Culture and Social Transmission

 

Introduction

Culture is the custom or social behavior that a group of people has practiced over some time. Culture varies from one group to the other depending on the practices that people have nurtured over a particular life span. It can be in terms of religion, clothing, food, language, the beliefs, the kind of marriage that people practice, and many more. Culture provides a consistent as well as a stable environment that enhances a group’s survival (Rhodes et al. 13530).

It is possible to learn a culture that is practiced by certain people if one inter-mingles with them for a while. This is referred to as cultural transmission. An individual can learn a new way of doing things through socializing as well as engaging with people from a given culture. You will gain knowledge through non-biological techniques, and you will acquire a considerable amount, the more you continue to be among the group. Nevertheless, not all cultural practices are suitable for all people. Some exercises are not ideal for children since it is not advisable to expose some of them at a tender age. Some need an introduction as they continue to mature. Cultural transmission from one generation to the other is what makes people unique. The transfer can either be horizontal, oblique, or vertical. Horizontal involves transmission from one person to the other of a similar generation. Oblique is from one generation to an unrelated age while as vertical is the transmission between parents to their off-springs. The kind of transfer will vary depending on the society.

Some examples of cultural transmission include and not limited to;

When you want to cross the road, you know that you cannot do that without looking and taking care. Otherwise, you will get hit by a car. The practice was passed to you by the people around you when you were growing up.

There are different ways in which every culture conducts things when it comes to religious beliefs as well as symbolism that go along. Some religions use candles or lamps when they are praying and offering sacrifices to their god. There is a specific way that one has to dress and stay while in church, mosque, or temple (Dean, Lewis G., et al. 1115).

When a child is growing up, they are taught to communicate in a way that someone of their culture will understand them. A child will not babble a word if they y

Social transmission involves transferring the information as well as behavior to a group of beings or animals. It can either be verbal or non-verbal ways of communication, knowledge, actions, beliefs as well as practice. That is the first and vital step in social transmission, which is acquiring information. You can use it in animals, and you can show them how to do particular things. In human beings, knowledge and then culture his spread through interacting as well as the media. At times, asocial transmission does not occur despite that we want TV that it to happen so much (Tostevin 120).

Social transmission aims at allowing everything to adapt faster to their environment. It gets its shape from social clues consisting of information rooting from conspecifics. Animal’s e are able to know when their predator is within the same geographical area with them. They will be in a position to avoid danger when exposed to it. You can as well associate your experience with the information from others so that you can plan for the next necessary action to take.

Work Cited

Dean, Lewis G., et al. “Identification of the social and cognitive processes underlying human cumulative culture.” Science 335.6072 (2012): 1114-1118.

Rhodes, Marjorie, Sarah-Jane Leslie, and Christina M. Tworek. “Cultural transmission of social essentialism.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.34 (2012): 13526-13531.

Tostevin, Gilbert B. Seeing lithics: a middle-range theory for testing for cultural transmission in the Pleistocene. American School of Prehistoric Research Monograph Series, Peabody Museum, Harvard University; and Oxbow Books, 2012.