In this video, he discusses how different cultural differences are but how they are the same as well. The question he asked at the beginning was if we thought they were the same, different, or are they both? How he started out his presentation was talking about when he was talking to this gentleman about how he was excited for this opportunity he had with this Jay Leno show and the other guy was discussing how he was excited for this Ted Talk opportunity. Once he asked what the Ted Talk was, he started to explain, but then says, “If you don’t know what that is, then never mind.” And that was the end of their discussion. Then when he went to get his second coffee from the coffee shop, which took place in Burbank, and when the employee asked him what he wanted, he told him that he wanted helium in his coffee. Only because he had seen a sign in the shop before that said, “helium $2 each” and then he goes on to say how each of the three people from that story were living in three completely different worlds. Cultures help us predefine the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the World around us. He, then goes on to defining the word, culture. One of the few he lists is “the beliefs and values are the way of life.” But the main one that he wants us to pay attention to is “All people are the same; it’s only their habits that are different.” Let’s be honest, we all measure cultures. There are millions of other dimensions. Following that, he goes on to give examples. The first one he gives, is how we look at people interpret what missing the bus means. Georgians will be okay with it if they come into an appointment late and say they missed the bus. It would be the buses fault because it was going too fast. It would be acceptable for them. But if others used that excuse, it’s not the buses fault, but only our own. In Turkey, they stand up when elderly enter the room. In the example, the Turkish man stands when his father enters the room but that does not mean the Turks show more respect for the elderly than someone of a different culture. It all depends on the paradigm we are in that shapes how we all go about our lives. He then makes a joke about America, Canada and Mexico as an apartment where America is the party going on, Canada is the people a floor above trying to get them to calm down, and Mexico is the people who show up uninvited. Personally I found that joke extremely funny had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard. He later adds, in America we say everything is allowed unless it's prohibited. In Germany they say everything is prohibited unless its allowed. and in latin america they say everything is allowed even if it's prohibited. Tying back into the Georgians, they say why do we have to care about it now; let it happen first and then we will find out what's allowed and what's prohibited. He then dials it back and talks about cultural miscommunication that took place when a plane crashed. The plane was coming from Columbia to New York with a Colombian pilot and a New Yorker Air traffic control officer. The pilot told Traffic control where they were and then said that they were running out of fuel. Columbia is a power of distance culture the more important information was at the end rather than at the front like Americans are used to hearing. Since it was second it was assumed to not be a big deal and the New Yorker ignored it causing 250 lives lost. At the end of the video he puts back up the questions: Are we different, are we the same, or are we Both? The answer he gives is that he does not know, but he does know that those differences create animosity between people who do not act the same, it does not matter whether they are from the same culture or not. He adds in too that no matter how small you may feel that you can make a difference just by changing one word to another, by changing Hate to Forgive, than Forgive to thank you. Which in our opinion is what the world needs right now, more forgiveness and more appreciation. Schmidt789 Cassiopia789
There are many different cultures out there that can lead to a vast number of different behaviors. It's easy to define people we do not know through such menial categorization. If you never talk to people, to actually get to know them, you will never see what lies below their mimicry of others in their society. It's the same logic as saying that all cardboard boxes must have the same contents because they come from the same place, while never opening one. The point being, that the focus of your comment (and the video, to be fair) on behavior from people of different nationalities can mislead people to the conclusion that everyone in a society is a complete robotic slave to what is considered normal. However, let it not be said that you did not make a lot of good points. Patterns of behavior DO exist, and are greatly tied to society and its culture, and it is common for people to measure one another by their culture. It is important to recognize, however, that behavior is vastly different than intention. If we want to be able to live alongside those of different cultural backgrounds, then we should always be thinking about the intentions of others, and focus less on trivial formalities.
I too liked the idea of simply(not as easy for some) changing the words we may use from negatives to positives. Doing so can make a difference among mankind and have a huge impact society.
Some people may feel as though it's "only" a word or two, may even hear words uttered like what difference would it really make? But think about it this way, telling/texting someone you "hate" them may be all that person need to pull the trigger or tightened the belt loop around their neck. Opposite of that thought, telling that same person you "forgive" them, showing support or some form of compassion may just save their life and being them off that ledge. Saying hello or smiling works just the same in my opinion, it doesn't take much. For example, your words may land you a trip to the big house, like the young lady in Massachusetts who used text messages to "encourage" her then boyfriend to commit suicide. Mental illness is real people, there is power in our words, please use them wisely. mommyoftwo789
I agree as well about changing words. I learned early on as a manager of a department of 130 healthcare workers that you cannot always give feedback on only the negative. And since we are speaking of culture, the culture of getting a review from a manager is usually stressful because we are always nervous about what we will be told we do wrong. I always told my employees what they did right and then spoke of what improvements even on the positive things they did would make them look even better to peers and patients. Just simply changing the way you say something makes a huge difference on the meaning that is being portrayed.-MommaJ789
I liked the way this speaker used different scenarios to show how cultures collide, how cultures are different, and how cultures are similar. Understanding and learning about different cultures can help us to not experience culture shock or cultural miscommunication when we travel outside the United States or traveling within the United States.
