Sociology: Culture, Nature, and Society

Introduction to Culture and Society

Evolution of Writing

Writing profoundly changed human cultural potential, enabling new forms of social organization.
It continues to evolve (e.g., acronyms like LOL and SMH in text messages, which might not be understood by older generations).

Understanding Societies

Modern societies are characterized by millions of people living in dense, crowded areas.
For most of human history, the Earth was less densely populated, and a majority of people only became city dwellers in the last $100$ years.
The "sociological imagination" is essential to understand pre-industrial societies.

Key Sociological Concepts

Sociobiology: An approach explaining animal and human behavior through biological principles.
Instincts: Fixed behavior patterns with genetic origins, present in all normal animals of a species.
Biological Determinism: The belief that observed differences between groups (e.g., men and women) are solely due to biological causes.
Subcultures: Values and norms held by a group within a wider society that are distinct from the majority.
Countercultures: Cultural groups within a wider society that largely reject majority values and norms.
Assimilation: The process where different cultures are absorbed into a mainstream culture.
Multiculturalism: The viewpoint that ethnic groups can coexist separately and share equally in economic and political life.
Ethnocentrism: The tendency to view other cultures through the lens of one's own, potentially misrepresenting them.
Cultural Relativism: The practice of judging a society by its own standards.
Cultural Universals: Values or modes of behavior shared by all human cultures.

The Nature/Nurture Debate

Historical Overview

The debate has existed for over a century.
1930s-1940s: Many social scientists emphasized biological factors, unsuccessfully trying to prove physical attributes determine personality.
1960s-1970s: Scholars emphasized culture; for example, some psychologists argued mental illness resulted from social labels rather than biochemical processes (Scheff, $1966$ ).
Today: With advances in genetics and brain neurophysiology, the focus is shifting back towards biological explanations.

Sociobiology and Its Claims

Emergence: Began in the $1970s$ with evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson's Sociobiology: The New Synthesis ( $1975$ ).
Definition: The application of biological principles to explain animal social behaviors, including human beings.
Wilson's Argument: Based on studies of insects and other social creatures, Wilson argued genes influence both physical traits and behavior.
Example (Baboons): Male baboons are larger and more aggressive, dominating females. Sociobiologists infer that genetic factors explain why men often hold positions of authority in human societies.
Reproductive Strategy: A pattern of behavior, shaped by evolutionary selection, that enhances offspring survival.
- Female Strategy: Females have a larger investment in reproductive cells (e.g., a fertilized egg takes nine months to develop). Thus, women are driven to protect this investment and children, avoiding promiscuity for the sake of securing protection.
- Male Strategy: Men tend towards promiscuity. From a species' perspective, this maximizes the probability of impregnation by moving from partner to partner.
This strategy is suggested to explain observed differences in sexual behavior and attitudes between men and women.

Critiques of Sociobiology

Sociobiologists acknowledge that genes don't $100$ percent determine behavior; for instance, men can choose non-aggressive actions.
However, social scientists have "roundly condemned" sociobiology for claiming that propensities for behaviors like violence are "genetically programmed" (Seville Statement on Violence, $1990$ ).

Sociological Perspective: Interaction of Nature and Nurture

Sociologists acknowledge a role for "nature" (biological factors) in shaping attitudes and behavior, but with significant caveats.
Example (Face Recognition): Babies only a few minutes old can recognize patterns resembling human faces (Cosmides & Tooby, $1994$ ; Johnson & Morton, $1991$ ).
Caution: The presence of basic reflexes and inborn abilities in babies does not imply that adult behavior is governed by instincts.
Sociologists strongly argue against biological determinism, the belief that differences between groups are wholly explained by biological causes. They emphasize conscious choices.

Cultural Diversity and Its Implications

Cultural Variation in Socialization

All cultures provide for childhood socialization, but the content and methods vary significantly.
Example: An American child learns multiplication in a classroom, while a child in a forest learns hunting from older tribe members.

Beauty Standards

All cultures have standards of beauty, but what is considered beautiful in one may be ugly in another (Elias, $1987$ ; Elias & Dunning, $1986$ ; Gault, $1988$ ).
Globalization's Impact: Some feminist scholars argue that global access to Western beauty images (e.g., via the Internet) is narrowing cultural definitions of beauty worldwide, increasingly emphasizing the physique cherished in many Western cultures (Sepúlveda & Calado, $2012$ ).

Varying Cultural Norms and Practices

The study of cultural differences underscores the importance of cultural learning in shaping behavior.
Behaviors, practices, and beliefs vary widely across cultures and can radically contrast with Western norms.
Food Examples: Westerners eat oysters but not kittens; both are considered delicacies in other parts of the world.
Sexual Behavior Examples: Kissing is a normal sexual behavior in the West but is unknown or regarded as disgusting in other cultures.

Challenges of Cultural Differences

Real-World Example (France, $2011$ ): The French government banned Muslim women from wearing full-face veils in public, citing a belief that the niqab oppressed women and violated French national values of liberty and equality. This illustrates tension between subgroup and national values.
Diversity in Industrialized Societies: Industrialized societies, contrary to being uniform, are themselves culturally diverse.

The Development of Human Culture

Early Human Origins and Culture

Evolution: The first humans are believed to have evolved from apelike creatures in Africa approximately $4$ million years ago. This is supported by archaeological evidence and genetic/blood similarities between chimpanzees and humans.
First Humanlike Culture: Evidence dates back only $2$ million years ago.
Characteristics of Early Cultures: FASHIONED stone tools, derived sustenance from hunting animals and gathering berries, harnessed fire, and established highly cooperative ways of life. Their hand prints suggest a capacity for abstract thought.

Culture as an Adaptive Mechanism

Overcoming Physical Limitations: Culture enabled early humans to compensate for physical shortcomings like lack of claws, sharp teeth, or speed compared to other animals (Deacon, $1998$ ).
Increased Flexibility and Survival: Culture freed humans from dependence on instinctual, genetically determined responses to the environment, a characteristic of other species. The more complex human brain allowed for greater adaptive learning to cope with major environmental shifts like the Ice Age.
Examples: Humans learned to build fires and sew clothes, demonstrating flexibility to survive unpredictable challenges.
This adaptability allowed humans to spread their ideas and tools across the world.

Environmental Influence on Early Cultures

Early humans were closely tied to their physical environment, lacking the technology to significantly modify their immediate surroundings (Bennett, $1976$ ; Harris, $1975$ , $1978$ , $1980$ ).
Their ability to obtain food, clothing, and shelter depended heavily on local physical resources.
Cultures varied widely as people adapted to specific geographic and climatic conditions.
Example: Desert cultures, where resources were scarce, differed greatly from rainforest cultures, where resources abounded.
This human adaptiveness resulted in a rich tapestry of cultures globally.

Future Outlook: Globalization and Technology

Technology and other forces of globalization present both challenges and opportunities for future global society.

Revisiting Nature vs. Nurture: A Sociological Stance

Given that humans evolved as part of nature, it might seem logical to assume human thinking and behavior are purely products of biology and evolution.
This constitutes the core of the enduring "nature/nurture" controversy: Are we shaped by our biology, or by learning and experiences (nurture)?
While biologists and some psychologists emphasize biological factors, sociologists strongly stress the role of learning and culture.
Sociologists contend that, because humans are capable of making conscious choices, neither biology nor culture *