Culture -Sociology

MEANING OF CULTURE
• ‘CULTURE’ IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE. IT IS COMMONLY USED IN
PSYCHOLOGY, POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS. IT IS THE MAIN CONCEPT IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND A
FUNDAMENTAL ONE IN SOCIOLOGY. THE STUDY OF HUMAN SOCIETY IMMEDIATELY AND NECESSARILY
LEADS US TO THE STUDY OF ITS CULTURE. THE STUDY OF SOCIETY OR ANY ASPECT OF IT BECOMES
INCOMPLETE WITHOUT A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CULTURE OF THATSOCIETY. CULTURE AND
SOCIETY GO TOGETHER. THEY ARE INSEPARABLE.

CULTURE IS UNIQUE TO MAN
• CULTURE IS A UNIQUE POSSESSION OF MAN. IT IS ONE OF THE DISTINGUISHING TRAITS OF HUMAN SOCIETY. CULTURE
DOES NOT EXIST AT THE SUB-HUMAN LEVEL. ONLY MAN IS BORN AND BROUGHT UP IN A CULTURAL ENVIRON- MENT.
OTHER ANIMALS LIVE IN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. EVERY MAN IS BORN INTO A SOCIETY IS THE SAME AS SAYING THAT
EVERY MAN IS BORN INTO A CULTURE. THE DICTUM MAN IS A SOCIAL BEING CAN THUS BE REDEFINED AS ‘MAN IS A
CULTURAL BEING’.
• EVERY MAN CAN BE REGARDED AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF HIS CULTURE. CULTURE IS THE UNIQUE QUALITY OF MAN
WHICH SEPARATES HIM FROM THE LOWER ANIMALS.
• CULTURE IS A VERY BROAD TERM THAT INCLUDES IN ITSELF ALL OUR WALKS OF LIFE, OUR MODES OF BEHAVIOUR, OUR
PHILOSOPHIES AND ETHICS, OUR MORALS AND MANNERS, OUR CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, OUR RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC AND OTHER TYPES OF ACTIVITIES. CULTURE INCLUDES ALL THAT MAN HAS ACQUIRED IN HIS INDIVIDUAL AND
SOCIAL LIFE. IN THE WORDS OF MACIVER AND PAGE, CULTURE IS “THE REALM OF STYLES, OF VALUES, OF EMOTIONAL
ATTACHMENTS, OF INTELLECTUALADVENTURES”. IT IS THE ENTIRE ‘SOCIAL HERITAGE’ WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL RECEIVES
FROM THE GROUP.

WHAT CULTURE IS NOT
• THE TERM ‘CULTURE’ IS GIVEN A WIDE VARIETY OF MEANINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS. SOME OF THEM ARE PURELY NON-SOCIOLOGICAL IF NOT COMPLETELY WRONG.
PEOPLE OFTEN SPEAK OF CULTURE AS SYNONYMOUS WITH EDUCATION. ACCORDINGLY, THEY APPLY THE TERM ‘CULTURED’ TO AN EDUCATED PERSON OR GROUP AND
‘UNCULTURED’ TO ONE LACKING IN OR DEVOID OF EDUCATION. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘CULTURED’ AND ‘UNCULTURED’ MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH PERSONAL
REFINEMENT ALSO. POSSESSION OF IT INDICATES THAT ONE KNOWS HOW TO CONDUCT HIMSELF IN ALL THE SOCIAL SITUATIONS TO WHICH HE IS LIKELY TO BE EXPOSED. THE
MAN OF CULTURE HAS GOOD MANNERS AND GOOD TASTES.
• FURTHER, ONE MAY BE INCLINED TO BELIEVE THAT A BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE POSSESSES ‘BETTER’ CULTURE THAN OTHERS. IN SOCIOLOGY ‘CULTURE’ DOES NOT MEAN
PERSONAL REFINEMENT. THE SOCIOLOGICAL MEANING OF THE WORD IS QUITE DIFFERENT. HISTORIANS USE THE WORD ‘CULTURE’ IN YET ANOTHER WAY TO REFER TO THE
SO-CALLED ‘HIGHER’ ACHIEVEMENTS OF GROUP LITE OR OF A PERIOD OF HISTORY. BY ‘HIGHER’ ACHIEVEMENTS THEY MEAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN ART, MUSIC, LITERATURE,
PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND SCIENCE.
• THUS, A CULTURAL HISTORY OF INDIA WOULD BE AN ACCOUNT OF HISTORICAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THESE FIELDS. THE ADJECTIVE ‘CULTURAL’ WOULD DIFFERENTIATE THIS
KIND OF HISTORY FROM POLITICAL HISTORY, INDUSTRIAL HISTORY, MILITARY HISTORY, ETC. HERE AGAIN, SOCIOLOGISTS NEVER USE THE TERM CULTURE TO MEAN THE SO
CALLED ‘HIGHER’ ACHIEVEMENTS OF GROUP LIFE–ART, RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, ETC. THEY USE CULTURE TO MEAN ‘ALL’ THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF GROUP LIFE. FURTHER,
CULTURE AND NATIONALITY ARE NOT NECESSARILY SYNONYMOUS.
• BUT IN THE MODERN WORLD THE NATION STATE HAS BECOME THE STRONGEST UNIFYING FORCE IN SOCIAL ORGANISATION. SOCIAL SCIENTISTS TREAT MODERN NATIONS AS
IF THEY WERE CULTURAL ENTITIES. BUT IN REALITY PEOPLE OF THE SAME NATIONALITY MAY HAVE DISSIMILAR CULTURAL FEATURES TOO AS IT IS IN INDIA.

DEFINITION OF CULTURE
• 1. B. MALINOWSKI HAS DEFINED CULTURE AS THE ‘CUMULATIVE CREATION OF MAN’. HE ALSO REGARDS CULTURE AS THE HANDIWORKOF MAN AND THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH HE
ACHIEVES HIS ENDS.
• 2. GRAHAM WALLAS, AN ENGLISH SOCIOLOGIST HAS DEFINED CULTURE AS AN ACCUMULATIONOF THOUGHTS, VALUES AND OBJECTS; IT IS THE SOCIAL HERITAGE ACQUIRED BY US FROM
PRECEDING GENERATIONS THROUGH LEARNING, AS DISTINGUISHED FROM THE BIOLOGICALHERITAGE WHICH IS PASSED ON TO US AUTOMATICALLY THROUGH THE GENES.
• 3. CC. NORTH IS OF THE OPINION THAT CULTURE ‘CONSISTS IN THE INSTRUMENTS CONSTITUTED BY MAN TC ASSIST HIM IN SATISFYING HIS WANTS.’
• 4. ROBERT BIERSTEAT IS OF THE OPINION THAT ‘CULTURE IS THE COMPLEX WHOLE THAT CONSISTS OF ALL THE WAYS WE THINK AND DO AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE AS MEMBERS OF SOCIETY’.
• 5. E. V. DE ROBERTY REGARDS CULTURE AS ‘THE BODY OF THOUGHTS AND KNOWLEDGE, BOTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL, WHICH ONLY MAN CAN POSSESS.’ 6. EDWARD B. TYLOR, A
FAMOUS ENGLISH ANTHROPOLOGIST, HAS DEFINED CULTURE AS ‘THAT COMPLEX WHOLE WHICH INCLUDES KNOWLEDGE, BELIEF, ART, MORALS, LAW, CUSTOM, AND ANY OTHER CAPABILITIES
AND HABITS ACQUIRED BY MAN AS A MEMBER OF SOCIETY’. TYLOR’S DEFINITION IS WIDELY QUOTED AND USED TODAY.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
THE DEFINITIONS CITED ABOVE REVEAL SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE. FOR A CLEAR UNDER STANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE, IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO KNOW ITS
MAIN FEATURES.
• 1. CULTURE IS LEARNT: CULTURE IS NOT INHERITED BIOLOGICALLY, BUT LEARNT SOCIALLY BY MAN. IT IS NOT AN INBORN TENDENCY. THERE IS NO CULTURAL INSTINCT AS SUCH. CULTURE IS
OFTEN CALLED ‘LEARNED WAYS OF BEHAVIOUR’. UNLEARNED BEHAVIOUR, SUCH AS CLOSING THE EYES WHILE SLEEPING, THE EYE BLINKING REFLEX AND SO ON. ARE PURELY PHYSIOLOGICAL
AND NOT CULTURAL. SHAKING HANDS OR SAYING ‘NAMASKAR’ OR ‘THANKS’ AND SHAVING AND DRESSING, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE CULTURAL. SIMILARLY, WEARING CLOTHES, COMBING THE
HAIR, WEARING ORNAMENTS, COOKING THE FOOD, DRINKING FROM A GLASS, EATING FROM A PLATE OR A LEAF, READING A NEWSPAPER, DRIVING A CAR, ENACTING A ROLE IN A DRAMA,
SINGING, WORSHIPPING, ETC., ARE ALL WAYS OF BEHAVIOUR LEARNT BY MAN CULTURALLY.
• 2. CULTURE IS SOCIAL: CULTURE DOES NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION. NEITHER IS IT AN INDIVIDUAL PHENOMENON. IT IS A PRODUCT OF SOCIETY. IT ORIGINATES AND DEVELOPS THROUGH SOCIAL
INTERACTIONS. IT IS SHARED BY THE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY. NO MAN CAN ACQUIRE CULTURE WITHOUT ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. MAN BECOMES MAN ONLY AMONG MEN. IT
IS THE CULTURE WHICH HELPS MAN TO DEVELOP HUMAN QUALITIES IN A HUMAN ENVIRONMENT. DEPRIVATION OF COMPANY OR ASSOCIATION OF OTHER INDIVIDUALS TO AN INDIVIDUAL IS
NOTHING BUT DEPRIVA- TION OF HUMAN QUALITIES.
• 3. CULTURE IS SHARED: CULTURE IN THE SOCIOLOGICAL SENSE, IS SOMETHING SHARED. IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT AT INDIVIDUAL ALONE CAN POSSESS. FOR EXAMPLE, CUSTOMS,
TRADITIONS, BELIEFS, IDEAS, VALUES, MORALS, ETC., ARE ALL SHARED BY PEOPLE OF A GROUP OR SOCIETY. THE INVENTIONS OF ARYA BHATTA OR ALBERT EINSTEIN, ‘CHARAKA’ OR CHARLES
DARWIN; THE LITERARY WORKS OF KALIDASA OR KEATS, DANDI OR DANTE; THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF CONFUCIUS OR LAO TSE, SHANKARACHARYA OR SWAMI VIVEKANANDA; THE
ARTISTIC WORKS OF RAVI VERMA OR RAPHAEL, ETC., ARE ALL SHARED BY A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE. ‘CULTURE IS SOMETHING ADOPTED, USED, BELIEVED, PRACTISED, OR POSSESSED BY
MORE THAN ONE PERSON. IT DEPENDS UPON GROUP LIFE FOR ITS EXISTENCE’. (ROBERT BIERSTEDT).