The ending was awesome when he talked about how we all can make a difference no matter how small. Changing the wording in each email to your enemy. I agree with both of you that this world does need more forgiveness and more appreciation then maybe, just maybe this world could be a better place. Granny789
Wow! Just from reading this comment, I can review quickly what I just watch plus more explanation for each joke and meaning the speaker want us to understand. I understand his opening story about three different people with three different worlds met in the same spot, and I Iike this illustration. Thank for explaining the example the speaker gave about the airplane accident. The example gave the evidence of how culture different is serious problem and led to the huge impact like 250 losses of this misunderstanding situation. It hard to not be cultural stereotype because as the human tend to dislike other behave different from them. But we have to understand that every individual are unique, even two people came from the same culture can be very different. How can people be friend or interact when they tend to dislike other different from them? People are smart and they learn to accept it or ignore it. That is how we the human can survive and make the world better. I really enjoyed this TED talk and it was mind blowing how important it to pay attention to others with a respectful and kind approach and actually see that we have all the same components and what make us different in the eyes of others is the fact that we all have different habits just like the quote from Confucius. The miss interpretation of life took many lives during the Avianca flight accident. I can say that I will try to be more aware so that I can try to avoid this kind of mistakes and to be kind to others the same way I would like to be treated. Koi789
I agree with you one hundred percent on your last statement. The world does need more forgiveness and appreciation. It would be so cool to see if everyone would stop judging people from different cultures and give them chance how much we would learn from each other. I thought it was a very powerful statement about everyone being the same and only their habits are different, because it is so true. People spend so much time looking at what is different and judging the person than getting to know them and realizing that we are all the same, we all have feelings. I found it interesting when he brought up war in the video it was a good way to put in a different perspective of how we are all the same. As stated the families on the other side are feeling pain just as much as we are when we lose someone. The part where you mentioned the animosity between people who act differently really hit home with me. I’ve lived all over the US and this is so true just within our country. I see the way some northerners talk about people from the south. I’ve seen the way that people from the Midwest talk about people from the West Coast. I didn’t pick this up in the video, probably because I was typing my responses, but it really is true especially when I started thinking about it. We’re not talking about people from Canada and people from Uruguay, this is within our own borders. It was truly eye opening once I went back and rewatched the video how close to home this hits. In regard to the part about writing the email I think it is important to remember that even if it seems small to you it could mean the world to someone else. EPIC789 & pmed789
In society today we believe that we are both the same and different when it comes to the cultural meaning. We are different because there is so much to life. A few ways that the three of us are different is ethnicity, language, traditions, and thought processing. We are a team made up of African American, Caucasian, and Mexican. There is two of us that speak English and one that speaks English and Spanish. Although the language we speak is something different when it comes to each other language is just another factor of how we are different, because what the two of us speak English vs. the one that speaks Spanish, the only thing that is in the way is how we communicate with each other. How we communicate and what we communicate about just plays a major role on how everyone just communicates differently but yet in the same form. Just by our background and language, that shows we are already different in just the beginning. There are also rituals, symbols, beliefs, and values that can play a role into our lives. Our beliefs and values can be the same as someone else’s outside of our group and in each other but they are different in their own ways because everything else makes us who we are. All of us come from different backgrounds, just as we are all exposed to many different things but we can all be the similar yet the same at the same time. If we look at culture differences we come from many different backgrounds. One of us had this personal experience: Unfortunately differences do create animosity and fear of the unknown. I have to admit I didn’t know much about Muslim people. My only exposure was through the media, which was predominately negative of course. I started working at Unity-Point Methodist and I was surrounded with many foreign physicians. I worked one on one with a Muslim physician. We had a difficult time in the beginning because I didn’t understand why he needed to pray five times a day and what that entailed. I was brave and started asking questions, I was nervous because the only exposure I had was negative. To my surprise he was friendly and happy to share why he prayed and what it entailed. This improved our working relationship immensely. I can say that this physician and I are very good friends and we respect each other very much. Another experience one of us had was a divide within her own culture, which was impacted by a difference in economical backgrounds.
