you have,

whatever hobby that you have, for example, just pick, you know, any hobby,

that hobby or that interest or, you know, that has it is really ACO culture.

It's representative of ACO culture.

Whatever it is that you're into is representative of a culture.

And presumably you're interested in more than one thing.

Each of those things

then has a different co culture or represents a different co culture.

So you can see we're all made up of these different

co cultures individually as well as a society.

So it goes from the very broadest sense of being, you know, the culture

of the United States, for example, down to the culture of that specific individual

and whatever hobbies and interests that they might have.

And again, the culture, the point of co cultures.

This is how we distinguish one group of people from another.

It's how we kind of separate and not in a bad way.

We're not we're not separating necessarily in terms of culture,

in terms of right or wrong or good or bad.

We're just identifying differences and so within that, we

any culture that we would belong to, a culture that we belong to,

we call an in-group and others that we don't belong to

or called outgroups, and we identify simply as in-groups and outgroups.

And in-group is anything where we would say us

and an outgroup would be any group or any,

you know, interest or activity where we would say them.

That doesn't involve us and that's an outgroup.

So for us, our in-groups our anything where we would say us

anything that we are involved in, interested

in, where we would count ourselves as part of that and say us.

That's an in-group.

All the others are outgroups, what we call outgroups.

So we would refer to them as them, for example, not not that we have a sense

of what culture is the learned and shared set of symbols, language,

values and norms used to distinguish one group of people from another.

Let's identify a little bit what culture then is not

and clarify a little more based on what culture is not.

So culture undefined, for example, is

that culture is not the same as ethnicity, race or nationality.

Those things are not components of culture, as we've talked about.

They're not.

Those are all things that you are genetically born into

or that are passed down through your DNA or as a circumstance of where you're born.

But those are not things that are learned and shared and as culture

is something that is learned and shared, we know that they are different.

So culture is not the same as ethnicity, race or nationality.

However, culture does oftentimes follow

along with those things just as a matter of circumstance, right?

As a matter of human nature.

So for example, just give me an idea what I'm into this again.

I'm from Indiana.

That's my home state.

And so Indiana is an interesting kind of

area because it's really almost two different states.

It's it's really kind of very different.

The northern part,

you could almost draw a line from through the kind of the lower third of the state.

And it almost it's really like a different states are different.

The accent is different.

The the the interests are different.

The kind of values that are

I mean, it really is a separate culture from the rest of the state almost and

and not the good or bad, which is just as different.

And interestingly, a few years ago, there was a study done and an ethnographic

study of, you know, what is it that makes up Indian?

And they identified, you know, if we look at the topographic

map here of Indiana, you can identify with that blue one.

There's a river really kind of divides right where that line runs.

And you can see below that the very hilly

I wouldn't say mountainous because they're not mountains,

but it's very much

a hilly area as opposed to the northern two thirds of Indiana, which is more flat.

A lot a lot of farmland, a lot of corn and grazing pastures and things

the southern part of Indiana is very hilly and very different topographically

and really has a lot in common with the topography in the

in the kind of the geological area of of Kentucky.

If we look at where Indiana rests in the rest of the United States, we can see that

it's right near Kentucky, which has a lot in common with the area of Kentucky.

The accents very similar because the topography is very similar.

And this ethnographic study showed that I'm really that part of the country

meaning the Appalachian area of the country was heavily

founded by are heavily inhabited by

immigrants from the for example, Scotland

from the Highlands because it reminded them of their home

country, the topography, the hills

and the things like that reminded them of their home countries.

It was heavily

immigrated to by people of Scottish descent.

And and so you have a lot of similarities, a lot of cultural values

that is carried over from the highlands with that.

Whereas opposed to the northern two thirds of the state

was really largely inhabited in terms of immigration

and had been inhabited by people from heavily German

descent and Scandinavian descent.

So really just kind of a different philosophy and different cultures.