• 4. CULTURE IS TRANSMISSIVE: CULTURE IS CAPABLE OF BEING TRANSMITTED FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT. PARENTS PASS ON
CULTURE TRAITS TO THEIR CHILDREN AND THEY IN TURN TO THEIR CHILDREN, AND SO ON. CULTURE IS TRANSMITTED NOT THROUGH
GENES BUT BY MEANS OF LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE IS THE MAIN VEHICLE OF CULTURE. LANGUAGE IN ITS DIFFERENT FORMS LIKE
READING, WRITING AND SPEAKING MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR THE PRESENT GENERATION TO UNDERSTAND THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF
EARLIER GENERATIONS. BUT LANGUAGE ITSELF IS A PART OF CULTURE. ONCE LANGUAGE IS ACQUIRED, IT UNFOLDS TO THE
INDIVIDUAL ITS WIDE FIELD. TRANSMISSION OF CULTURE MAY TAKE PLACE BY IMITATION AS WELLAS BY INSTRUCTION.
• 5. CULTURE IS CONTINUOUS AND CUMULATIVE: CULTURE EXISTS AS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS. IN ITS HISTORICAL GROWTH IT TENDS
TO BECOME CUMULATIVE. CULTURE IS A ‘GROWING WHOLE’ WHICH INCLUDES IN ITSELF, THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST AND THE
PRESENTAND MAKES PROVISION FOR THE FUTURE ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANKIND. “CULTURE MAY THUS BE CONCEIVED OF AS A KIND OF
STREAM FLOWING DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER”. HENCE SOME SOCIOLOGISTS LIKE LINTON
CALLED CULTURE ‘THE SOCIAL HERITAGE’ OF MAN. AS ROBERT BIERSTEDT WRITES, CULTURE IS ‘THE MEMORY OF THE HUMAN RACE’. IT
BECOMES DIFFICULT FOR US TO IMAGINE WHAT SOCIETY WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT THIS ACCUMULATION OF CULTURE, WHAT OUR
LIVES WOULD BE WITHOUT IT.
• 6. CULTURE IS CONSISTENTAND INTEGRATED: CULTURE, IN ITS DEVELOPMENT HAS REVEALED A TENDENCY TO BE CONSISTENT. AT
THE SAME TIME DIFFERENT PARTS OF CULTURE ARE INTERCONNECTED. FOR EXAMPLE, THE VALUE SYSTEM OF A SOCIETY IS CLOSELY
CONNECTED WITH ITS OTHER ASPECTS SUCH AS MORALITY, RELIGION, CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, BELIEFS, AND SO ON.

• 7. CULTURE IS DYNAMIC AND ADAPTIVE: THOUGH CULTURE IS RELATIVELY STABLE IT IS NOT ALTOGETHER STATIC. IT IS SUBJECT TO SLOW
BUT CONSTANT CHANGES. CHANGE AND GROWTH ARE LATENT IN CULTURE. WE FIND AMAZING GROWTH IN THE PRESENT INDIAN
CULTURE WHEN WE COMPARE IT WITH THE CULTURE OF THE VEDIC TIMES. CULTURE IS HENCE DYNAMIC. CULTURE IS RESPONSIVE TO
THE CHANGING CONDITIONS OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD. IT IS ADAPTIVE. IT ALSO INTERVENES IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAND HELPS
MAN IN HIS PROCESS OF ADJUSTMENT. JUST AS OUR HOUSES SHELTER US FROM THE STORM, SO ALSO DOES OUR CULTURE HELP US
FROM NATURAL DANGERS AND ASSIST US TO SURVIVE. FEW OF US, INDEED, COULD SURVIVE WITHOUT CULTURE.
• 8. CULTURE IS GRATIFYING: CULTURE PROVIDES PROPER OPPORTUNITIES AND PRESCRIBES MEANS FOR THE SATISFACTION OF OUR
NEEDS AND DESIRES. THESE NEEDS MAY BE BIOLOGICAL OR SOCIAL IN NATURE. OUR NEED FOR FOOD, SHELTER, AND CLOTHING ON THE
ONE HAND, AND OUR DESIRE FOR STATUS, NAME, FAME, MONEY, MATES, ETC., ARE ALL, FOR EXAMPLE, FULFILLED ACCORDING TO THE
CULTURAL WAYS. CULTURE DETERMINES AND GUIDES THE VARIED ACTIVITIES OF MAN. IN FACT, CULTURE IS DEFINED AS THE PROCESS
THROUGH WHICH HUMAN BEINGS SATISFY THEIR WANTS.

• 9. CULTURE VARIES FROM SOCIETY TO SOCIETY: EVERY SOCIETY HAS A CULTURE OF ITS OWN. IT DIFFERS FROM SOCIETY TO
SOCIETY. CULTURE OF EVERY SOCIETY IS UNIQUE TO ITSELF. CULTURES ARE NOT UNIFORM. CULTURAL ELEMENTS SUCH AS
CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, MORALS, IDEALS, VALUES, IDEOLOGIES, BELIEFS, PRACTICES, PHILOSOPHIES, INSTITUTIONS, ETC., ARE NOT
UNIFORM EVERYWHERE. WAYS OF EATING, SPEAKING, GREETING, DRESSING, ENTERTAINING, LIVING, ETC., OF DIFFERENT SOCIETIES
DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY. CULTURE VARIES FROM TIME TO TIME ALSO. NO CULTURE EVER REMAINS CONSTANT OR CHANGELESS. IF
MANU WERE TO COME BACK TO SEE THE INDIAN SOCIETY TODAY HE WOULD BE BEWILDERED TO WITNESS THE VAST CHANGES THAT
HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN OUR CULTURE.
• 10. CULTURE IS SUPERORGANIC AND IDEATIONAL: CULTURE IS SOMETIMES CALLED ‘THE SUPERORGANIC’. BY ‘SUPERORGANIC’
HERBERT SPENCER MEANT THAT CULTURE IS NEITHER ORGANIC NOR INORGANIC IN NATURE BUT ABOVE THESE TWO. THE TERM
IMPLIES THE SOCIAL MEANING OF PHYSICAL OBJECTS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTS. THE SOCIAL MEANING MAY BE INDEPENDENT OF
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE SOCIAL MEANING OF A NATIONAL FLAG IS
NOT JUST ‘A PIECE OF COLOURED CLOTH’. THE FLAG REPRESENTS A NATION. SIMILARLY, PRIESTS AND PRISONERS, PROFESSORS AND
PROFESSIONALS, PLAYERS, ENGINEERS AND DOCTORS, FARMERS AND SOLDIERS, AND OTHERS ARE NOT JUST BIOLOGICAL BEINGS.
THEY ARE VIEWED IN THEIR SOCIETY DIFFERENTLY. THEIR SOCIAL STATUS AND ROLE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD ONLY THROUGH
CULTURE.

CULTURE CONTENTS
• EVERY SOCIETY HAS A CULTURE OF ITS OWN. THUS PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES ALL OVER THE WORLD
HAVE DIFFERENT CULTURES. THESE CULTURES ARE NOT ONLY DIVERSE BUT ALSO UNEQUAL. ALONG WITH
CULTURAL DIVERSITIES AND DISPARITIES THAT ARE FOUND IN SOCIETIES. THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, WE
OBSERVE CERTAIN CULTURAL SIMILARITIES. PEOPLE MAY WORSHIP DIFFERENT GODS IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT
THEYALL HAVE A RELIGION. THEY MAY PURSUE VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS, BUT THEYALL EARN A LIVING. DETAILS
OF THEIR RITUALS, CEREMONIES, CUSTOMS, ETC., MAY DIFFER, BUT THEY ALL NEVERTHLESS HAVE SOME
RITUAL, CEREMONIES, CUSTOMS, ETC. EVERY CULTURE CONSISTS OF SUCH NON-MATERIAL THINGS. SIMILARLY,
PEOPLE OF EVERY SOCIETY POSSESS MATERIAL THINGS OF DIFFERENT KINDS. THESE MATERIAL THINGS MAY BE
PRIMITIVE OR MODEM AND SIMPLE OR COMPLEX IN NATURE. THESE MATERIALAND NON-MATERIAL COMPONENTS
OF CULTURE ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO AS “THE CONTENT OF CULTURE”.

A NUMBER OF SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE CLASSIFIED THE CONTENT OF CULTURE INTO LARGE COMPONENTS ‘MATERIAL CULTURE’ AND ‘NON-MATERIAL CULTURE’. OGBURN HAS EVEN
USED THIS DISTINCTION AS THE BASIS FOR ‘A THEORY OF CULTURAL CHANGE. AS ROBERT BIERSTEDT HAS POINTED OUT, THE CONCEPT OF ‘MATERIAL CULTURE’ IS RELATIVELY
MORE PRECISE AND LESS AMBIGUOUS. BUT THE CONCEPT OF NON-MATERIAL CULTURE IS MORE AMBIGUOUS AND LESS CLEAR. IT MAY BE USED AS A ‘RESIDUAL CATEGORY’ THAT
IS TO MEAN ‘EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT MATERIAL’.
• MATERIAL CULTURE
MATERIAL CULTURE CONSISTS OF MAN-MADE OBJECTS SUCH AS TOOLS, IMPLEMENTS, FURNITURE, AUTOMO- BILES, BUILDINGS, DAMS, ROADS, BRIDGES, AND IN FACT, THE
PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE WHICH HAS BEEN CHANGED AND USED BY MAN. IT IS CONCERNED WITH THE EXTERNAL, MECHANICAL AND UTILITARIAN OBJECTS. IT INCLUDES TECHNICAL
AND MATERIAL EQUIPMENTS LIKE A PRINTING PRESS, A LOCOMOTIVE, A TELEPHONE, A TELEVISION,A TRACTOR, A MACHINE GUN, ETC. IT INCLUDES OUR BANKS, PARLIAMENTS,
INSURANCE SCHEMES, CURRENCY SYSTEMS, ETC. IT IS REFERRED TO AS CIVILISATION.
• NON-MATERIAL CULTURE
THE TERM ‘CULTURE’ WHEN USED IN THE ORDINARY SENSE, MEANS ‘NON-MATERIAL CULTURE’. IT IS SOME- THING INTERNAL AND INTRINSICALLY-VALUABLE, REFLECTS THE
INWARD NATURE OF MAN. NON-MATERIAL CULTURE CONSISTS OF THE WORDS THE PEOPLE USE OR THE LANGUAGE THEY SPEAK, THE BELIEFS THEY HOLD, VALUES AND VIRTUES
THEY CHERISH, HABITS THEY FOLLOW, RITUALS AND PRACTICES THAT THEY DO AND THE CEREMONIES THEY OBSERVE. IT ALSO INCLUDES OUR CUSTOMS AND TASTES,
ATTITUDES AND OUTLOOK, IN BRIEF, OUR WAYS OF ACTING, FEELING AND THINKING.

FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
MAN IS NOT ONLY A SOCIAL ANIMAL BUT ALSO A CULTURAL BEING. MAN’S SOCIAL LIFE HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF CULTURE. CULTURE IS SOMETHING THAT HAS
ELEVATED HIM FROM THE LEVEL OF ANIMAL TO THE HEIGHTS OF MAN. MANCANNOT SURVIVE AS MAN WITHOUT CULTURE. IT REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE ACHIEVEMENTS OF
MANKIND. CULTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLING A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS AMONGWHICH THE FOLLOWING MAY BE NOTED.
1. CULTURE IS THE TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE: CULTURE PROVIDES KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL EXISTENCE OF MAN.
BIRDS AND ANIMALS BEHAVE INSTINCTIVELY. WITH THE HELP OF INSTINCTS THEY TRY TO ADAPT THEMSELVES WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. BUT MAN HAS GREATER
INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING CAPACITY. WITH THE HELP OF THESE HE HAS BEEN ABLE TO ADAPT HIMSELF WITH THE ENVIRONMENT OR MODIFY IT TO SUIT HIS
CONVENIENCE. CULTURE HAS MADE SUCH AN ADAPTATION AND MODIFICATION POSSIBLE AND EASIER BY PROVIDING MAN THE NECESSARY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE.
CULTURE PRESERVES KNOWLEDGE AND HELPS ITS TRANSMISSION FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION THROUGH ITS ELEMENT, THAT IS, LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE HELPS
NOT ONLY THE TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE BUT ALSO ITS PRESERVATION, ACCUMULATION AND DIFFUSION. ON THE CONTRARY, ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE THIS
ADVANTAGE. BECAUSE, CULTURE DOES NOT EXIST AT SUB-HUMAN LEVEL.
2. 2. CULTURE DEFINES SITUATIONS: CULTURE DEFINES SOCIAL SITUATIONS FOR US. IT NOT ONLY DEFINES BUT ALSO CONDITIONS AND DETERMINES–WHAT WE EAT AND
DRINK, WHAT WE WEAR, WHEN TO LAUGH, WEEP, SLEEP, LOVE, TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH, WHAT WORK WE DO, WHAT GOD WE WORSHIP, WHAT KNOWLEDGE WE RELY
UPON, WHAT POETRY WE RECITE AND SO ON.