When the big question is asked; are we the same, different, or both? I had a difficult time coming up with this solution. In my head, the first thought that I had in mind was that we were all different. But once I watched the whole video all the way through, I was able to change my mind on that perspective. I think that we are all both. Yes, we can be both, the same and different in various ways. We don’t all have to agree on certain things, but when comparing on culture to another, they may be very similar, while, if you compared one of those two to another one, they may be completely different. It all depends on where. Even comparing people of the same ethnic background to each other, or comparing people of the same community they can be both as well. They can be of the same religion but different race. Yet can also be of the same race and different religions. Cultures vary family to family and even person to person. Yet that is how the world stays interesting and fun. We encounter people every day that impact us on how we feel that day and how we go about life. Personally, I find life to be more interesting when it is surrounded by people who add to a conversation rather than be yes-men and agree with everything you say. Schmidt789 Cassiopia789
Part 2 My grandfather still lives in Mexico and for his birthday I attempted to send him some money in order for my cousin to be able to purchase some chocolates for him. I was made aware by my mother that my grandfather has a sweet tooth, so I figured it would be a sweet gesture for him to receive some chocolates due to him not being able to have the luxury of this. Instead of him reacting the way that I thought he would he actually scolded me for doing this. He did not believe that I should have spent money that way and that it was not a necessity. This made me realize that even though we have the same culture we have different economic views due to our geographical location and necessities. While another one of us experiences the differences in family issues. I have always been exposed to my mother side. I have grown up to only know my mothers side which is Caucasian and the history, values, and beliefs. My mother has raised me in a close family home that yes we have our ups and downs but we stick together and get through our problems together. Family events are always well planned, everyone is very successful in life with marriage and children. I have grandparents that are “old fashion” and are by the books which rubs off on us as grandkids and our parents. But if I were to look at my dad’s side which is African American, everything feels broken because I’m not exposed to that side much. Its not that they are failures because they aren’t but our beliefs and values are completely different. I have found out over time when I do socialize with them that when it comes to family events nothing is planned, not everyone is close to each other, and a lot of my dad side of the family don’t have the marriage and children going hand in hand. I have learned over time that things are completely different through life experiences. I then go back and ask my mother questions on why its like that and she never has a good answer and that’s not her fault but I’m learning there’s a culture difference that separate’s us. In conclusion, after watching the video it really made us think about what he prosed: Are we different, are we the same, or are we both(same and different)? We agree with the speaker that it is still a “I don’t know” answer. Which we have to admit that it was disappointing because we were waiting for his point of view. We think the answer would be that we are all these different things at many different times in our lives. We think it’s important to point out that we will experience these with all types of people as well as our own culture we interact with on a dialy basis.
I completely agree that there are so many differences in the world that we live in, we could probably go on for eons listing how different we are. The blog above mentions that although we do have all these differences we still have some tiny cultural similarities, that even those are a little different when given more thought. I agree, and what language we speak may not all be the same and may look physically distinct on paper, but the action is all the same. It is the way a person gets their message to another human being, no matter what it sounds or looks like. Although there are all these differences, there are just as many similarities to find through the cultural haze. Even though our differences are huge you are right that we have similarities. I enjoyed reading the different scenarios each of you experienced. One thing I did notice is the similarities between the lines, you all learn something from your experiences. Whether it be a moral, new found information or the difference in family values, you all learned something new from someone else. That’s what learning different cultures is about right? We learn to appreciate the lessons that we learn that are within each story. Each one of your stories spoke to me and I can relate to each one with my own experiences in life. You spoke about how the media impacts our lives so pervasively. Sociologically, we're all living in our own little cultural bubble, and unless we pop it on our own, like the example of the blogger at Unity Point Methodist, making a pointed effort to educate and re-evaluate their point of view, we can't truly grow as human beings, nor as a society. Media and family are huge influences on us, and media and family are cornerstones of culture. That begs again the question that seemed to these bloggers so unsatisfactorily answered. Are we different? Are we the same? Are we both? The point of view that you had to offer was not only brilliant, but so satisfying that I want to put it up on youtube. We we all feel different from someone. We will all feel that wonderful sense of same-ness and kinship. And sometimes, when you're looking dead in the face of someone wonderful and frustrating and confusing and brilliant- you'll be very unfortunate to find that you can feel distant difference and sweet sameness in the same person. At different points in our lives, as we evolve, as culture and society and people around us evolve, we will feel differently. Laws will change to make different things socially acceptable. Life will change along with it. Culture will shift, people will shift accordingly. Life is long, and people are changeable. I don't know is a very philosophical answer, truthful perhaps, but unhelpful in the way that a shrug of the shoulders can make you want to strangle someone. Your answer is much more comforting. The difference might not last forever. Wait, and at some point in your life, you'll feel same-ness with someone. Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