And so you have really this kind of split personality almost

between the northern two thirds of Indiana and the southern two thirds,

because culture tends to follow people who are of a similar,

you know, people when you grew up again, cultures learned and shared.

So people who grew up in the same type of area

tend to congregate with one another even when they come to a new country,

which is why, for example, like if we look at a map of New York City

here and specific specifically that area identified at the bottom there,

we blow that up a little bit.

We can see that that's what you end up with areas of a city like New York called

Chinatown, called Little Italy, called Little India, because people who come

from those those areas tend to congregate because they find comfort in being around

people who share their cultural values, share their language, share their

their symbology. Right.

And so they congregate in these specific areas of a city or of a country.

And so their culture then tends to follow them there.

And so culture is not the same as ethnicity, race or nationality.

However, people of the same ethnicity, race and nationality tend to

obviously be around each other more.

So who do you learn and share these things from?

People who are of a similar ethnicity, race and nationality.

Oftentimes, right?

So while they're not directly connected to culture, they do oftentimes

share that common sort of DNA, so to speak, of a culture tends

to follow those groups and in some ways so.

So culture is not the same as those things because it is learned and shared.

However, it does tend to be learned and shared in those very similar areas.

Cultural culture is not also not the same as ethnocentrism, right?

There's there's there's nothing wrong with being having national pride and

and being proud of your culture and those types of things.

But ethnocentrism, by definition is the belief that your culture is

inherently superior to another culture.

Or cultures, right? That yours is the best.

And sometimes in United States, just like anywhere else, we tend to follow

or we can fall into this trap of ethnocentrism

where we start to look at the world based on, well,

the United States

is the center of everything, obviously, and everything else is supplementary

or or just, you know, secondary to the United States.

And and so they are fall in line and and the

why don't they want to be more like us?

And we see ethnocentrism a lot,

for example, in maps.

But because people who control things tend to do that.

So this is a map you're probably familiar with.

It's the map of the world, right, that most of us grew up with in our classrooms.

It's called the Mercator projection map.

The problem with this map is that it's wrong proportionately speaking is wrong.

These things are not where they seem to be here.

This map is a couple hundred years old

and was developed at a time when Europe was the center of the world.

So to speak.

And so Europe is placed directly in the center of this map

and it's given a larger proportion than than it actually has in real life.

Obviously, now

we have access to satellites and different things,

and we can accurately measure these things in proportion.

So it may shock you to find that this is an inaccurate

map that has a very much an ethnocentric European

slant to it, making Europe and to some extent North America

bigger

and in a more predominant position than other parts of the world,

which were seen as secondary or less important.

So just to break through some of them and show you what is actually an accurate

projection, this is called the goal. Peters

projection map, and it really is an updated

and more accurate map of the world.

So this is what we see now.

This is the actual size of things in proportion.

You can see that Europe is much smaller than it was

in the Mercator projection map.

African South America much larger than they were.

So things are just, you know, put in their accurate proportions.

And just for comparison, sake, here you see the difference.

The blue is the gold Peters projection map

and the yellow is the older Mercator projection map.

And you can see the big differences and and that the yellow is

is not really accurate and represents an ethnocentric view

of the world placing Europe in a central position

placing Europe in a larger position than it actually inhabits,

at least,

you know, geographically speaking,

so and there's some case to be made that that even by virtue of being on

top of the map, gives this impression that Europe and North America

and places like that are superior and everybody else is at the bottom.

So some people say, well, we ought to turn it upside down.

So here you have the world turned upside down.

And in the inverted go up year projection map, which will really blow your mind

a little bit. Right.

But that's a topic for another day.

But you can see that ethnocentrism really can be represented

in a variety of different ways.

We need to be conscious of the idea that when we talk about culture,

we're talking about different they are not better than or worse than,

but just different than other cultures are different than ours.

And that's OK.

Doesn't make them inherently better or worse than our own culture.

So how does culture then influence communication?

