Does culture, society, tradition have the ability to change or are they passed down throughout generations without modification?
How then does all of that impact our biological nature?
This is a huge topic -- try to narrow down the focus in order to give a non-vague answer.
I think that our society does change in some aspects while others are passed down from generations without changing. For instance we have an African American president where as 50 years ago, that would never have been thought of as possible. Same with the advancement of legalizing gay marriage. But then when you look at religion for instance, that institution has not changed much in my view point. I think with the older generations dying (morbid I know) things may change more. Younger generations tend to be more open minded to change and from experience older generations resist change when it comes to the fundamental morals of our country.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a great example with Obama and legalization for gay marriage. I do think that religion may begin to change more as we age (as our generation becomes old enough to move higher up in the church as bishop, pope, etc.)
DeleteI believe that culture will slightly change over time, but overall will keep the same views and goals. Destiny brings up a great point by explaining the example of an African American president. I believe that tradition can only change when the people themselves change and have different motives. For example, when you join a sports team, you are buying in to that team's traditions, not creating your own. This impacts the people in a way that will just evolve our opinions and or motives to work harder.
ReplyDeleteI believe that culture has to change from generation to generation. culture can still mimic views as well as morals. But there is not possible way for it to stay exactly the same. With the world changing as fast as it does today cultures have to adapt. Culture will still be based on the same principles but the more we learn and the more science uncovers things that were once unknown cultures will have to comply. Either by branching off into new subcultures as they have done in the past or ceasing to exist all together.
ReplyDeleteChris brings up a good point. Society will always seek to progress and thrive and its members will have to adapt in order to survive and be successful. My old biology teacher had a saying of "adapt, migrate, or die." This fits perfectly into Chris' point.
DeleteChris i agree with you that culture has to change because the world is also changing everyday. I think more subcultures will evolve due to so many new things coming about.
DeleteI think culture changes a lot from generation to generation. In fact I think it is changing all the time, for better or for worse. But I think tradition for the most part stays the same. I think a lot of what changes in our culture comes from the media, whether you think it is a good thing or not. Major culture changing events from the past all happened because of media. Things like women's rights and African American rights both started in the media. But media back then was a lot different than it is today, which is a big reason I said culture is always changing. I think tradition stays the same because thats why its tradition. It is culture that doesn't change or changes rarely. We had a saying in my high school, "Tradition never graduates." The students come and go, but tradition stayed the same.
ReplyDeleteThe English word "tradition" comes from the Latin traditio, meaning to "transmit" or "to give for safe keeping." By definition alone I think that tradition change only slightly overtime. The customs by which these traditions are passed on may change, by the message that they are attempting to portray should not. However, I do believe society and culture changes. Clearly, society today is much more open minded and liberal than it was 50 years ago. There are always outliers on both ends of the spectrum; however, in general, society's younger generation is more open to ideas such as homosexuality and legalized marijuana. 50 years ago these concepts would have been shunned and looked down upon. Social change consists of anything from changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organizations, or value systems. Society always want grow and progress; thus, change is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThe combination of biology and society is what makes us what we are and do what we do. Biology guides our responses to stimuli and our environment, and is based on generations of our ancestors surviving because of appropriate responses. Our social structures how how we carry out our biological responses. Therefore, I don;t think society changes our biological nature but instead dictates how we use it.
I would go with what Nick and Chris had to say. I believe that culture has to change through out the years. With the all the advances being made every decade our culture has to change to survive. Although culture has to change does not mean that it should not still follow morals or certain traditions.
ReplyDeleteI think that culture and society do have the ability to change because everything else in the world is changing. Our society and younger are open to more and broader ideas than our parents are. So therefore, things are going to change no matter what. I do not think tradition will necessarily change but will be modified over the years.
ReplyDeleteCulture and society can change and has changed. Our society and ideas are nothing like they were 100 years ago. Our culture and society change with our understanding of many things. We used to have legal slavery, that was abolished. There was segregation until society figured out that everyone regardless of race, gender, or religion is born equal. This is not something that we inherited. it is learned if it were inherited there is a small chance that anything would change overtime as dominate traits would rule over our ideas in society.
ReplyDeleteI think all three have the ability to change. I think our society, culture, and tradition change all the time. We may still have the same morals and principles as well as goals and achievements that have been passed down through generations, but it's the details of how we obtain these things that have changed. Like someone mention before we may still have the same traditions that some of our great relatives celebrated but they have still altered in how we celebrate them. Things are always going to be changing and it's up to us to change with it but still keep the foundation of what we believe our morals and principles are.
ReplyDeleteEverything has the ability to change. Nothing in this world stays the same. Everything around us is changing in some way or form. An example would be oral tradition. Somewhere down the line the tradition changes, and causes a snowball effect on the future generations, changing the way they think and act. Everyday social media is changing, and changing our outlook on our lives and the ways we should live. It changes our biological nature because it makes us think and act differently then the ways our ancestors did.
ReplyDeleteEverything changes as time changes. That being said, a lot of the practices that we do have been passed on by the previous generations. i do believe what is passed on always changes at least in some tiny way. This means that there will always be modifications going on but for the most part, the majority of what we believe will stay the same until there is evidence found altering our beliefs completely.
ReplyDeleteculture, society, tradition have the ability to change and that is clear when you look at the things we are doing to the things that our parents used to do. When our parents were growing up they didn't sit on a computer during class all day and they couldn't talk to their boyfriend or girlfriend over text message. They had to pic up the phone and call their girlfriend and hope that they answered so that you didn't have to have they awkward interaction with their parents. Technology is the largest reason why culture has changed and it will continue to change as well
ReplyDeleteThere will never be a satisfactory answer to this question. Some people are given a completely idyllic childhood and still grow up to do horrible things. On the flip side, some people grow up crime-infested neighborhoods, in single-parent households and become very successful members of society. Even looking at families with multiple children isn't conclusive. A family with three children could see all three children grow up and move in completely opposite directions, despite being raised the same way and exposed to the same things.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, nurture can mute aspects of nature. Nurture softens or humanizes natural instincts such as addictive tendencies. And nurture can modify previous nurture experiences, i.e. racism. Just because Grandma was taught to be dislike black people that doesn't mean that she is condemned to dislike them forever. But some hardwired genetic traits can't be overridden. If you're born genetically disposed to depression, someone loving you enough won't fix the problem. It can be lessened and managed, but it will still always be there.