You make very good points! I personally connect with your examples, especially the ones in part two of your post. I grew up similarly in a family that had different cultures, that had different ways of doing things. My family was more introverted, while my extended family was more extroverted. In a way, this made us feel distant, and more excluded, on both sides. It was harder to connect with each other. My family is also pretty frugal, and would’ve reacted the same about only using money for necessities. Our extended family, while not “rich”, were freer with spending for everyone in their family. In my family’s eyes, this was wasting money, while in their eyes, it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. It's funny how family is the same but so different. I have a grandmother that will not except gifts for her birthday, but always gives money for everyone else birthdays. She has its a waste and to save our money. She grew up always giving and only getting what she needed not what she wanted. Not only is culture different but generations. How I see things is not how my grandparents or parents see things. My brother and I are ten years apart and I see my self wondering why does he think like that well its his generation. For example gay marriage my great grandma said she never thought she would see that let alone it being legal. As for myself I see it as normal. Papyrus789 Gander789
Are we different or are we the same? “All people are the same, it is only their habits that are different.” At the very beginning of the video we are faced with this question, which I will admit is a very challenging question because each side has a valid argument but at the end of the day we are all people. Just because our context is different does not mean that we are different as people. In the video, he gives the example of running late, one person would say I missed the bus. Another person from a different culture might say I am late because the bus was to fast to catch. Even though one blames themselves and the other blames the bus they are both still getting to the main point of being late. Another example he used was grieving when a family member dies. When a family member dies in America, a person will feel pain, sorrow and remorse as well as grieve for the loss of life. In Russia, do people not have those same feelings? What about Mexico? We, as a people, all have those feelings when someone we love or care about dies. It might not necessarily be to the extent as others, but we still grieve. Even though some countries or cultures grieve differently, it’s still grieving. The same could be said for a being hurt physically. If I lacerate my leg bad enough to require some sort of medical intervention, it will still produce pain no matter what culture or country I come from. While this is the most basic way form of trying to understand how we are all alike, we are also very different. Take for instance the way children are viewed. In the US, we put our children into the school system so that they can learn skills and get an education. This way that when they become adults they have a shot at becoming successful and being a productive member of society. In other countries, children don’t go to school. Instead they may have work on the family farm, work in a factory or at the very worst be sold as soldiers to fight in wars. Do all societies VALUE children? I would think so, but it’s what they do to earn that value that is different. The same could be said for the elderly. In the US, most seniors that are healthy enough are completely independent. In other countries like India, the children completely take over care and responsibility for their parents and grandparents at a certain point. An example of this in the US would be that once seniors cannot take care of themselves, a large majority of them end up living in some sort of assisted living facility or a nursing home where care is provided by licensed healthcare workers. In other cultures the family would end up taking care of them. Does this mean that people in the United States care any less about the elderly than people from India? I would like to think not, our culture is just different than theirs. Our elderly still have care given to them, it’s just how we go about having them cared for is different. So given those examples we can see how cultures are different, but even with those differences we are still very much the same. Towards the end of the video he talked about if you were to send an email to your enemy and put the subject as “15 things I hate about you “ and listed them. Then you change hate to forgive, and forgive to thank and the information has changed. By changing the words you are growing as a person. To me the video made me realize that once you realize that we are really all the same you have already grown as a person, and once you start treating everyone the same then you are starting to make the change the world needs to see. EPIC789 & pmed789
We think people are both the same and different. However we do see your point of view on how people may actually be the same and it's just their habits that are different. We agree with many of the examples you provide. You make it so everyone can look at this post and some how relate to it. We also found the bus example rather interesting, that in one country it's more acceptable to be late and in another it's frowned upon. Here in the United States we are less hands on when our loved ones pass away. We have other trained professionals take care of our loved ones. In other countries the family is more involved in the funeral and burial process. In many other countries this process is much longer than in the United States. However we believe that you also have to look at other things lke economic backgrounds and religion. That also plays a big role in cultural differences. For example in the United States you said that most elderly will end up in a nursing home, but also in the United Stated people can rely on social security as an income, or a means of paying for that home health or assisted living facility. In other countries this is something that is not offered. Along the same line, many countries do not offer public schools or parents are not able to send their children to school for a variety of reasons. We think that there are many different aspects that play into this and we have to view many different things besides just cultural differences and realize there are also differencs that are impactd because of religious views and economic backgrounds. We really like the speakers idea of typing the email in three different ways. We think this is great advice, espcially in this day and age. We are very quick to send an email, facebook, and or twitter message without putting much thought into it. We don't think about the long term affects that our words may have on ourselves and others. There are major consequences for our actions. This advice / example given allows us to think about we are feeling and why. And send a message that is productive, because negative only breeds more negative. AnimalLover789 Redline789 Unknownzeeha789