• 3. CULTURE DEFINES ATTITUDES, VALUES AND GOALS: ATTITUDES REFER TO THE TENDENCY TO FEELAND ACT IN CERTAIN WAYS.
VALUES ARE THE MEASURE OF GOODNESS OR DESIRABILITY; GOALS REFER TO THE ATTAINMENTS WHICH OUR VALUES DEFINE AS
WORTHY. IT IS THE CULTURE WHICH CONDITIONS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS VARIOUS ISSUES SUCH AS RELIGION, MORALITY, MARRIAGE,
SCIENCE, FAMILY PLANNING, PROSTITUTION AND SO ON. OUR VALUES CONCERNING PRIVATE PROPERTY, FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS,
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, ROMANTIC LOVE, ETC., ARE INFLUENCED BY OUR CULTURE. OUR GOALS OF WINNING THE RACE,
UNDERSTANDING OTHERS, ATTAINING SALVATION, BEING OBEDIENT TO ELDERS AND TEACHERS, BEING LOYAL TO HUSBAND, BEING
PATRIOTIC, ETC., ARE ALL SET FORTH BY OUR CULTURE. WE ARE BEING SOCIALISED ON THESE MODELS.
• 4. CULTURE DECIDES OUR CAREER: WHETHER WE SHOULD BECOME A POLITICIAN, A SOCIAL WORKER, A DOCTOR, AN ENGINEER, A
SOLDIER, A FARMER, A PROFESSOR, AN INDUSTRIALIST, A RELIGIOUS LEADER, AND SO ON IS DECIDED BY OUR CULTURE. WHAT CAREER
WE ARE LIKELY TO PURSUE IS LARGELY DECIDED BY OUR CULTURE. CULTURE SETS LIMITATIONS ON OUR CHOICE TO SELECT DIFFERENT
CAREERS. INDIVIDUALS MAY DEVELOP, MODIFY OR OPPOSE THE TRENDS OF THEIR CULTURE BUT THEY ALWAYS LIVE WITHIN ITS
FRAMEWORK. ONLY A FEW CAN FIND OUTLET IN THE CULTURE.

• 5. CULTURE PROVIDES BEHAVIOURPATTERN:CULTURE DIRECTS AND CONFINES THE BEHAVIOUR OF AN INDIVIDUAL. CULTURE ASSIGNS GOALS AND
PROVIDES MEANS FOR ACHIEVING THEM. IT REWARDS HIS NOBLE WORKS AND PUNISHES THE IGNOBLE ONES. IT ASSIGNS HIM STATUSES AND ROLES.
WE SEE, DREAM, ASPIRE, WORK, STRIVE, MARRY, ENJOY ACCORDING TO THE CULTURAL EXPECTATION. CULTURE NOT ONLY CONTROLS BUT ALSO
LIBERATES HUMAN ENERGY AND ACTIVITIES. MAN, INDEED, IS A PRISONER OF HIS CULTURE.
• 6. CULTURE MOULDS PERSONALITY: CULTURE EXERCISES A GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY. NO CHILD CAN DEVELOP HUMAN
QUALITIES IN THE ABSENCE OF A CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT. CULTURE PREPARES MAN FOR GROUP LIFE AND PROVIDES HIM THE DESIGN OF LIVING. IT IS
THE CULTURE THAT PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY AND SETS LIMITS ON ITS GROWTH. AS RUTH BENEDICT HAS
POINTED OUT, EVERY CULTURE WILL PRODUCEITS SPECIAL TYPE OR TYPES OF PERSONALITY. THIS FACT HAS BEEN STRESSED BY HER IN HER
“PATTERNS OF CULTURE”–AN ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURE OF THREE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES. YET ANOTHER AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST BY NAME
MARGARET MEAD HAS STATED THAT “A CULTURE SHAPES THE CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOUR OF INDIVIDUALS LIVING IN IT THIS FACT SHE HAS
ESTABLISHED IN HER “SEX AND TEMPERAMENT IN THREE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES”–A STUDY OF NEW GUINEA TRIBAL LIFE.

SUB-CULTURE
• MEANING OF SUB-CULTURE
THE TERM ‘CULTURE’ IS USED IN VARIOUS WAYS TO MEAN VARIOUS THINGS. WHEN USED IN A BROAD SENSE, IT
REPRESENTS HUMAN LIFE AND PORTRAYS HUMAN ACHIEVEMENTS. IN THIS SENSE THE TERM CULTURE IS
UNDERSTOOD AS THE GREAT SOCIAL HERITAGE OF ENTIRE MANKIND. IT ISSOMETIMES USED IN A LIMITED SENSE
TO MEAN A “NATIONAL CULTURE”, THAT IS, TO REFER TO THE CULTURE OF A NATION. A NATION CONSISTS OF A
NUMBER OF GROUPS AND SUBGROUPS. EACH SUCH GROUP MAY HAVE A WAY OF LIFE OF ITS OWN. IN OTHER
WORDS, EACH SUCH GROUP HAS A CULTURE OF ITS OWN. CULTURES OF SUCH GROUPS ARE KNOWN AS ‘SUB-
CULTURES’. THESE GROUPS AND SUB-GROUPS THAT ARE FOUND WITHIN A NATIONAL SOCIETY DIFFER FROM ONE
ANOTHER NOT JUST WITH REGARD TO ONE OR THE OTHER CULTURAL TRAIT,BUT IN MANY RESPECTS.

• CULTURE IS NOT A UNIFORM PATTERN THAT IMPRESSES ALIKE UPON ALL WHO ARE EXPOSED TO IT. IT IS
IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THATA PERSON’S EXPOSURE IS NOT TO “CULTURE IN GENERAL” BUT TO THE
CULTURES OF THE PARTICULAR GROUPS IN WHICH HE LIVES. IT IS SO BECAUSE IN LARGE SOCIETIES, EACH
PERSON’S GROUPS ARE MULTIPLE. FOR EXAMPLE, WE ARE MEMBERS OF INDIAN SOCIETYAND, THEREFORE,
SHARE IN INDIAN CULTURE. BUT WE ARE ALSO MEMBERS OF SMALLER POPULATION SEGMENT WITHIN THE
LARGER SOCIETY. REGIONAL GROUPS, RELIGIOUS GROUPS, NATIONALITY GROUPS, RACIAL GROUPS,
OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, CLASS GROUPS, CASTE GROUPS, URBAN GROUPS, RURAL GROUPS, ETC., REPRESENT
SUCH POPULATION SEGMENTS. EACH SUCH GROUP HAS A CULTURE OF ITS OWN. SUCH A CULTURE IS KNOWN AS
“SUB-CULTURE”. THESE SUB-CULTURES ARE PARTS OF A NATIONAL CULTURE. ACCORDING TO SUTHERLAND,
WOODWARDAND MAXWELL, THE MAIN SUB-CULTURESARE–REGIONAL SUB-CULTURE, ETHNIC OR NATIONALITY
SUB-CULTURES, URBAN AND RURAL SUB-CULTURES, CLASS SUB-CULTURE, OCCUPATIONAL SUB-CULTURE, AND
THE RELIGIOUS SUB-CULTURE.

• SUB-CULTURES WITHIN SUB-CULTURES WE HAVE NOT ONLY SUB-CULTURES IN OUR SOCIETY, BUT WE CAN IDENTIFY SUB-CULTURES
WITHIN SUB-CULTURES. CASTE, FOR EXAMPLE, AS A SUB-CULTURE HAS MANY SMALL SUB-CULTURES WITHIN ITSELF IN THE FORM OF
SUB-CASTES. SIMILARLY, A DISTRICTAS A REGIONAL SUB-CULTURE MAY HAVE MANY THALUK SUB-CULTURES, AND SO ON. THUS, IN A
VERY RESTRICTED SENSE, EACH FAMILY MAY STAND AS AN EXAMPLE OF A SMALL SUB-CULTURE.
• SUB-CULTURAL INFLUENCE THE SUB-CULTURES EXERCISE A GREAT INFLUENCE UPON THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS. NOT ALL OF THE
CHILDREN IN THE SAME SOCIETY CONFRONT THE SAME CULTURE BECAUSE OF THE MANY SUB-CULTURES THAT EVERY COMPLEX
SOCIETY CONTAINS. GREATER THE COMPLEXITY OF THE SOCIETY LARGER WILL BE THE NUMBER OF SUCH SUB-CULTURES. EACH
SUB-CULTURE MAY HAVE ITS OWN FOLKWAYS, CUSTOMS, ETIQUETTES, MORES, BELIEFS, PRACTICES, RITES, RITUALS, CEREMONIES,
DRESS STYLES, CONVERSATIONAL STYLES, ENTERTAINMENT MEANS, AND SO ON. THUS THEY EXERT A WIDE INFLUENCE UPON THE
MEMBERS.

DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE
• MAN IS THE ONLY ANIMAL WHO POSSESSES CULTURE. IT IS A UNIQUE POSSESSION OF MAN. CULTURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPECIES KNOWN AS ‘HOMO SAPIENS’, THE
FINAL PRODUCT OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION. WHEN EXACTLY THE HOMO SAPIENS EMERGED AND HOW EXACTLY THEY DEVELOPED ‘CULTURE’–THEIR UNIQUE QUALITY? WHAT
BIOLOGICAL OR OTHER FACTORS AND FORCES HAVE ENABLED OR COMPELLEDMAN WHO BELONGS TO THE SPECIES HOMO SAPIENS, TO BECOME DISTINCT FROM OTHER
ANIMALS BY THE POSSESSION OF CULTURE? THESE AND SUCH OTHER QUESTIONS ARE VERY MUCH RELEVANT IN ANY DISCUSSION OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF
CULTURE. FOR WANT OF SPACE WE ARE ONLY MAKING A BRIEF REFERENCETO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE. THE DISTINCTIVE HUMAN WAY OF LIFE THAT WE CALL
CULTURE DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE DEFINITE BEGINNING IN TIME. THIS IS OBVIOUS BECAUSE MEN NEVER SUDDENLY APPEARED SIMULTANEOUSLY ON ALL PARTS OF EARTH AT
A SINGLE TIME. CULTURE EVOLVED SLOWLY JUST AS SOME ANTHROPOIDS GRADUALLY TOOK ON MORE HUMAN FORM. CULTURE IS OFTEN UNDERSTOOD AS ANYTHING THAT
IS CREATED AND CULTIVATED BY MAN. MAN’S CULTURE IN A WAY HAS BEGUN WITH MAN’S CAPACITY TO USE AND TO CREATE OR PRODUCE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES.
• THE EARLIEST TOOLS USED BY MAN CANNOT BE DATED EXACTLY. AUSTRALOPITHECUS MAY HAVE USED STONES AS LONG AS 5 MILLION YEARS AGO. THE
AUSTRALOPITHECUS WALKED ERECT, LIVED ON THE GROUND AND PROBABLYUSED STONES AS WEAPONS. (BEFORE THESE, A MAN–LIKE PRIMATE CALLED RAMAPITHECUS
LIVED ABOUT 14 MILLION YEARS AGO). STONES THAT HAVE BEEN USED AS WEAPONS DO NOT DIFFER SYSTEMATICALLY FROM OTHER STONES. HOWEVER, NOTHING CAN BE
SAID WITH CERTAINTY ABOUT THIS EARLY PERIOD. BUT WE HAVE EVIDENCE TO SAY THAT THE FIRST STONES SHAPED AS TOOLS WERE USED SOME 5 TO 6 MILLION YEARS
AGO. THE USE OF FIRE CAN BE DATED FROM 2 TO 3 MILLION YEARS AGO. TOOLS OF BONE HAVE COME INTO EXISTENCE BY ONE MILLION B.C., THAT IS, AGE OF NEANDERTHAL
MAN. THE NEANDERTHALS ALSO APPARENTLY HAD SOME FORM OF LANGUAGEAND BURIED THEIR DEAD WITH AN ELABORATENESS THAT INDICATES THE POSSIBILITY OF
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.

