A human society’s habits, beliefs and values are often called its culture. People usually don’t think about these cultural aspects of their lives, but they are the constants that distinguish one human community from another. Culture is a system of knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and behaviors that are learned through communication and imitation within a group over generations. It includes the arts, languages and traditions of a group and it is reflected in its institutions and laws.
Anthropologist Edward Tylor coined the term “culture” to describe a pattern of life that is distinctive to each human community. His ideas were greatly expanded upon by other researchers, particularly American anthropologist Margaret Mead, who described a wide range of elements in human culture including language, religion, cuisine, music and social customs.
The word itself is derived from the root words cultus, meaning cultivation, and cultura, which means to cultivate or to cultivate an ideal. Culture is a way of life, and it has a powerful impact on humans as they grow into adulthood, develop relationships, form communities and create civilizations. Culture is a dynamic process that changes, sometimes quickly, at other times more slowly, as internal and external factors change.
A major challenge in the study of culture is that it’s almost impossible to define. A definition must be fruitful, according to Deutsch (1963), in that it must be parsimonious and focus on the most important characteristics of the phenomenon, while also establishing relations with other concepts and adding value overall.
Despite the difficulty in defining culture, many scholars work to understand it by analyzing and comparing its components. They may look at the evolution of a particular cultural aspect over time, for example, by studying the growth of a musical style like the Beatles. They may also study how the changing nature of technology and globalization influence cultural dynamics.
In their search to understand culture, scholars study the beliefs and attitudes that shape human behavior, from magical beliefs and racial hierarchies to everyday assumptions and prejudices. Historians who concentrate on culture examine these notions and the rituals that express them, from food and fashion to political and social customs. They also look at the ways in which these notions, both conscious and unconscious, inform people’s actions. Examples of this work include the study of parades in 19th-century America, the writings of Renaissance intellectuals and the medical practices implied in 15th-century frescoes. These are a few of the many disciplines that work to understand human culture, a task that’s far from finished.