What is culture? Culture is the way we think, how we act, and what we own. It links us to our past and guides our future. To understand what culture is we need to keep in mind both thought and things. There is nonmaterial culture, which are the ideas created by members of a society and material culture, which is the physical things created by members of society. Culture shapes what we do, what we think, and how we feel. In this video, the speaker asks a question of “are we different, are we the same or are we different and the same?” He gives a definition of culture as defined by Confucious as “All people are the Same; its only their Habits that are Different”. The world has cultural differences and people often view their own way of life as “natural”. Sharing certain beliefs and values. Since we as individuals view our own behavior as the typical “norm” we create cultural differences. This could lead to culture shock, a feeling of disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. I thought the example with the helium balloon was very interesting. He asked the coffee shop worker to add helium in his coffee. This is not the typical “norm”. I mean who adds helium to their coffee. The coffee worker’s definition of “helium” probably is a chemical element that’s in gas form in which makes you incapable of pouring it into coffee. On the other hand, the speaker could have been from a different culture where the word “helium” had a total different meaning causing a misunderstanding of cultures. Another example of cultural differences he used was the “America-Canada-Mexico” scenario. This speaker talks about the humorous aspect of America’s relationship with Canada and Mexico as if America is throwing a huge party and inviting Canada, but Canada doesn’t want to come to the party because they weren’t invited, and America states that Canada should come anyway because Mexico came and they weren’t invited either. This to me is a sensitive area because it sounds like he is crossing into possibly dangerous territory by joking about illegal immigration. Having a sense of humor about the differences of certain society’s culture is okay, but in certain social situations it could be devastating. The speaker talked about the Avianca Flight from Columbia that resulted in death of 250 people due to cultural miscommunication.
This gentleman talks about many different aspects of life in many different parts of the world, often comparing life and culture to life in what is obviously his homeland, Georgia. But in a way, this kind of comes across as slightly annoying and almost a bit arrogant, as if he’s just bragging about his life. Although it clearly doesn’t justify someone standing up and walking out during his speech. I could sympathize with someone who wanted to, in a way. He is very proud of his culture and who wouldn’t be. Yes, he made several references to his Georgian culture, but he used them to compare the similarities amongst cultures. He mentioned the topic of lateness when a person must catch the bus. He stated that “in the American culture a person may say I was late because I missed the bus” but a person from his Georgian culture would say “I’m late because of the bus”. Even though the language content is worded differently the meaning is the same. They both were late. This brings up values. Being late is okay in the Georgian culture, no one makes a big fuss about it. In the States being late is a sign of disrespect to another person’s time. We all share the same basic universal human values, such as family life, respect to our elders, and commitment. Just like the speaker stated when a person loses a loved one no matter what culture you are from we have the same feeling of grief. He states that he doesn’t know if we are all the same, different, or both. Then he seems to almost explain how we are both. I believe it’s pretty simple that we are both. Whether you’re talking about people in the same culture, or people all over the world, we all have things about us that differ greatly from within the same culture, and we have things in common with people that live clear across the globe from us. Personally, I don’t really see how he truly does not know, especially after all the experience and knowledge he displays from what he talks about having done. I’m really not trying to insult this speaker, but it just seems really odd that with all his experiences in life, he seriously doesn’t know if human beings across the world are different, exactly the same, or if we’re both. I say the answer is painfully obvious…. both. Forever. Whether we like it or not, whether we try to be only one or the other, I don’t think there will ever be any possibility of us ever not being both the same in some ways and different in others.
The speaker on the video spoke about a personal story that he experienced with two strangers in a coffee shop and he saw that him, and the other two guys (the TED guy, and the coffee guy) were living in three different worlds, and that, each one of them has his own predefined subjective truths, and realities that collided into that small cafe, and then he says that CULTURES do that too, and also he says "Cultures helps us predefined the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the world around us." I think that the three characters of his story represent three different CULTURES or three different GROUPS with three different perspectives or views about the same world, with its own truth and realities, three different CULTURES with three different views about how the world looks like, behaves, and how the world it should be. I can say that every CULTURE sees the world in different way because every CULTURE think and act in different way. On the other hands he provided three definitions of CULTURE, and posed three questions to talk about cultural differences. The first definition was "beliefs and values and shoots, arts of life." the second one was "it's the collective programming of the mind.", and the third one "all people are the same; it’s only their habits, that are different.”. My favorite definition of CULTURE is "Culture is the ways we think, the ways we act, and all the material objects that together we own." In the Hispanic community we think to keep all the members of family together, very close and that thinking makes us to act cooperating to sponsor members of the family to bring them to the country to provide them better opportunities. All the material objects, all the physical things created by our craftsman give us an identity and the feeling to feel proud from the CULTURE we come from.
