Culture is Ubiquitous

After reading “Culture and Conflict” by Harry C. Triandis it was clear that culture and communication go hand in hand. Many people subconsciously know how to communicate with each other because of their cultural foundation. So what is culture? Culture is “a particular society, at a particular time and place” (Google dictionary). I found this definition interesting because many people associate culture with race and ethnicity; these are important cultural aspects but not the only ones. Culture exists in all of our means of communication. The color of our skin, the way we dress, and literature are visual communicators. Languages, dialects and music are auditory communicators. Fashion trends, the new dances… are social communicators.

I spent some time in my friend’s room in my dorm and observed how everybody communicated with each other. Because there are people from different places there was a lot of intercultural communication. When I was observing my friends I saw past their race and ethnicity; I noticed that all of us come from different ways of living (different cultures). There were at least ten people in the room and some had very strong personalities, so whenever there was a debate about something I heard them go back and forth saying, “well where I’m from, we do this.” Some were defensive and spoke loudly, some used body language by rolling their eyes, some spoke under their breath, and some didn’t speak at all. Each person had his or her own way of communicating. Because of each person’s individuality and background I consider these actions intercultural.

In “Culture and Conflict,” Triandis talked about “Ethnocentrism,” which stems from people from a particular culture believing their customs are natural and valid and believing people outside of their culture are unnatural (Triandis 25). Triandis says all humans have this trait, and I agree with him. While listening to my friends each of them had his or her own version of what was right or wrong.

Triandis also discussed weights. Everybody gives a different amount of weight or importance to different things. For example I give weight to my family and school. Some of my friends don’t have strong relationships with their families so whenever we talk about our futures, we sometimes bump heads on what is the “right” future. What’s right for me might not be right for the next person. Right and wrong are subjective so a certain amount of attention and openness should be devoted to communicating this between individuals.

Furthermore, Triandis talked about how small communities tend to have a “tight” culture (20). He says tight cultures are ones with multiple rules and norms about what is socially acceptable. In the dorms at Uarts, we have a tight culture. There are a set of rules and a standard of living that we all are supposed to abide by. Within this tight culture subcultures exist, and within the subcultures are individual cultures that link back to each person’s past. I spend time with a lot of black students, which is subculture at Uarts. Within this group we all have our personalities and experiences that make us who we are individually. Although we all come from different cultures we allow ourselves to intertwine with other ones. We adapt and learn new ways of communicating. This openness to different cultures allows us to interculturally communicate more efficiently.

-Arielle