Well, there are variety things you can get into here,

but it just in the briefest sense to give you an idea of some ways

that culture influences and intersect specifically with communication

first of all, the idea of individualism versus collectivism

or this individual group versus group mentality,

should we be looking out for, number one as an individual or should we be

looking out for our group as a whole or society as a whole?

United States, we tend to be very individualistic.

We're we're we're really kind of looking out for ourselves as much as anybody.

And the idea of individual successes is trumpeted

and individual achievement is placed over group

cohesion and group,

you know,

equilibrium, I guess you would say.

So the individual versus a group mentality is something that's different

from culture to culture across the world.

Individualism versus collectivism, also that of attention to context.

In communication,

you have what we call low context cultures and high context cultures.

The United States has very low context culture

where we take people literally, we take them at their word.

And so we just accept things that a weird

as opposed to other cultures where they read more into different

aspects of communication, they look more at context overall,

they look more at that

some of the nonverbal communication or what

that person has going on in their life right now and so forth. And

so they, you know, yes, it's not necessarily yes and no.

Not necessarily no.

As opposed to the United States where they literally are.

Yes. And no, that's what we expect.

We don't expect beating around the bush. Right.

So this attention to context as a part of communication

is greater in other in some cultures than others.

I get advantages and disadvantages to both sides of that.

So just something to be aware of.

Well, this this idea of deference to power or authority

through what we call low power distance cultures and high power distance cultures,

the United States is very much a low power distance culture, that is that

nobody is inherently superior, nobody is inherently better.

I mean, your boss may have authority over you in certain contexts,

but that doesn't make them a better person overall or

somebody that we should never question or challenge or even deign to speak to

as opposed to other cultures where that is very much the case.

People at different levels of society are not people that we would sort of

be allowed to speak to.

Because of that high power distance culture relationship.

And and in terms of communication, you just wouldn't cross that boundary.

So so yeah, there's there's a difference there.

And that deference to the power of authority is also our comfort

level with ambiguity or what we call uncertainty avoidance.

Some cultures are very comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty.

Other cultures are not the United States.

We're not as comfortable with that.

We don't like ambiguity as much.

We want certainty.

And other cultures are much more comfortable with this sort of lack

of clarity in communication that that's kind of baked in or built in

achievement versus nurturing I mean, you know, the United States,

we tend to heavily favor achievement, at least traditionally.

We have individual achievement and an achievement as a country

and that's very important to us as opposed to nurturing.

Other societies are very much interested in nurturing as opposed

to acclamation of achievement.

And then just another aspect is this view of time.

Do we view time as this very specific or what we call monarch

chronic situation where people you know, time is money kind of the resource

time is you show up on time, things start on time, things end on time

or is a little more fluid in context there.

In other cultures right now, states we're very monochromatic, very much,

you know, specific, regimented view of time, whereas in other cultures

it's a little more fluid.

It's a little bit you know,

things aren't quite as wrapped up in time in the same way.

Time's not considered this commodity than it is here in the United States.

So again, none of these are right or wrong.

We have to remember that these are just differences in the way

that different cultures approach these things in a broader context.

And so as we approach any of this really from a

large context, from a from a more narrow context of an individual

or any of that, we need to remember that culture is just different.

We need to have an appreciation for other cultures,

that there are other cultures and that they may

have different viewpoints and different ways of doing things,

and that that's OK, that we can adapt as effective communicators.

Part of our job is to adapt to those situations

and do the best we can to be more competent communicators.

Even in these intercultural contexts.

New questions

about intercultural communication or any other aspect of communication

specifically relates to the media and which is called the shrinking world.

Of course, we're encountering people from different cultures

more than we ever have before.

And so if you have questions about any of this, please feel free to email me.

I'd be happy to chat with you via email and discuss this even further.

In the meantime, I hope that you will give, you know,

first and foremost consideration to culture

and think about how that might be impacting any communication situation

that you were in that you find yourself in.

Because I promise you, culture is an undercurrent that exists

in the context of communication, regardless of the situation or scenario.

And it's very much worthy of your consideration.