The speaker mentioned the Power of distance, the individualism and the collectivism, the masculinity and the feminity, the uncertainly avoidance, the time orientation as dimensions that explained how different people are. For instance if we talk about time orientation, in some CULTURE arriving late is not a problem, in other is considered rude. The speaker on the video mentioned that en Georgia is acceptable to be late, but maybe in England could be rude.
Also, he posed that some research suggests that most of the human basic values are universal, values such as: love of children, justice, respect to the elderly, tradition, success, money. What makes us different is the way we express those values. Well, I see that some CULTURES confine elderly in nursing homes while others CULTURES keep their elderly people with them at home because of the high respect they feel for their old people. This value, the respect to the elderly, it's stronger in some CULTURES than other CULTURES. Finally, I can say that some CULTURES consider right to use CULTURAL DIFFERENCES or CULTURAL STEREOTYPES to make jokes, but whoever wants to make those kinds of jokes has to have good knowledge about that CULTURE to avoid hurt feelings and be involved in a serious trouble. the_soccer_league789
The speaker on the video spoke about a personal story that he experienced with two strangers in a coffee shop and he saw that him, and the other two guys (the TED guy, and the coffee guy) were living in three different worlds, and that, each one of them has his own predefined subjective truths, and realities that collided into that small cafe, and then he says that CULTURES do that too, and also he says "Cultures helps us predefined the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the world around us." I think that the three characters of his story represent three different CULTURES or three different GROUPS with three different perspectives or views about the same world, with its own truth and realities, three different CULTURES with three different views about how the world looks like, behaves, and how the world it should be. I can say that every CULTURE sees the world in different way because every CULTURE think and act in different way. On the other hands he provided three definitions of CULTURE, and posed three questions to talk about cultural differences. The first definition was "beliefs and values and shoots, arts of life." the second one was "it's the collective programming of the mind.", and the third one "all people are the same; it’s only their habits, that are different.”. My favorite definition of CULTURE is "Culture is the ways we think, the ways we act, and all the material objects that together we own." In the Hispanic community we think to keep all the members of family together, very close and that thinking makes us to act cooperating to sponsor members of the family to bring them to the country to provide them better opportunities. All the material objects, all the physical things created by our craftsman give us an identity and the feeling to feel proud from the CULTURE we come from. The speaker mentioned the Power of distance, the individualism and the collectivism, the masculinity and the feminity, the uncertainly avoidance, the time orientation as dimensions that explained how different people are. For instance if we talk about time orientation, in some CULTURE arriving late is not a problem, in other is considered rude. The speaker on the video mentioned that en Georgia is acceptable to be late, but maybe in England could be rude. Also, he posed that some research suggests that most of the human basic values are universal, values such as: love of children, justice, respect to the elderly, tradition, success, money. What makes us different is the way we express those values. Well, I see that some CULTURES confine elderly in nursing homes while others CULTURES keep their elderly people with them at home because of the high respect they feel for their old people. This value, the respect to the elderly, it's stronger in some CULTURES than other CULTURES. Finally I can say that some CULTURES consider right to use CULTURAL DIFFERENCES or CULTURAL STEREOTYPES to make jokes, but whoever wants to make those kinds of jokes has to have good knowledge about that CULTURE to avoid hurt feelings and be involved in a serious trouble. PART 1 the_soccer_league789 Navajo789
There are many examples of cultural differences in everyday life. Ones that you see just walking to class and back. The way we express our culture depends on so many variables. One example I liked was how people see planes. Generally a more rich culture sees a plane as just a basic means of transportation. As a more poor culture is amazed by the fact that they are flying in a literal airbus. Cultures collide all the time. That was a main point the speaker was trying to convey. He used the coffee shop example, but everyone has examples to share. For example just today in a restaurant, I was sitting next to a very vocal Latin American family, whereas my family being german was very quiet and did not talk much. In some ways cultures are very opposite, but in other ways they are the same. Even though two different cultures have different ways of saying they are late, they both have the same underlying meaning. That they were late. The speaker says that human values are universally but they way we express them are different. He goes on to talk about respect for the elderly. Some cultures respect their elderly by standing when they approach, or by letting them sit while you stand, however other cultures may not do that but still have the same amount of respect for the elderly. Many people think that culture is the same among people that come from similar backgrounds. However, that is not true. The speaker used an example that him and his brother, even though they are from the same family, are very culturally different. One brother acts like he has the culture of a Scandinavian, and the other brother acts like he is more from Brazil. War happens because of cultural differences. One country sees another country doing something they do not like and war breaks out. However, both countries will mourn the same. Both families of the war will be sad if a loved one dies. Culture causes problems, but also brings people together. As explained in the video culture brings out Animosity. People do not like people or things that are different from themselves. We as people need to be more open to culture as it can greatly help us function, and enjoy our daily lives. PART 2 The_soccer_league789 Navajo789