• THUS, WE FIND A STRIKING PARALLEL BETWEEN THE BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF MAN AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE. BUT THE PARALLEL CANNOT BE DRAWN IN MINUTE DETAILS.
BECAUSE ALL OUR INFERENCES RELATING TO THE PERIOD BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF
HISTORY MUST BE MADE ON THE BASIS OF THE REMAINS OF THE MATERIAL ARTIFACTS THAT
ARE COLLECTED. THESE DO NOT TELL US MUCH ABOUT THE TOTAL WAY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE
WHO USED. THEM. FURTHER, THE PARALLEL BETWEEN BIOLOGICALAND CULTURAL EVOLUTION
SHOULD NOT BE OVERDRAWN.

CULTURE GROWTH
• AS IT IS STATED ALREADY WE DO NOT KNOW WHEN EXACTLY THE HUMAN CULTURE BEGAN. ANY ATTEMPT TO FIX AN EXACT DATE FOR THE
BEGINNING OF CULTURE WOULD BE AN EXTREMELY ARBITRARY ONE. ONE WAY OF REPRESENTING THE GROWTH OF CULTURE OVER TIME IS TO
SELECT AN ARBITRARY STARTING DATE AND TO DIVIDE MAN’S EXPERIENCE FROM THAT POINT INTO “LIFE-TIMES”. ALVIN TOFFLER, FOR EXAMPLE, IN
HIS “FUTURE SHOCK”, HAS MADE SUCH AN ATTEMPT. HE DIVIDED THE LAST 50,000 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE INTO 62 YEARS ‘LIFE-TIMES’ PLACING MAN
CURRENTLY IN HIS 800TH LIFE-TIME. “ACCORDING TO THIS CHRONOLOGY, 650 LIFE-TIMES WERE SPENT IN CAVES. WRITTEN LANGUAGE HAS EXISTED
ONLY FOR THE LAST 70 LIFE-TIMES, AND THE PRINTED WORLD HAS BEEN WIDELY AVAILABLE ONLY FOR THE LAST 6 LIFE–TIMES. THE ELECTRIC
MOTOR HAS EXISTED FOR ONLY 2 LIFE-TIMES. TELEVISION, AIRPLANES, AUTOMOBILES, AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS ALL DEVELOPED WITHIN THE 800TH
LIFETIME AND 90% OF ALL THE SCIENTISTS WHO HAVE EVER EXISTED AREALIVE DURING THIS LIFETIME. ALL OF MODEM TECHNOLOGY HAS
DEVELOPED IN LESS THAN L/25,000TH OF THE TOTAL TIME IT HAS TAKEN FOR HUMAN CULTURE TO REACH ITS PRESENT LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT”.
[LESLIE, LORNTAN AND GORMAN].
• THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION REVEALS THAT IN THE BEGINNING, “THE GROWTH OF CULTURE WAS EXCEEDINGLY SLOW AND ONLY RECENTLY HAS
CULTURE BEGUN TO CHANGE RAPIDLY. THE EXPLANATION FOR THIS SITUATION IS TO BE FOUND IN THE FACT THAT CULTURE GROWS IN TWO WAYS:
THROUGH (I) INVENTION OF NEW TRAITS WITHIN THE CULTURE OR THROUGH (II) DIFFUSION OF NEW TRAITS FROM OUTSIDE THE CULTURE.

• 1. CULTURAL DIFFUSION
THE PROCESS OF DIFFUSION INVOLVES THE SPREAD OF CULTURAL ELEMENTS–BOTH MATERIAL ARTIFACTS AND IDEAS–FROM ONE CULTURE TO ANOTHER. GEORGE MURDOCK
HAS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 90% OF THE CONTENTS OF EVERY CULTURE HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED FROM OTHER SOCIETIES. SOME SOCIAL SCIENTISTS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS
LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, KROEBER, CONSIDER DIFFUSION AS THE MAIN SOURCE OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE. THE TERM ‘DIFFUSION’ WHICH MEANS “THE BORROWING OF
CULTURAL ELEMENTS FROM ANOTHER SOCIETY” IS IN CONTRAST TO THE TERM ‘INVENTION’ WHICH MEANS FINDING OUT THE NEW USES OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE BY
RECOMBINING THE EXISTING CULTURAL ELEMENTS. ANTHROPOLOGIST LINTON’S CLASSIC ILLUSTRATION CAN BE CITED HERE TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO WHAT EXTENT CULTURAL
BORROWINGS–THAT IS, ‘DIFFUSION’ TAKES PLACE IN EVERY SOCIETY. LINTON WRITES, “OUR SOLID AMERICAN CITIZEN AWAKENS IN A BED BUILTON A PATTERN WHICH
ORIGINATED IN THE NEW EAST BUT WHICH WAS MODIFIED IN NORTH EUROPE BEFORE IT WAS TRANSMITTED TO AMERICA. HE THROWS BACK THE COVERS MADE FROM COTTON
DOMESTICATED IN INDIA. OR LINEN DOMESTICATED IN THE NEAR EAST, OR SILK, THE USE OF WHICH WAS DISCOVERED IN CHINA. ALL OF THESE MATERIALS HAVE BEEN SPUN AND
WOVEN BY PROCESSES INVENTED IN THE NEAR EAST. HE TAKES OFF HIS PAIJAMAS, A GARMENT INVENTED IN INDIA,“AND WASHES WITH SOAP, INVENTED BY THE ANCIENT GAULS.
HE THEN SHAVES, A MASOCHISTIC RITE, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN DERIVED FROM EITHER SUMER; OR ANCIENT EGYPT…” THE ILLUSTRATION FURTHER CONTINUES. THE
HYPOTHETICAL AMERICAN CITIZEN PUTS ON SHOES MADE FROM SKINS TANNED BY A PROCESS INVENTED IN EGYPT. HE GLANCES THROUGH THE WINDOW, MADE OF GLASS
INVENTED IN EGYPT. HE TAKES AN UMBRELLA INVENTED IN SOUTHEASTERN ASIA. THE PAPER HE USES WAS ORIGINALLY AN ANCIENT LYDIAN INVENTION. STEEL KNIFE HE USES
FOR CUTTING HIS BREAD, IS AN ALLOY THAT WAS FIRST MADE IN SOUTH INDIA. IN HIS ANOTHER HAND HE HOLDS A FORK WHICH WAS A MEDIEVAL ITALIAN PRODUCT. THE SPOON
HE USES WAS ORIGINALLY A ROMAN INVENTION. THE COFFEE THAT HE SIPS WITH PLEASURE EVERYDAY IS A PRODUCT OF COFFEE PLANT WHICH WAS IN THE BEGINNING AN
ABYSSINIAN MONOPOLY. HE SMOKES CIGARS OR CIGARETTES. THIS SMOKING HABIT HE HAS BORROWED FROM THE AMERICAN INDIANS. SIMILARLY, THE AMERICAN USES OR IS
BENEFITED BY MANY MORE SUCH THINGS, PRACTICES AND HABITS WHICH HE HAS BORROWED FROM OTHER PEOPLES AND CULTURES LONG BACK. DIFFUSION IS ONE OF THE
MAIN SOURCES OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE. “THE MOST OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CHANGE – THE SPREAD OF THE MODERNISATION PROCESS AROUND THE
WORLD–REPRESENTS THE DIFFUSION OF INDUSTRIALISM FROM THE ADVANCED TO THE LESS DEVELOPED SOCIETIES”. EACH CULTURE ACCEPTS ELEMENTS FROM OTHER
CULTURES SELECTIVELY. MATERIAL ARTIFACTS THAT PROVE USEFUL ARE MORE READILY ACCEPTED THAN NEW NORMS, VALUES AND BELIEFS. INNOVATIONS MUST ALSO BE
COMPATIBLE WITH THE CULTURE OF THE SOCIETY INTO WHICH THEY DIFFUSE. FOR THESE REASONS, WHITE SETTLERS IN AMERICA ACCEPTED THE AMERICAN INDIAN’S
TOBACCO AND NOT THEIR RELIGION.

• 3. DISCOVERY
‘DISCOVERY’–CAN ALSO BE STATED HERE AS THE THIRD SOURCE OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE.
HORTON AND HUNT HAVE SAID THAT “A DISCOVERY IS A SHARED HUMAN PERCEPTION OF AN
ASPECT OF REALITY WHICH ALREADY EXISTS”. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE LEVEL [RELATING TO
WATER], A NEW CONTINENT, THE COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE, THE POWER OF STEAM,
THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD, ETC., WERE ALREADY THERE BEFORE THEIR DISCOVERY. A
NEW DISCOVERY BECOMES AN ADDITION TO SOCIETY’S CULTURE, ONLY IF IT IS SHARED WITHIN
THE SOCIETY. IT BECOMES A FACTOR OR SOURCE OF SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE ONLY WHEN IT IS
PUT TO USE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ANCIENT GREEKS HAD DISCOVERED THE PRINCIPLE OF STEAM
POWER LONG BACK. IN FACT, A STEAM ENGINE WAS BUILT AS A TOY IN ALEXANDRIAAROUND 100
AD. BUT THE PRINCIPLE WAS NOT PUT TO USE FOR NEARBY 1700-YEARS AFTER IT WAS
DISCOVERED.

