With the birth of each individual, the social construction begins. Family and friends project their influences on the new-comer, in an attempt to build another tool to spread their unique set of beliefs and preferences. From the moment we were born, we began learning about how the world works according to those teaching us.
But who is right? When comparing our culture to that of terrorist cultures from the middle east, who is to say what ideas are right and wrong? Can we blame suicide bombers for being terrible human beings, when they were raised to accept the culture thrust upon them by their peers, just as we were? We have learned to treat martyrs of our own cause differently from those of other causes.
When studying the reasons for why things are the way they are, the goal isn't to solve the world's problems, but to get a better grasp of why there is so much diversity in beliefs, perceptions and preferences around the globe. When Becker set out to discover how people learned to smoke marijuana, he wasn't looking for a solution to end or spread the use of marijuana, but rather sought to understand how we can learn to accept or reject new perceptions.
I agree on the fact that Becker is looking for a way to understand our culture so we can understand others culture. Becker doesn't have a political bias to his argument, it is a purely informative article. As taught in class, everything is subjective and that point was brought up when you said that everyone has their own views on the world. This subjectivity answers why some people love to smoke marijuana and others are repulsed by it. Subjectivity is key to culture.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the fact that we learn the world through the people teaching it to us. Much like you said, who are we to say what's right and wrong? It's so easy to convict everyone around us of "unfair practices", when in reality, it's exactly the opposite to them. It's interesting to me how differently we treat everyone who's not in our social culture, claiming that what they're fighting for is completely immoral and incorrect. When you really think about it though, aren't we all fighting for the same cause? To protect and defend whatever our own individual culture has taught us is necessary?
ReplyDelete& I 100% agree with the fact that attempting to solve the world's problems through reading culture is not the case, but rather trying to comprehend everyone else's perspective.
While I agree with a lot of your points, I think that part of your argument takes self responsibility out of the mix entirely. It can sometimes be a convenient excuse to try to see the best in people when we say that it's their culture that made them do it. Yes, the suicide bombers were made to believe that their mission was just under their god. However, I don't think it's entirely fair to just write it off as cultural differences. Someone who grows up in a terrorist society doesn't think of themselves as being terrorists, that's a label that Americans have put onto them. I think it's the responsibility of the potential terrorists, or people from whatever specific group we're talking about at that moment, and look outwardly from themselves and their little bubble and understand the culture of someone else. Before you bomb someone, ask yourself, is this an appropriate reaction to what they're doing? Is my own safety at odds by their very existence? Is this a reaction that they would understand and take appropriate meaning from? I know that this is all easier said than done, but I think that we're not giving people enough credit to say that they're all mindless drones of their society and that they'll give in to all of society's pressures at the drop of a hat. People need to take responsibility for their own intelligence. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.
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