There are many different ways to express culture.We all have different ways to do that. In America there are consequences for being late .You might be fired...wrote up.. laughed at...made to feel guilty and lastly...you have to take ALL the blame .And sometimes death might not evencount .depending on what kind of boss you have .In Georgian cuiture its accpected to be late. If you are late no matter if it was the bus that you where late for .you woke up late..its not YOUR fault. That's a very convenient way to look at things from an Americans point of view ,but to them its no big deal. I have been late to different places such as work or class.Its either you get a comment from a co=worker saying what happened . As far as a class in concerned you DEFINETLY will get the class stare from everybody and they are probably thinking "why is he late " especially if its a consistent thing. I have been around people who don't have fathers or mother and some who do and some who grew up in a single parent home. They show respect differently. They might take they're parents out to eat ..give money ...take them on a trip. Anything. In the Turkish culture ..when your father comes home you have to stand up. Now most Americans you would hear that and say ...'WHY??" . that's something that they are used to doing .I'm petty sure there are some stiff consequences if this isn't done promptly when he father arrives home .All cultures have norms and things that are considered weird .The guy in the video made some very good points and he definitely made me realize how different things are for people across the world . If everyone didn't have they own culture the world would be a very boring place . We all have to try to understand we all come from different places and have different views of life that effect how each person views the world. Germany everything is prohibited unless its allowed .In the US ..its the total opposite.IM pretty sure if you tried to do that in the US peoples lives would be turned upside down!!
I’m not sure what scenario you would be late for where death wasn’t an acceptable excuse, but I absolutely agree that our culture has made punctuality an extremely important attribute of a person’s character. To Americans, it shows that you care enough about something or someone to be on time, or early. Regardless of what culture we’re a part of, tardiness is almost always the fault of the individual who is late. I’m never going to say that there are no exceptions, because, of course, there are always exceptions. I’m just saying that of all the times people are late in this country, most of them could have been prevented by that person by either leaving a little earlier, double-checking to be sure they have everything they need, making sure they have gas, bus money, or whatever. Thanos789
Dato Gogichaishvili’s TED talk was admittedly not one of my favorites. I did enjoy the beginning remarks about subjective truths. It is interesting that language shapes our reality. There are ways of saying things and words to define things in different languages. Including symbols, body language, and cultural norms. I think that the basic human values throughout every culture is the essentially the same. We all have different way of expressing these values. I feel as if his attempts at humor were a little dry, and he might have done better if he talked more in depth about cultures and their histories. That’s something that bothered me, he neglected to talk about how and why some of these cultural ways came to be. He did however, pique my interest in the country of Georgia. Their culture seems interesting! The example about the war between Georgia and Russia and the families of the soldiers hit home for me personally. I believe there is no point to war and all wars start with cultural differences and nationalistic pride. If we all realized that our basic human values are the same, we wouldn’t be killing each other. He is right, we do tend to hate other people who act differently than us. I feel as if we should honor these differences, and maybe even learn a thing or two from different cultures. If it is true, that our basic human values coincide, then the end goal is the same throughout the world. The things we see in others, good or bad, are truly a part of ourselves. The term “it takes one to know one” is actually pretty spot on. I don’t think Dato did a very good job of explaining how we can change and respect each others differences. His advice about the email was okay, but he could of touched on that a bit more and explained to the audience about how to recognize that we are the same.
Even though, I didn't understand all the humor in this video...I did grasp his point of view. Changing the different countries but using the same scenario. Tell the audiences that Americans and Russians response the same way to coming to the knowledge that their son has died in the war. The way he ended the presentation was better good, making the audience think outside of what they are feeling and into what they can change. I want to focus on his three questions: "Are we different? Are we the same? Or are we the same and different? I would answer yes to all these questions. Yes we are different, do to historical facts of the division of different nations and different practices whether lasted down or made up. In class we discussed the interracial dating, how in Chicago it's something that isn't practiced or it is rarely seen. This may have been a cultural shock for those we are Chicagoans, but to a person in Peoria it is as normal as seeing two people of the same reason together. This brings up the second question: Are we the same? Yes we are. This using the example from before, both the interracial couple and the couple of the same both require something that we as humans need from each other, and it isn't love. A human contact. Studies have shown that human need to be connected to each other one way or another. New born babies can actually die from not having their mothers holding them after birth. One way or another we all need to bond with someone, and it's normal for everyone to have a feeling or need of being wanted. And with that being said we are all different and the same. Our cultures and upbringing being slight different in names or design but it is still a way for people to be connected to each.