2. INVENTION
AN INVENTION REFERS TO “A NEW COMBINATION OF OR A NEW USE OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE” — HORTON AND HUNT “AN INVENTION IS THE COMBINATION OR NEW
USE OF EXISTING KNOWLEDGE TO PRODUCE SOMETHING THAT DID NOT EXIST BEFORE” — IAN ROBERTSON
“AN INVENTION IS ANY RECOMBINATION OF EXISTING CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN SUCH A FASHION AS TO PRODUCE SOMETHING NEW” — LESLIE. LORMAN AND
GORMAN. INVENTIONS MAY BE EITHER MATERIAL (BOW AND ARROW, GUN, SPACECRAFT, COMPUTER) OR SOCIAL OR NONMATERIAL (CONSTITUTIONAL
GOVERNMENT, CORPORATIONS, ALPHABET, DANCE, DRAMA, LITERATURE). ALL INVENTIONS ARE BASED ON PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE, DISCOVERIES, AND
INVENTIONS. HENCE, THE NATURE AND RATE OF INVENTIONS IN A PARTICULAR SOCIETY DEPENDS ON ITS EXISTING STORE OF KNOWLEDGE. FOR THE CAVE-
DWELLER THE STORED KNOWLEDGE WAS, FOR EXAMPLE, VERY MUCH LIMITED. THE PRODUCTION OF BOW AND ARROW WAS THUS A GREAT INTELLECTUAL
ACHIEVEMENT OF CAVE DWELLERS. WE, THE MODEM PEOPLE, ARE NOT EXCEEDINGLY CLEVERER THAN THE “PRIMITIVE” ANCESTORS, BECAUSE WE HAVE ENOUGH
OF STORED KNOWLEDGE TO MAKE ACHIEVEMENTS. AS RALPH LINTON REMARKED, “IF EINSTEIN HAD BEEN BORN INTO A PRIMITIVE TRIBE WHICH WAS UNABLE TO
COUNT BEYOND THREE, LIFELONG APPLICATION TO MATHEMATICS PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE CARRIED HIM BEYOND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DECIMAL SYSTEM
BASED ON FINGERS AND TOES”. IAN ROBERTSON WRITES, “LEONARDO DA VINCI, WORKING IN THE 15TH CENTURY, PRODUCED PLANS FOR MANY MACHINES THAT
WERE WORKABLE IN PRINCIPLE, INCLUDING HELICOPTERS, SUBMARINES, MACHINE GUNS, AIR-CONDITIONING UNITS, AERIAL BOMBS, AND HYDRAULIC PUMPS, BUT
HIS SOCIETY LACKED THE TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY TO BUILD THEM”. IT COULD BE SAID THAT “THE MORE INVENTIONS THAT EXIST IN A CULTURE, THE MORE
RAPIDLY FURTHER INVENTIONS CAN BE MADE”. THE ALREADY EXISTING CULTURAL STORE OF KNOWLEDGE ALWAYS PROMOTES NEW INVENTIONS. OGBURN LISTED
150 INVENTIONS THAT WERE MADE ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY BY DIFFERENT SCIENTISTS LIVING IN THE SAME OR SIMILAR CULTURES. THIS FACT EXPLAINS AS TO
WHY THE MODERNISATION PROCESS SPREADS FAR MORE WIDELY AND RAPIDLY IN SOCIETIES IN WHICH INVENTIONS ARE TAKING PLACE AT A FAST RATE THAN IN
THOSE SOCIETIES WHICH MERELY ADOPT THE INVENTIONS OF OTHERS.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
• ACCORDING TO H.M. JOHNSON, THE MAIN ELEMENTS OF CULTURE ARE AS FOLLOWS: — COGNITIVE ELEMENTS, BELIEFS, VALUES AND NORMS, SIGNS, AND NON-NORMATIVE WAYS OF
BEHAVING.
• 1. COGNITIVE ELEMENTS: CULTURES OF ALL SOCIETIES WHETHER PRE-LITERATE OR LITERATE INCLUDE A VAST AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL WORLD. THE
POSSESSION OF THIS KNOWLEDGE IS REFERRED TO AS THE COGNITIVE ELEMENT. EVEN THE MOST PRIMITIVE OR PRE-LITERATE PEOPLES SUCH AS THE ANDAMAN AND TROBRIAND ISLANDERS
MUST KNOW ABOUT MANY THINGS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. THEIR KNOWLEDGE IS PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE AND NEVER “KNOWLEDGE FOR ITS OWN SAKE”. KNOWLEDGE, RELATING TO HOW TO
GET FOOD, HOW TO BUILD SHELTER, HOW TO TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT, HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST STORMS, WILD ANIMALS, AND HOSTILE PEOPLE IS NOTHING BUT PRACTICAL
KNOWLEDGE. SUCH KNOWLEDGE IS CAREFULLY TAUGHT TO EACH GENERATION. IN MODERN ADVANCED SOCIETIES KNOWLEDGE IS SO VAST, DEEP AND COMPLEX THAT NO SINGLE PERSON
CAN HOPE TO MASTER THE WHOLE OF IT. FURTHER, EVERY SOCIETY HAS IN ITS CULTURE MANY IDEAS ABOUT ITS OWN SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND HOW IT WORKS.
• 2. BELIEFS: BELIEFS CONSTITUTE ANOTHER ELEMENT OF CULTURE. BELIEFS IN EMPIRICAL TERMS ARE NEITHER TRUE NOR FALSE. EXAMPLES: (I) THE ESKIMO SHAMAN USES FETISHES AND
GOES INTO A LOUD TRANCE IN ORDER TO DRIVE OUT THE EVIL SPIRITS FROM THE BODY OF A SICK PERSON. (II) THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY WHO GIVES MEDICINE TO AND ADVISES THE
PATIENT TO TAKE SUFFICIENT REST ALSO UTTERS A SILENT PRAYER FOR THE SPEEDY RECOVERY OF THE PATIENT. SUCH ACTIONS IMPLY SOME KIND OF BELIEFS. THE BELIEF BEHIND THESE
ACTIONS CANNOT BE CONFIRMED OR REJECTED ON THE BASIS OF EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE PATIENT DIES IN SPITE OF THE EFFORTS, OF SHAMAN, HE WILL HAVE SOME
“EXPLANATION” THAT WILL MAKE HIM TO STICK ON TO THE BELIEF IN EVIL SPIRITS. CIVILISED MEN TOO CREATE SIMILAR BELIEFS AND PASS THEM ON TO THE SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS.
TESTED EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE AND UNTESTABLE BELIEFS ARE “ELEMENTS” OF CULTURE. BECAUSE, THEY ARE OFTEN MIXED TOGETHER IN THE SAME CONCRETE ACTS. ONLY THROUGH AN
INTELLECTUAL ANALYSIS THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS COULD BE SEPARATED FROM ONE ANOTHER. FOR EXAMPLE, THE MISSIONARY SAYS A SILENT PRAYER AND AT THE SAME TIME
ADMINISTERS MODERN MEDICAL TESTS TO THE PATIENT.

• 3. VALUES AND NORMS: IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO ENLIST VALUES AND NORMS FOR THEY ARE SO NUMEROUS AND DIVERSE. THEY ARE INSEPARABLEFROM ATTITUDES,
EXCEPT PERHAPS, ANALYTICALLY. VALUES MAY BE DEFINED AS MEASURES OF GOODNESS OR DESIRABILITY. THEY ARE THE GROUP CONCEPTIONS OF RELATIVE
DESIRABILITY OF THINGS. IN SOCIOLOGY WE ARE MOST CONCERNED WITH VALUES THAT ARE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY INVOLVED IN SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS; MORAL, AND
RELIGIOUS VALUES THAT HAVE BEEN TO SOME EXTENT INSTITUTIONALISED. ONE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE VALUES AND THEIR INTERCONNECTIONS IS TO APPROACH
THEM THROUGH THE FOUR FUNCTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS OF SOCIETY. THESE SUBSYSTEMS ARE: GOVERNMENT, FAMILY, ECONOMY AND RELIGION. THE FUNCTION OR THE
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES THAT THESE FOUR INTERCONNECTED SUBSYSTEMS PERFORM ARE TO A GREAT EXTENT SHAPED BY VALUES. BUT THESE FOUR SUBSYSTEMS ARE NOT
EQUALLY STRESSED AS EQUALLY IMPORTANT IN ALL SOCIETIES. THE VALUES MOST CHARACTERISTIC OF ONE (OR TWO) SUBSYSTEM NORMALLY PREDOMINATE IN ANY
SOCIETY. IT MEANS POLITICAL VALUES, OR FAMILY VALUES, OR ECONOMIC VALUES OR RELIGIOUS VALUES NORMALLY PREDOMINATE. EXAMPLE: IN HIS STUDY BELLAH HAS
SHOWN THAT IN JAPAN DURING THE TOKUGAWA PERIOD (16TH TO 19TH CENTURY A.D.) ‘POLITICAL VALUES’ WERE THE MOST DOMINANT ONES. THE EMPEROR WAS AT THE
TOP OF HIERARCHY AND ENJOYED GREAT POWER AND RESPECT. MERCHANTS WHO PURSUED ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES WERE GIVEN COMPARATIVELY A LOW STATUS. EVEN IN
THE FAMILY LOYALTY TO THE NATION AND TO THE EMPEROR WAS STRESSED AS A GREAT VALUE. JAPANESE RELIGION ALSO STRESSED THE DOMINANCE OF POLITICAL
VALUES. IN JAPAN FILIAL LOYALTY OR PIETY WHICH WAS EQUALLY BOTH A RELIGIOUS AND A SOCIAL VALUE, WAS SUBORDINATED TO THE LOYALTYOF THE STATE. SHINTOISM
AND ZEN-BUDDHISM, THE TWO MAIN RELIGIONS OF JAPAN STRESSED MUCH THE VALUE OF LOYALTY TO THE NATION. HERE “OTHER-WORLDLY” RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE AND
PRACTICE WERE SUBORDINATED TO POLITICAL VALUES. IN THE SAME MANNER, IN INDIA RELIGIOUS VALUES DOMINATED INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
EVEN NOW IT IS QUITE DOMINANT. BUT HOW CAN WE KNOW WHAT VALUES ARE DOMINANT IN SOCIETY? SOCIOLOGIST WILLIAMS HAS SUGGESTED THE FOLLOWING CRITERION
OF DOMINANT VALUES: (I) EXTENSIVENESS OF THE VALUE IN THE TOTAL ACTIVITY OF THE SYSTEM, (II) DURATION OF THE VALUE, THAT IS HOW PERSISTENTLY IT HAS BEEN
IMPORTANT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, (III) INTENSITY WITH WHICH THE VALUE IS SOUGHT OR MAINTAINED, (IV) PRESTIGE OF THE VALUE CARRIERS — THAT IS, OF PERSONS,
OBJECTS, OR ORGANISATIONS CONSIDERED TO BE BEARERS OF THE VALUE. FURTHER, EVERY SOCIETY HAS SECONDARY VALUES IN ADDITION TO ITS DOMINANT VALUES.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN JAPAN, “AESTHETICEMOTIONAL” VALUES ARE SECONDARY FOR THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE STRESS ON THEM. IN INDIA, POLITICAL VALUES HAVE
SECONDARY PLACE. NORMS ARE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH VALUES. THEY ARE THE GROUP-SHARED STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOUR. NORMS IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON OUR
BEHAVIOUR. THEY ARE MODEL PRACTICES. THEY DETERMINE, CONTROL AND GUIDE OUR BEHAVIOUR. IN FACT, VALUES ARE CHERISHED ONLY THROUGH THE OBSERVANCE
OF NORMS. NORMS ARE ESTABLISHED ON THE BASIS OF VALUES. HENCE NORMS AND VALUES GO TOGETHER. FOR H.M. JOHNSON, “VALUES ARE GENERAL STANDARDS, AND
MAY BE REGARDED AS HIGHER ORDER NORMS”. NORMS AND VALUES TOGETHER CONSTITUTE AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN CULTURE.

