Introduction of Culture vs culture

Edward Tylor (1871) defined "culture" as "The complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customer and others. It is capability and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

The classic characteristics of culture:
1. Open endedness

Culture is not fixed, has mess make up by thread and pitches; can be added or dropped.

2. Lack of boundary

Though there are cultural difference in different ethnicity, culture should not be confused with ethnicity. Culture can be acquired through learning, observing. Culture is different from community or society.

3. Social transmission

Culture is not transmitted by birth or genetic make up. (racism or stereotyping often believe so). Human beings have capacity to acquire Culture, when responding to difference environment, it ends up developing different and diversified cultures.

4. Capability and habits

Culture can be divided into two levels:
1) in focus level, when people are aware of such culture and can easily put to description.
2) out focus level, when people subconsciously do aware of but it hard to put into words, or require some conscious efforts to do so.

Most of cultures, we discuss here, are embedded in subconscious level, which is out focus level. In other words, culture can be existed in concept or notion.

The process of making culture to be habits is a process of hegemony.

Culture with a capital C=human nature

Culture is the property of all human being, and hence of the human species. Homo sapiens. Yet, human beings are not only creatures who have culture, social transmitted behaviors are also found in other animals.

However, what unique for human beings is human beings require Culture to functional properly. Culture is required for human being's personal and social development.
eg. baby in extremely exclusive environment may turn up to be dysfunctional, unsocialized, absent of basic social skills.

Each human being has Culture, in other words, human nature.

The evolutionary biology of Culture.

1). We belong to the same species,
The genetic component by and large the same.
The selective pressure, selection of genes in order to adapt changing environment.
That selective pressure is Culture.

2). Culture as our ecological niche, must be the main reason for human being to remain single species.

a. Despite of different of local culture, all human being require the same demand of living condition, the same demand of social interaction.
b. All human beings have genetic predisposition required, cultural and environmental inputs.

3). Human Evolution and Culture

Assuming, human being is evolved from Apes. There are three points suggested that human beings are Cultural required beings.

a. the development of foot in Apes enables it to walk up right, therefore it will have better vision, and better chance to survive.
b. The up walking position leads the new born babies to be born in a less advanced developed state comparing to other animals eg horse. That decides the newborn baby is dependent to mother for the first few years.
c. The nerve system follows to develop up. The more complex communications among members of tribe Apes further stimulates brain's development.

Biologically, human beings are Cultural creature, but individuals are required to make choose to respond the environment.

while I understand Evolution Theory offers some theoretic framework to explain why human being is unique cultural creature, I don't accept it as the truth. I will offer the alternative explanation right after this