2021/10/14 week 05 Culture Paradigms.

.Culture Paradigms.

         By Donovan Torr


    A paradigm, simply put is how our brain processes and interprets information to draw conclusions. A Culture Paradigm is when our culture influences that decision, this could lead to people coming to different conclusions based on their own outlook to life.

"There are simple paradigms like clouds, cars, rocks, houses, okay? And there are complex paradigms like hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy? What is beauty? What is graciousness? What is pride? What is humility? What is laziness? What is funny? What's flirtatious? What's loyal? What's polite? And you know something, those paradigms differ immensely from culture to culture." -Dr John J. Ivers.

    Throughout the world we are lucky to have many different and unique cultures, all with their own wonderful traits that can bring strength and positivity to our life. All cultures have what outsiders would also consider to be negative traits as well.

    I have been blessed to grow up in a diverse country. We have 13 official languages in South Africa, all with their own unique culture to them. We also have many other distinct cultural groups on top of those recognized with an official language. This diversity has meant that from a young age I have been used to dealing with people with different backgrounds, values and focuses to mine.

    I am fiercely proud of my heritage and culture. I love many aspects of it. The values it has taught me, as well as the things that it has taught me to value. However I have learnt that there are some down sides to my own culture. We can tend to be extremely stubborn at times, can take the pride we feel in who we are to heights of arrogance, we can also tend to be emotionally distant as we are taught to be tough "real men" we do not show emotions. Positive sides of my culture for those wondering are; we are taught to be self-sufficient, hardworking, reliable and to put our woman and children first, amongst other things. 

    Throughout my travels abroad and in my own country I have come across many wonderful cultures that have taught me to challenge the way I think and behave. As I come across these I compare them to my own values and see how I can adapt and change. Take the core of who I am and make myself a better person as I become aware of new ways of thinking or being. By doing this I have been able to see a change in who I am, many of my shortcomings that I have identified in myself have been replaced with strengths that I would not have thought of. I still view myself as a South African, but a far more open minded one than what I used to be.

    By being able to do this I have been able to better understand why people react and think the way that they do. Where once I would have been annoyed by decisions others made, or thought higher of my culture compared to theirs, due to thinking my own was superior. Now I look for the reason why they think and act that way, what influenced their culture to evolve that way. Once you can see someone eye to eye on a cultural level, it dispels many of the biases and derogatory thoughts we could have. In its place understanding and friendship can take deeper roots. This can lead to a chance to learn and grow and become a better person.

    Too often we look for reasons to be different, and to judge each other harshly. Next time we come across someone from a different culture let us try to have a more open mind. You will be surprised with what you will learn and the wonderful new world that can be opened up to you. 

    Below I have included a YouTube link to a song that portrays many things that South Africans value, irrespective of our cultural differences. The song was written by a local group called Die Heuwels Fantasties (their name is in Afrikaans) song is called "Our Heritage" but is more commonly called the "Braai song". It was done for the 24 of September which is Heritage Day in South Africa. Hope you enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/ShL1BR4zccQ




Sources: Dr John J. Ivers Transcript: Cultural Paradigms (google.com)

Comments

  1. Teacher LyOctober 16, 2021 at 4:47 PM

    Hello, your post is great !!!! I like the image you chosen. Everything depends in our point of view.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CamilleOctober 16, 2021 at 6:13 PM

    I love your thoughts and experiences. Things will really depend on how we perceive it.

    ReplyDelete

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