• 4. SIGNS: SIGNS INCLUDE SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS. “A SIGNAL (ALSO MEANS SIGN) INDICATES THE EXISTENCE-PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE–OF A THING, EVENT, OR CONDITIONS” EXAMPLE: A
HEAP OF HALF BURNT PARTICLES OF A HOUSE SIGNALISE THAT THE HOUSE WAS CAUGHT BY FIRE SOMETIMES EARLIER. SIMILARLY, WET STREETS ARE A SIGNAL THAT IT HAS RAINED.
SOLDIERS GOING TO PARADE GROUND WITH UNIFORM SIGNAL THAT THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR PARADE. THUS, SIGNAL AND ITS OBJECTS ARE BOTH PARTS OF A MORE COMPLEX EVENT
OR UNIT. A NUMBER OF INVENTED OR ARTIFICIAL SYMBOLS ARE USED IN SOCIAL LIFE WHICH ASSUME IMPORTANCE. EXAMPLE: A SHOT MAY MEAN THE BEGINNING OF A RUNNING RACE, THE
SIGHTING OF DANGER, THE COMMENCEMENT OF A PARADE, THE STARTING OF WAR, THE KILLING OF A WILD ANIMAL, A TERRORIST ACTIVITY, AND SO ON. SIGNALS AND SYMBOLS ARE SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENT. A PLACARD BEARING THE WORDS “NO PARKING” IS A SIGNAL. IT INDICATES THE PRESENCE OF A PLACE WHERE ONE IS NOT SUPPOSED TO PARK ONE’S VEHICLES. BUT THE WORDS
IN THE PLACARD REPRESENT SYMBOLS. LIKE A SIGNAL, A SYMBOL MEANS SOMETHING TO THE INTERPRETANT. BUT IT SERVES TO BRING A CONCEPT OF SOMETHING TO HIS MIND RATHER
THAN TO ANNOUNCE THE PRESENCE OF THE THING ITSELF. FOR EXAMPLE, ‘DEER’ OR ‘DOVE’ INDICATES SUCH A CONCEPT. ‘DEER’ OR ‘DOVE’ INDICATES AN ANIMAL OR A BIRD OF A PARTICULAR
KIND. THUS, “A SIGNAL IS INVOLVED IN A THREETERM RELATIONSHIP (INTERPRETANT, SIGNAL, OBJECT) WHILE A SYMBOL IS INVOLVED IN A FOUR-TERM RELATIONSHIP (INTERPRETANT.
SYMBOL, CONCEPT, OBJECT)”. SIGNALS ARE INVOLVED IN ALL OUR PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES. SYMBOLS ARE IMPORTANT IN MANY KINDS OF COMMUNICATION AND EXPRESSION, INCLUDING
RELIGION AND ART. IN ALL SOCIETIES LANGUAGE IS AN IMPORTANT SYMBOL SYSTEM. AT THE LEVEL OF ‘PRE-LITERATE’ PEOPLE LANGUAGE IS ENTIRELY ORAL. WRITTEN RECORDS HAVE
HELPED PEOPLE AS SYMBOL SYSTEM TO DEPEND UPON THE MEMORIES, OF THE AGED, AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST. BECAUSE OF HIS INABILITY TO MAKE USE OF SYMBOLS OF WRITTEN
RECORDS, THE MENTAL HORIZON OF THE PRELITERATE MAN IS LIKELY TO BE VERY LOW. THE LANGUAGES (SUCH AS ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN) WHICH HAVE A VAST
COLLECTION, OF BOOKS ON A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS OR TOPICS HAVE THE KEY TO AN EXTREMELY RICH CULTURE. SPEECH, AN ASPECT OF LANGUAGE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF VOCAL
AND OTHER KINDS OF GESTURES–BOWING, SHAKING HANDS, SALUTING, KISSING. BLUSHING, ETC. THESE GESTURES TOO HAVE SYMBOLIC MEANINGS WHICH ARE MOSTLY CULTURAL. FOR
EXAMPLE, ONE SMILES AT KNOWN PERSONS, WEEPS WHEN CONFRONTED WITH GRIEF, LAUGHS WHEN HAPPY, AND SO ON. IN SUCH INSTANCES, THE GESTURES ARE INTERPRETED
CORRECTLY AS SIGNALS BASED ON INTERNALISED SYMBOLS. BUT ALL THE GESTURES ARE NOT NECESSARILY CONNECTED INTRINSICALLY WITH THE FEELING IT CONNOTES, FOR EXAMPLE,
ONE MUST SMILE AT ACQUAINTANCES WHETHER ONE IS REALLY GLAD TO SEE THEM OR NOT. JESUS KISSED JUDAS WHO BETRAYED HIM. IN THE SHARED COMMON SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS IN
ADDITION TO SPEECH AND GESTURES ANOTHER FACTOR IS IMPORTANT AND, THAT IS, ‘INTENTIONS’ OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN ANY STABILISED SOCIAL INTERACTION. IT COULD BE SAID THAT
“ANY OBJECT OR ASPECT OF OBJECTS THAT IS INVOLVED IN A STABILISED SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP MAY ACQUIRE A CULTURAL SYMBOLIC MEANING FOR THE INTERACTING PARTICIPANTS”. MANY
MATERIAL PRODUCTS OR THINGS ARE PRIMARILY SYMBOL VEHICLES. FLAGS, PICTURES AND STATUES SERVE HERE AS EXAMPLES. SIMILARLY, A BUILDING OR A CAMP, OR A SHIP, OR A TOMB,
OR AN IDOL, OR PHYSICAL PLACE, ETC., SIGNIFIES A SYMBOLIC FORM, THE MEANING OF WHICH IS CULTURAL.

• 5. NON-NORMATIVE WAYS OF BEHAVING: CERTAIN WAYS OF BEHAVING ARE NOT COMPULSORY
AND ARE OFTEN UNCONSCIOUS. SUCH PATTERNS DO EXIST. NON-NORMATIVE BEHAVIOUR
SHADES OVER INTO NORMATIVE BEHAVIOUR AND SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOUR. FOR EXAMPLE, THE
JEWISH GESTURES LARGELY INVOLVE THE HANDS, THEY TEND TO SYMBOLISE THE SUBTLE
EVOLUTION OF AN ARGUMENT, A TRAIN OF THOUGHT. THE ITALIAN GESTURES INVOLVE THE
WHOLE ARM AND THEY TEND TO EXPRESS EMOTIONS. BOTH THESE SYMBOL SYSTEMS HAVE
TENDED TO DISAPPEAR IN THE SECOND AND LATER GENERATIONS OF THE JEWS AND ITALIANS
IN THE UNITED STATES.

CULTURAL SYSTEMS AND SUB-SYSTEMS
• CULTURE WHICH CONSISTS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS AND ITEMS TENDS TO FORM SYSTEMS OF ITS OWN. AS H.M. JOHNSON HAS SAID THESE
SYSTEMS MAY HAVE VARYING DEGREES OF COHERENCE OR INTEGRATION. FOR EXAMPLE, A WELL DEVELOPED BRANCH OF SCIENCE, SUCH AS
PHYSICS, CONSISTS OF LOGICALLY COHERENT CONCEPTS, PROPOSITIONS AND PRINCIPLES. HENCE WE WOULD SAY THAT PHYSICS IS A CULTURAL
SYSTEM. SIMILARLY, EVERY LANGUAGE IS A HIGHLY WORKED OUT SYSTEM IN THE SENSE, IT HAS ITS OWN RULES REGARDING PRONUNCIATION,
CONSTRUCTION OF SENTENCES, COMBINATION OF SOUNDS IN MEANINGFUL UNITS, SEMANTIC RULES, ETC. HENCE LANGUAGE IS A COMPLEX
CULTURAL SYSTEM. THESE ARE ONLY SUB-SYSTEMS IN A WIDER CULTURAL SYSTEM WHICH IS CALLED A NATIONAL CULTURE. THE WIDER CULTURAL
SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE REFERRED TO AS ‘WHOLE’ CULTURE OR ‘TOTAL’ CULTURE, REPRESENTS VIRTUALLY A NATIONAL CULTURE. EXAMPLES,
INDIAN CULTURE, JAPANESE CULTURE, FRENCH CULTURE, ETC. THE WIDER CULTURAL SYSTEM SUCH AS INDIAN CULTURE, FOR EXAMPLE,
CONSISTS OF MANY SMALLER CULTURAL SUB-SYSTEMS WHICH ARE HETEROGENEOUS. SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES, SEVERAL DIALECTS,
SEVERAL FORMS OF RELIGION, IDEOLOGIES, KINSHIP PATTERNS, ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS, – THESE AND MANY OTHER COMPONENTS ARE FOUND
‘IN THE INDIAN CULTURE. TO WHAT EXTENT ALL THESE AND VARIOUS OTHER COMPONENTS MAKE UP THE INDIAN CULTURAL SYSTEM IS A
PERTINENT QUESTION HERE. ONE THING IS CERTAIN THAT SUCH COMPONENTS OF A CULTURE DO NOT FORM AS COHERENT A SYSTEM. AS WE FIND
IT IN THE CASE OF PHYSICS, OR IN ANY ESTABLISHED LANGUAGE. “THE COHERENCE OF A CULTURE IS ‘NEVER’ COMPLETE AND IT CANNOT BE
ANALYSED APART FROM THE INTERACTION SYSTEM”.

• INCOMPATIBLE VALUES AND BELIEFS DO CO-EXIST PEACEFULLY IN THE SAME SOCIETY. ACCORDING TO H.M. JOHNSON, SEVERAL FACTORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
AMONG THEM, THE FOLLOWING MAY BE NOTED.
• 1. THE POTENTIALLY CONFLICTING VALUES ARE OFTEN RECONCILED THROUGH. WHAT IS KNOWN AS “HIERARCHISATION”? IT MEANS PEOPLE TEND TO PLACE VALUES IN THE
FORM OF HIERARCHY IN WHICH ‘DOMINANT’ VALUES TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER SECONDARY VALUES IN NORMAL SITUATIONS.
• 2. MOST OF THE SOCIETIES HAVE ‘SAFETY-VALUES’ IN THE FORM OF SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS WHICH HELP THEM TO GET RELEASED THEIR ANXIETY IN MORE OR LESS A
CONTROLLED MANNER. SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS OFTEN SHADE OVER INTO NEAR DEVIANT PATTERNS. THE PRACTICE OF PROSTITUTION IS AN EXAMPLE HERE.
• 3. INCOMPATIBLE VALUES AND BELIEFS CAN EXIST PEACEFULLY BY MEANS OF INSULATION ALSO. INSULATION IS A TECHNIQUE WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO APPLY
DIFFERENT VALUES AND BELIEFS TO DIFFERENT TIMES AND SITUATIONS. OR, A GIVEN ACTOR MAY CARRY OUT DIFFERENT SOCIAL ROLES TO EXPRESS DIFFERENT VALUES
AND BELIEFS TO AVOID CONFLICTS.
• 4. IT IS TRUE THAT DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS GROUPS WITHIN THE SOCIETY HOLD MUTUALLY INCOMPATIBLE BELIEFS OR VALUES. FOR EXAMPLE, HINDUS CONSIDER COW AS
SACRED ANIMAL AND WORSHIP IT WHEREAS MUSLIMS, AND CHRISTIANS PRACTICE BEEF-EATING. HINDUS ARE IDOL-WORSHIPPERS AND MUSLIMS DISLIKE AND CONDEMN
IDOLATRY, AND SO ON. IN SPITE OF THIS INCOMPATIBILITY SUCH RELIGIOUS GROUPS HOLD SOME VALUES–SUCH AS RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE, HUMAN WELFARE, ETC., WHICH
PERMIT THEM TO GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER. SUCH VALUES EVEN HELP THEM TO COOPERATE AMONG THEMSELVES WITHIN LIMITS.
• 5. CULTURAL ‘MIDDLEMEN’ MAY HELP REDUCE INCOMPATIBILITY OF VALUES. SOME PERSONS, OR SO-CALLED ‘MIDDLEMEN’ WHO HOLD DIFFERENT VALUES AND BELIEFS AND
WHOSE CULTURAL EQUIPMENT OR OUTLOOK IS MORE FLEXIBLE, MAY HELP TO MEDIATE THE CONTACTS BETWEEN THE INCOMPATIBLE GROUPS.

• IT IS TO BE NOTED THAT ‘COHERENCE’ AND ‘SYSTEM’ ARE RELATIVE CONCEPTS. WHAT APPEARS TO BE COHERENT AT ONE TIME TURNS OUT TO BE INCOHERENT AT ANOTHER
TIME IN THE SAME SYSTEM. FURTHER, THE FACTOR THAT HELPS ‘COHERENCE’ OR ‘COMPATIBILITY’ IN ONE SYSTEM MAY HINDER THE SAME IN ANOTHER. SIMILARLY, IT IS NOT
ONLY POSSIBLE FOR SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS TO MITIGATE CULTURAL DIVERSITY, BUT ALSO POSSIBLE TO INTENSIFY IT. THE BRITISH IN INDIA FOR EXAMPLE, FOLLOWED THE
POLICY OF ‘DIVIDE AND RULE’ TO INTENSIFY THE INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE HINDUS AND MUSLIMS. FURTHER, IT WOULD BE WRONG TO ASSURE THAT ANY ELEMENT OF
CULTURE CAN COHERE PROVIDED SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE MADE FOR THAT. WE OBSERVE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE COEXISTENCE OF TWO RELIGIONS (FOR EXAMPLE
HINDUISM AND ISLAM) AT BEST CREATES A PROBLEM OF INTEGRATION. MOREOVER, THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF CULTURE (SUCH AS RELIGION AND SCIENCE, SCIENCE AND
POLITICS, ECONOMY AND EDUCATION, RELIGION AND POLITICAL INSTITUTION, ETC.) ARE INTERRELATED ON THE PURELY CULTURAL LEVEL. IT MEANS THEY ARE
INTERRELATED AT THE LEVEL OF IDEAS AND VALUES, EACH PART INFLUENCING THE OTHER, SOME HELPING AND SOME OTHERS HINDERING. CULTURE IS DYNAMIC BY ITSELF.
IT UNDERGOES CHANGE RELATING TO THE CHANGING NEEDS AND EXPERIENCES OF SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS. IN FACT, NO ELEMENT OF CULTURE IS TRANSMITTED WITH
ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGE FROM A PARENT TO A CHILD. HENCE A NUMBER OF CHANGES TAKE PLACE FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT. THE INTEGRATION OF A CULTURE
IS NOT NECESSARILY AFFECTED BY THE HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF ITS VARIOUS ITEMS.

