How Do We Understand Our Own Culture

Summary

In the video, Dr. Tom Verghese explains the importance of understanding one's own culture and how it shapes behavior. He refers to culture as an "invisible backpack," influencing us even when we're unaware. Dr. Verghese shares a personal story about cultural nuances when eating, highlighting how culture is learned from family and surroundings. Culture not only involves basic practices like eating but also encompasses complex behaviors like handling conflict and collaboration. He emphasizes the presence of subcultures and individual uniqueness within larger cultural contexts. Understanding one's own culture is crucial when interpreting behaviors from different cultures, as misinterpretations can lead to misunderstandings.

Highlights

• Dr. Tom Verghese discusses the largest study on culture by Dutch Anthropologist G. Hofstede in the late 60s and 70s. 📚
• Culture is described as the "collective programming of the mind," like an invisible backpack. 🎒
• Culture makes us behave consistently with the way we think. 🤔
• An amusing anecdote about eating with hands, highlighting cultural learning. 🍛
• Subcultures exist within larger cultures, like different areas of Melbourne. 🏙️
• Understanding our own cultural values can prevent misinterpretation of others'. 🌐
• Culture is learned from parents, teachers, and the surrounding environment. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
• With globalization, cultural experiences are becoming more diverse and unique. 🌍

Key Takeaways

• Culture is like an invisible backpack that influences our behavior. 🎒
• We often don't recognize our own culture until we're exposed to a different one. 🌎
• Culture shapes psychological thinking, affecting how we behave. 🧠
• Each person's cultural experience is unique, making everyone one of a kind. 🌟
• Understanding our own culture helps prevent misinterpretations of others'. 🔍

Overview

Culture is more than just habits or music; it's the lens through which we view life. Dr. Tom Verghese likens culture to an "invisible backpack" that shapes our thoughts and actions, often without us even realizing it. He draws on G. Hofstede's research to explain how deeply culture influences our lives, figuring prominently in our behaviors and perspectives.

Dr. Verghese shares a delightful story of his wife trying to eat with her hands to respect his cultural background, only to find it more challenging than expected. This anecdote underscores how culture is something we learn and internalize from a young age, shaping how we manage daily activities and interactions. Our cultural teachings include how we deal with social norms, conflict resolution, and hierarchy.

With globalization and individuals having more diverse experiences, people carry unique cultural blends. Dr. Verghese points out that understanding one's own culture is crucial when engaging with others, as it helps in correctly interpreting behaviors and avoiding misunderstandings. Everyone is unique, with individual experiences and perspectives, making cultural awareness a necessary tool for global interactions.

How Do We Understand Our Own Culture Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 the largest study on culture was done by a Dutch Anthropologist called G hofstead in the late 60s early 70s and he defined culture as the collective programming of the mind I look at culture as being the lens through which we look out at the world so in other words we carry our culture with us regardless it's like an invisible backpack you may not see your culture when you are in your own culture because culture is tcid
• 00:30 - 01:00 so it's like a fish in water a fish doesn't know it's in water until you take it out so most times we don't even think about our culture until we are out of our own culture why is culture important culture is important because it shaped your psychological thinking and that influences how we behave so if you think that most Behavior people behave in ways that's consistent to the way they think and culture shapes that so how do we actually understand this let's
• 01:00 - 01:30 deconstruct this a little so if you think of the look at the bottom end of the triangle there's something like 7 billion people on the planet all human beings we share certain commonalities obviously you know we eat we sleep we have shelter we wear clothes we have families and of course the differen is becoming in certain cultural context some food that's delicious in one culture may not be valued or appreciated as much in a different culture so when we talk about culture which is the middle triangle culture is learned you
• 01:30 - 02:00 learn your culture and you learn it from your parents your grandparents your teachers your upbringing Etc so let me give you an example of learned culture so I I am uh born and brought up in Malaysia of Indian Heritage I came out to Australia as a student many many many years ago my wife is English so on one of our first trips back to Malaysia to visit my parents my wife said to me well you know I I as an Indian we eat food with our hands
• 02:00 - 02:30 so my wife said to me well when we go back to your parents house I'm going to eat food with my hands with my fingers to demonstrate cultural sensitivity and I said well that's a good idea 5 minutes into the meal my wife turns around to me and says Tom I said what she said how do you stop the curry and the yogurt from running down your hands to which I replied actually I don't
• 02:30 - 03:00 no wasn't happening to me wasn't happening to anybody else at the table but you know until she asked me the question I had never actually thought about it and of course you know I knew how to do it because I learned it as a child and it and I've since obviously read up about you know there's a whole Art and Science how to eat your food with your fingers right how to mix the curry how to mix the yogurt Etc so you know look we learned things like how
• 03:00 - 03:30 to eat our food in our culture and maybe even things like how to use a knife and a fork that's just one aspect of culture we one thing of what that we learn in our culture what other things do we learn in our culture you know well we learn things like how to deal with members of the opposite gender we learn things like how to deal with conflict how to deal with hierarchy what are the things that constitutes good teamwork what constitutes good leadership we learn these things in our culture and we learn this from our
• 03:30 - 04:00 environment and the people who are teaching us this teach this this because they want us to fit in of course to say everybody in the culture is the same it's a myth there are subcultures within cultures I mean if you look at Australia Melbourne is Sy is different to Sydney and those of you who are from Melbourne you know within Melbourne there are subcultures depending on where you live so there are always subcultures it's only you you'll be able to recognize the subcultures depending on how well you know them so everyone at the same time is an IND indidual 7 billion people on
• 04:00 - 04:30 the planet no one has the same fingerprints as you so you're unique no one has had the same experience the same background the same perspective as you right now at this moment so culture is a general kind of thing that we kind of think about in terms of understanding well how do we kind of look at some of the core values where that person may be coming from but you always need to check that assumption because today just because someone is from a different part of the country country you may be dealing with somebody
• 04:30 - 05:00 in China and they may look Chinese but they studied in the US they worked in the UK and they're married to someone from Spain okay and that is happening more and more today so therefore it's kind of really understanding that now the importance of actually understanding our own culture is that when we look at behaviors of a different culture we view it through our own cultural values our Norms our biases because we interpret behavior in a different culture based on our own understanding of it and unless
• 05:00 - 05:30 we understand the values that the other behavior is from we may actually mistake that behavior and therefore that can obviously lead to issues or problems