CULTURAL CHANGE
• ACCORDING TO KINGSLEY DAVIS, THE CULTURAL CHANGE “EMBRACES ALL CHANGES OCCURRING IN ANY BRANCH OF CULTURE INCLUDING ART, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,
PHILOSOPHY, ETC., AS WELL AS CHANGES IN THE FORMS AND RULES OF SOCIAL ORGANISATION”. ACCORDING TO DAVID DRESSLER AND DONALD CARNS, “CULTURAL CHANGE
IS THE MODIFICATION OR DIS- CONTINUANCE OF EXISTING ‘TRIED’ AND ‘TESTED’ PROCEDURES TRANSMITTED TO US FROM THE CULTURE OF THE PAST, AS WELL AS THE
INTRODUCTION OF NEW PROCEDURES. IN BRIEF, ANY CHANGE THAT TAKESPLACE IN THE REALM OF CULTURE CAN BE CALLED CULTURAL CHANGE. CULTURE IS NOT STATIC
BUT DYNAMIC. IT ALSO UNDERGOES CHANGE., INVENTION AND POPULARISATION OF THE AUTOMOBILE, THE ADDITION OF NEW WORDS TO OUR LANGUAGE, CHANGING
CONCEPTS OF PROPERTY AND MORALITY, NEW FORMS OF MUSIC, ART OR DANCE, NEW STYLES IN ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE, NEW RULES OF GRAMMAR OR METER,
THE GENERAL TREND TOWARDS SEX EQUALITY, ETC., ALL REPRESENT CULTURAL CHANGES. NEARLY ALL IMPORTANT CHANGES INVOLVE BOTH SOCIAL AND CULTURAL,
MATERIAL AND NON-MATERIAL ASPECTS. ALL CULTURES CHANGE, ALTHOUGH THEY DO SO IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND AT DIFFERENT RATES. CULTURE IS NORMALLY REGARDED
AS CONSERVATIVE, ESPECIALLY IN ITS NON-MATERIAL ASPECTS. FOR EXAMPLE, PEOPLE ARE RELUCTANT TO GIVE UP OLD VALUES, CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS IN FAVOUR OF
NEW ONES. CHANGES IN ONE AREA OF CULTURE AFFECT IN SOME WAY OR THE OTHER, SOME OTHER PARTS OF CULTURE. THIS IS SO BECAUSE CULTURE IS STRONGLY
INTEGRATED. FURTHER, ONE CHANGE MAY LEAD TO ANOTHER. SOME OF THEBASIC CHANGES, FOR EXAMPLE, THE WAYS IN WHICH A SOCIETY EARNS ITS LIVING OR
CONDUCTS ITS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND EXPLOITS THE ENVIRONMENT, CAN AFFECT ALMOST ALL THE OTHER CULTURAL ELEMENTS.

CAUSES OF CULTURAL CHANGE
• CAUSES OF CULTURAL CHANGES DAVID DRESSLER AND DONALDCARNS HAVE MADE THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE CAUSES OF CULTURAL CHANGE.
• L. SOMETIMES MEMBERS OF A SOCIETY ARE OFTEN CONFRONTED BY CUSTOMS THAT DIFFER FROM THOSE WHICH THEY HAVE LEARNT TO ACCEPT. IN SUCH A SITUATION
THEY ADOPT SOME OF THE NEW CUSTOMS, REJECT OTHERS, AND FOLLOW MODIFIED VERSIONS OF STILL OTHERS. THIS MIGHT BE CALLED CULTURAL ECLECTICISM.
• 2. NEW CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES ARE LIKELY TO BE MORE READILY ADOPTED UNDER TWO CONDITIONS: (I) IF THEY REPRESENT WHAT IS VIEWED AS SOCIALLY DESIRABLE
AND USEFUL AND (II) IF THEY DO NOT CLASH WITH PRE-EXISTED AND STILL VALUED CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES.
• 3. IT IS WIDELY OBSERVED THAT EVEN IF THE PEOPLE ACCEPT THE NEW CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES, THEY DO NOT COMPLETELY ABANDON THEIR TRADITIONAL CULTURE.
• 4. CHANGES IN CULTURE ARE ALWAYS SUPERIMPOSED ON EXISTING CULTURE ESPECIALLY DURING CULTURE- CONTACT.
• 5. CHANGES IN CULTURE ARE ALWAYS RELATIVE. WE DO NOT HAVE A “CHANGED” CULTURE BUT ONLY A “CHANGING CULTURE”, STRICTLY SPEAKING. CULTURAL CHANGES
NORMALLY EMERGE GRADUALLY BUT CONTINUOUSLY. HENCE WE FIND A CO-EXISTENCE OF OLD AND NEW CUSTOMS IN THE SAME SOCIETY.

• 6. ALL THE CULTURAL CHANGES ARE NOT EQUALLY IMPORTANT. SOME CHANGES ARE INTRODUCED TO CULTURE BECAUSE THEY ARE
CONSIDERED NECESSARY FOR HUMAN SURVIVAL. SOME OTHER CHANGES ARE ACCEPTED IN ORDER TO SATISFY SOCIALLY ACQUIRED
NEEDS NOT ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL.
• 7. STILL IT COULD BE OBSERVED THAT SOME CULTURAL CHANGES ORIGINALLY MEET NEITHER A “SURVIVAL NEED” NOR AN “ACQUIRED
NEED” OF A PEOPLE. EXAMPLE: NEW WAYS OF DISPOSING OF THE DEAD.
• 8. IT IS A FACT OF COMMON OBSERVATION THAT CRISIS TENDS TO PRODUCE OR ACCELERATE CULTURAL CHANGE. IF THE CHANGES ARE
ACCEPTED ONCE DUE TO THE CRISIS, THEY TEND TO PERSIST. EXAMPLE: WOMEN WERE ACCEPTED IN DEFENCE INDUSTRY DURING THE
SECOND WORLD WAR, AND EVEN NOW THEY CONTINUE TO BE THERE.
• 9. CULTURAL CHANGE IS CUMULATIVE IN ITS TOTAL EFFECT. MUCH IS ADDED AND LITTLE IS LOST. ITS GROWTH IS LIKE THE GROWTH OF A
TREE THAT EVER EXPANDS BUT ONLY LOSES ITS LEAVES, SOMETIMES ITS LIMBS FROM TIME TO TIME, AS LONG AS IT SURVIVES.
• 10. CULTURAL CHANGE LEADS TO CHAIN REACTION. “WHENEVER A CHANGE IS INCORPORATED INTO THE CULTURE AND BECOMES
DEFINED AS A ‘SOCIAL NECESSITY’, NEW NEEDS EMERGE, GENERATING THE DESIRE FOR STILL FURTHER CHANGES TO COMPLEMENT OR
SUPPLEMENT THE ORIGINAL CHANGE.

CIVILISATION
• THE TERM ‘CIVILISATION’ IS DERIVED FROM THE LATIN WORD ‘CIVITAS’ WHICH MEANS A CITY. HENCE THE TERM REFERS TO ALL THE
ATTAINMENTS CHARACTERISTIC OF HUMAN LIFE IN AN ORGANISED CITY. SINCE CITIES APPEARED RELATIVELYAT A LATER STAGE IN
HUMAN HISTORY, ‘CIVILISATION’ INDICATES A PARTICULAR STAGE IN THE EVOLUTION OF MAN. IN CONTRAST WITH THIS, CULTURE
REPRESENTS THE GROUP LIFE OF MAN AT ALL THE STAGES OF HIS SOCIALDEVELOPMENT. THE TERM CIVILISATION IS ALSO USED TO
COVER ALL THE SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS AND OTHER ATTAINMENTS OF MAN WHICH MARK HIM OFF FROM OTHER ANIMALS.

DEFINITION OF CIVILISATION
• L. GOLDENWEISER USED THE TERM ‘CIVILISATION’ IDENTICALLY WITH CULTURE TO REFER TO ALL THE HUMAN ACHIEVEMENTS. 2. KANT USED THE TERM
CIVILISATION TO MEAN OUTWARD BEHAVIOUR OF MAN. 3. ACCORDING TO GILLIN AND GILLIN CIVILISATION IS A MORE COMPLEX AND EVOLVED FORM OF
CULTURE. 4. OGBURN AND NIMKOFF CONCEIVED OF CIVILISATION AS THE LATTER PHASE OF THE SUPERORGANIC CULTURE. ACCORDING TO MACIVER AND
PAGE CIVILISATION IS THE WHOLE APPARATUS OF LIFE. CIVILISATION REFERS TO THOSE DEVICES AND INSTRUMENTS BY WHICH NATURE IS CONTROLLED. IT
INCLUDES TECHNICAL AND MATERIAL EQUIPMENTS LIKE A PRINTING PRESS, A LOCOMOTIVE, A TRACTOR, A RADIO, TELEVISION, TELEPRINTER, TYPEWRITER,
AEROPLANE, MACHINE GUN, ETC. IT ALSO INCLUDES THE WHOLE APPARATUS OF ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS LIKE OUR SCHOOLS, COLLEGES,
CURRENCY SYSTEMS, BANKING SYSTEM, PARLIAMENT, INSURANCE SCHEMES, ETC. CIVILISATION IS THUS EXTERNAL, MECHANICAL, UTILITARIAN, AND
CONCERNED WITH THE MEANS. WE NEED THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION NOT FOR THEIR OWN SAKE BUT FOR THE SATISFACTION OF OUR WANTS. FOR
EXAMPLE, WE NEED A CAR, A SCOOTER, BUS, A LOCOMOTIVE FOR TRAVELLING, WE WANT RADIO, TELEVISION, WIRELESS, POST AND TELEGRAPH, FOR
COMMUNICATION, WE WANT BANKS AND CURRENCY SYSTEMS FOR TRADE AND COMMERCE AND SO ON. DEFINITELY, WE ARE NOT POSSESSING THESE THINGS
JUST FOR THE SAKE OF POSSESSION.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN CULTURE AND
CIVILIZATION
• THE TERMS ‘CULTURE’ AND ‘CIVILISATION’ ARE OFTEN DISTINGUISHED ON VARIOUS GROUNDS. BOTH REPRESENT TWO BROAD FIELDS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY AND EXPERIENCE. SOME SIGNIFICANT POINTS OF
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM MAY BE NOTED HERE.
• 1. CIVILISATION HAS A PRECISE STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT BUT NOT CULTURE: THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION ARE SUCH THAT THEY CAN BE MEASURED QUANTITATIVELY ON GROUNDS OF EFFICIENCY. WE
CAN EASILY SAY THAT A MOTOR CAR IS SUPERIOR TO A HAND PLOUGH OR THE CURRENCY AND THE BANKING SYSTEM ARE SUPERIOR TO THE PRIMITIVE BARTER SYSTEM. BUT WE CANNOT MEASURE THE
CULTURAL PRODUCTS. WE CAN ONLY ASSESS THE CULTURAL PRODUCTS BY OUR PERSONAL JUDGEMENT; BUT WE CANNOT MEASURE OR QUANTIFY THEM. IF SOMEBODY WERE TO SAY THAT THE LITERARY WORKS
OF KALIDASA ARE BETTER THAN THOSE OF SHAKESPEARE, WE CANNOT PROVE OR DISPROVE IT, BUT WE CAN ONLY AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT. CULTURAL THINGS SUCH AS VALUES, OPINIONS,
IDEAS, IDEOLOGIES, MORALS, CUSTOMS, BELIEFS, FASHIONS, ETC., ARE BEYOND MEASUREMENT. DIFFERENT AGES AND DIFFERENT GROUPS HAVE THEIR OWN STANDARDS OF JUDGEMENTS WITH REGARD TO
THESE CULTURAL THINGS.
• 2. CIVILISATION IS ALWAYS ADVANCING BUT NOT CULTURE: ACCORDING TO MACIVER AND PAGE, CIVILISATION ALWAYS MARCHES ON IF THERE IS NO BREAK OF SOCIAL CONTINUITY. IT ALWAYS SHOWS A
PERSISTENT ALREADY STORED UPWARD TREND. EVERY GENERATION ADDS ITS OWN ACHIEVEMENTS TO THE ALREADY STORED UP ENERGY AND INTELLIGENCE. THUS EVERY TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT IS AN
IMPROVEMENT ON THE PAST. ONCE OUR INSTRUMENT IS DISCOVERED MAN GOES ON IMPROVING IT. CHANGE FROM MUD ROAD TO TAR ROAD AND THEN TO CEMENT CONCRETE ROAD, FROM BOW AND ARROW TO
THE MACHINE GUN AND THEN TO ATOM BOMB — INDICATE IMPROVEMENT. THE PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION IS ASSURED. PROGRESS IN THE CASE OF CULTURE IS NOT ASSURED. CULTURE IS NOT ALWAYS
ADVANCING. THE HEIGHT REACHED BY GAUTAMA BUDDHA, SHANKARACHARYA AND SWAMI VIVEKANANDA IN THE FIELD OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY HAD NOT BEEN REACHED BY THEIR FOLLOWERS. IN THE SAME
WAY KALIDASA, BHARAVI AND BHASA OF THE SANSKRIT LITERATURE STILL MAINTAIN THEIR SUPREMACY. BUT IN THE FIELD OF CIVILISATION, WHAT NEWTON OR EDISON DISCOVERED BECAME THE BASIS FOR
FURTHER DISCOVERY. WE CANNOT, HOWEVER, SAY THAT CULTURE IS CHANGELESS. THERE IS DEVELOPMENT IN CULTURE THOUGH IT MAY NOT ALWAYS INDICATE PROGRESS.TO TAR ROAD AND THEN TO CEMENT
CONCRETE ROAD, FROM BOW AND ARROW TO THE MACHINE GUN AND THEN TO ATOM BOMB — INDICATE IMPROVEMENT. THE PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION IS ASSURED. PROGRESS IN THE CASE OF CULTURE IS NOT
ASSURED. CULTURE IS NOT ALWAYS ADVANCING. THE HEIGHT REACHED BY GAUTAMA BUDDHA, SHANKARACHARYA AND SWAMI VIVEKANANDA IN THE FIELD OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY HAD NOT BEEN
REACHED BY THEIR FOLLOWERS. IN THE SAME WAY KALIDASA, BHARAVI AND BHASA OF THE SANSKRIT LITERATURE STILL MAINTAIN THEIR SUPREMACY. BUT IN THE FIELD OF CIVILISATION, WHAT NEWTON OR
EDISON DISCOVERED BECAME THE BASIS FOR FURTHER DISCOVERY. WE CANNOT, HOWEVER, SAY THAT CULTURE IS CHANGELESS. THERE IS DEVELOPMENT IN CULTURE THOUGH IT MAY NOT ALWAYS INDICATE
PROGRESS.

• 3. THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION ARE MORE EASILY COMMUNICATED THAN THOSE OF CULTURE: THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION ARE
OPEN TO ALL. KNOWLEDGE REGARDING CIVILISATION CAN BE PASSED ON VERY EASILY AND WITHOUT MUCH EFFORT. THE WORK OF AN
ENGINEER OR MECHANIC IS NOT JUST FOR OTHER ENGINEERS OR MECHANICS. WE CAN ENJOY THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION
WITHOUT SHARING THE CAPACITY WHICH CREATES THEM. MILLIONS MAY USE RADIO, TELEVISION, TELEPHONE, CAMERA, ETC., WITHOUT
UNDERSTANDING THEIR TECHNIQUES AND MECHANISM. PRODUCTS OF CULTURE, ON THE OTHER HAND, CAN BE COMMUNICATED ONLY
BETWEEN LIKE-MINDED. THOSE WHO HAVE POETIC TALENT CAN ALONE APPRECIATE POETRY. THE WORK OF AN ARTIST IS ONLY FOR A
MAN WITH ARTISTIC APPRECIATION.
• 4. CIVILISATION IS BORROWED WITHOUT LOSS OR CHANGE BUT NOT CULTURE: PEOPLE CAN BORROW THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION
VERY EASILY. TECHNICAL DEVICES AND PLANTS CAN EASILY BE BORROWED OR TRANSFERRED. IT WILL BE EASY FOR AN INDIAN TO
BORROW A SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUE INVENTED IN THE WEST, BUT IT WILL BE DIFFICULT FOR A FOREIGNER TO BORROW THE INDIAN
CULTURAL ELEMENTS. HENCE CIVILISATION IS FAR MORE WIDESPREAD THAN CULTURE. DIFFERENT GROUPS MAY MAKE USE OF SIMILAR
PRODUCTS AND YET MAY POSSESS DIFFERENT CULTURES. MANY OF THE EASTERN COUNTRIES HAVE BORROWED WESTERN
TECHNOLOGY BUT ALL OF THEM HAVE RETAINED THEIR ORIGINAL CULTURES. THOUGH THERE MAY BE SOME “CULTURAL-BORROWINGS”
(EXAMPLE: DRESS STYLES, SPEAKING STYLES, FASHIONS, FADS, FOOD HABITS, ENTERTAINMENT, ETC.). THEY ARE INSIGNIFICANT
COMPARED TO THE BORROWING OF CIVILISATION.

• 5. CIVILISATION IS EXTERNAL, BUT CULTURE IS INTERNAL: CIVILISATION IS EXTERNAL, MECHANICAL AND UTILITARIAN IN CHARACTER. IT CATERS TO THE
EXTERNAL NEEDS OF MAN. CIVILISATION IS A MEANS. IN A WAY IT REFLECTS THE MATERIAL WEALTH OF MANKIND. CULTURE IS SOMETHING INTERNAL. IT
REFERS TO THE INTRINSIC VALUES. IT IS THE EXPRESSION OF OUR MODES OF LIVING AND OF THINKING, IN BEHAVING AND IN ACTING, IN ART AND LITERATURE,
IN PHILOSOPHY, AND RELIGION, IN MORALITY, IN RECREATION AND ENJOYMENT, IN DANCE, DRAMA AND MUSIC. AS PHILOSOPHER KANT HAS POINTED OUT,
CIVILISATION IS A MATTER OF OUTWARD BEHAVIOUR WHEREAS CULTURE REQUIRES MORALITY AS AN INWARD STATE OF MAN. AS MACIVER AND PAGE HAVE
SAID “CIVILISATION IS WHAT WE HAVE, CULTURE IS WHAT WE ARE.”
• 6. FINALLY, THE PRODUCTS OF CULTURE REVEAL THE NATURE OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR A SOCIAL GROUP OR A NATION BUT NOT THE PRODUCTS OF CIVILISATION:
IN THE REALM OF CULTURE, AN ARTIST OR A POET, OR A PAINTER CAN EXPRESS HIS LOVE OF BEAUTY, HIS ADMIRATION FOR LITERATURE, HIS FASCINATION
TOWARDS AN BY MEANS OF HIS ARTISTIC, LITERARY OR PAINTING WORKS. ON THE OTHER HAND, AN ENGINEER CANNOT EXPRESS HIS PERSONALITY, HIS LOVE
OF BEAUTY, HIS LIKES AND DISLIKES, HIS MORALS AND VALUES BY MEANS OF HIS MACHINES, DISCOVERIES OR INVENTIONS.

INTERDEPENDENCE OF AND INTERRELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN CULTURE AND CIVILISATION
• CIVILISATION AND CULTURE DO NOT REVEAL TWO INDEPENDENT AND SEPARATE SYSTEMS. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THEM IS ONLY RELATIVE AND NOT
ABSOLUTE. THEY ARE NOT ONLY INTERDEPENDENT BUT ALSO INTERACTIVE. BOTH ARE MAN-MADE. ONE IS FOR HIS COMFORT AND LUXURY AND THE OTHER
FOR HIS SATISFACTION AND HAPPINESS. ONE IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE OTHER. THE ‘ORDER’ OF CIVILISATION INFLUENCES THE ‘ORDER’ OF CULTURE. THE
ARTICLES OF CIVILISATION CALLED “ARTIFACTS” ARE INFLUENCED BY CULTURE CALLED “MENTIFACTS”. CULTURE IS ALSO INFLUENCED BY THE ARTICLES OF
CIVILISATION. CULTURAL CHARACTER IS GENERALLY ADDED TO THE UTILITARIAN ORDER. WE WANT FASHIONS AND STYLES AND SHOW IT IN OUR AUTOMOBILES,
BUILDINGS, ETC. SIMILARLY, OUR PHILOSOPHIES, LITERATURES AND LEARNING HAVE BEEN MUCH INFLUENCED BY THE PRINTING PRESS. SOME OBJECTS OF
CIVILISATION OR SOME UTILITARIAN THINGS WHEN BECOME OLD ACQUIRE CULTURAL CHARACTER. THE TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS OF THE PRIMITIVE
COMMUNITIES ARE ALSO THE SYMBOLS OF CULTURE. VARIOUS ARTICLES SUCH AS POTS, VESSELS, ORNAMENTS, COINS, WEAPONS, TOOLS, ETC., FOUND IN
EXCAVATIONS REVEAL THE CULTURE OF THE ANCIENT PEOPLE. AN ENVIRONMENT OF CIVILISATION CAN AFFECT OUR THOUGHTS, VALUES, MORALS, AIMS,
OBJECTIVES, IDEALS, IDEOLOGIES, ETC. THE MACHINE HAS BROUGHT NEW HABITS AND ENJOYMENTS, NEW PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS. OUR WORLD OUTLOOK
HAS BEEN CHANGED DUE TO THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

• THE CULTURAL ORDER ALSO AFFECTS CIVILISATION. EVERY PEOPLE, EVERY AGE HAS ITS OWN WAY OF LIFE. WE LOOK AT THE NEW
INVENTIONS AND TECHNIQUES IN THE LIGHT OF OUR WAY OF LIFE AND OUR VALUES. NEW ASPIRA- TIONS AND VALUES MAY BRING ABOUT
A NEW CIVILISATION. CULTURE IS THE BREEDING GROUND OF CIVILISATION. CIVILISATION GIVES STRENGTH AND STAMINA FOR THE
WHEELS OF SOCIETY TO MARCH ON. ACCORDING TO OGBURN, CIVILISATION REPRESENTS “MATERIAL CULTURE” AND CULTURE IMPLIES
“NON-MATERIAL CULTURE”. IF CIVILISATION IS LIKE A BODY, CULTURE IS ITS” SOUL. MACIVER AND PAGE HAVE CLEARLY STATED THE
INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND CIVILISATION. THEY SAY THAT CIVILISATION IS A SHIP “WHICH CAN SET SAIL TO VARIOUS
PORTS. THE PORT WE SAIL TO REMAINS A CULTURAL CHOICE. WITHOUT THE SHIP WE COULD NOT SAIL AT ALL; ACCORDING TO THE
CHARACTER OF THE SHIP WE SAIL FAST OR SLOW, TAKE LONGER OR SHORTER VOYAGES. BUT THE DIRECTION IN WHICH WE TRAVEL IS
NOT PREDESTINATED BY THE DESIGN OF THE SHIP. THE MORE EFFICIENT IT IS, THE MORE PORTS LIE WITHIN THE RANGE OF OUR
CHOOSING”. IN SHORT, CIVILISATION IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF SOCIETY. CULTURE IS ITS STEERING WHEEL.

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