My group actually agrees with you for the most part, especially with the first part of your response. We say that your values and ideologies stay consistent while the main difference come about in how we express those values. Even within the same culture values are expressed differently. For example, two people love each other very much but one shows their love through working full time to support the other and the other shows their love by spending time with each other. So, this would cause problems in their marriage because they do not understand the way the other shows the same emotion. Maybe hate across cultures stems from not understanding one another. Catzfuhdays789 Crown789
Are we different? Are we the same? Are we both? This clip spoke volumes. How he used comparisons in the most unexpected way, like the interaction between himself, Ted, and the coffee guy, how journalist worldwide wrote an article on elephants and how each title was different and meant something to that specific culture, and the comparison to the mosquito. How even the smallest actions can cause a reaction. How it can change and outcome even though it is tiny. It really gets you to think, are we different, the same, or both? Dato Gogichaishuili states “I don’t know.” Which I am sure everyone can relate to when you concentrate on the subject. We all have our differences in culture we all have our similarities. His definition by Confucious, “All people are the same; It’s just their habits that are different” is what really got me. The way someone may treat their grandmother or even how they address her might be completely opposite to how someone else might. She might have a different name than Grandmother, like Grandma or Nana. The same can happen with Grandfather, Grandpa or Papa. Dato says, “no matter which culture we are in we behave differently” so cultures like a Hindu culture sets arrange marriages, while we (Americans) do not. They show love for their children in a different way in their culture. They pick their mates and even though I may not know a lot about their culture it can be assumed it is to benefit the future for their children. While we have different values, we all try to teach our children differently to grow up and become respectful adults who make something of themselves. Neither of which say we do not love our children, we just act upon our love differently. The comparison he makes to a mosquito, how such a small creature can make such a huge difference is such an important statement. I have a friend and the detail most noticeable in her living room is she has a wall where there is a board banner that says, “Be the change you want to see in the world” and under that picture is many different pictures of her and her daughter. I asked her why she decided to decorate the wall that way and she said it was done to remind herself and her daughter that even though they are two people out of 7 billion in the world, they can make a difference if they try. PART 1 Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
One of the other most beautiful and terrifying things illustrated in this video I noticed is that people, even just two out of 7 billion, trying their hardest can make a huge difference. Just two people miscommunicating over an airplane landing could lead to the death of over two hundred people. Cultural differences shape society, and therefore our lives, and the lives of those around us. Intonation, expression, the way we use words, it all changes varying on our cultural backgrounds. Americans make things bigger, more dramatic, we have a love for flair. Germans take a more pragmatic approach, blunt and what a foreigner may perceive as cold initially. When these lines cross, it can end in misunderstandings, or more famously, outright war. Even in our own families, and cultural and social spheres, however, people can end up being different. The speaker, Dato Gogichaishivili brings up his own brother, likening their relationship to that of 'chalk and cheese'. People are different. And it's not always just because of the environment we were raised in, or what we were brought up to believe or understand. Personalities clash, and personalities meld, and sometimes, people are different. More often though, people are chronically the same. It's a theme written on by every author, poet and play write in history. Human nature. Our ability to somehow come together, despite being from totally different social strata, different countries, pick up a young adult novel and you'll have a few novelists theorizing that people will get right on with someone from a different planet. Human empathy is one of the strongest forces on earth. Love, democracy, taking care of the elderly, taking care of our youth, these are some examples of how similarly people will react. On the flipside, humans are found all over the world to react with violence, hatred, bigotry and negativity to many things that challenge their worldview. Which is why I found Dato's ending so impactful, and bittersweet. Don't we all have something, that we could have someone for, in our life? And perhaps it is good, to be the bigger person, to step up and to say I forgive, I let this go, I unburden myself and I unburden you. To say thank you, for all the pain, however- I disagree with thanking that person. You cannot make someone stronger by hurting them. Someone simply becomes stronger by overcoming what is done to them. Perhaps that is a cultural difference too, a micro paradigm exclusive to my thinking, because I would not press send on that last message. I'd just read another article on a Russian elephant sent to the moon. PART 2 Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
Dato Gogichaishuili is just one person out of millions of people in this world who had made one presentation, and then presented it to an immense crowd, including the people that watched it on the internet. He’s the tiny mosquito in an exhausted sea of mosquito’s that took a bite out of society, and left behind a huge impact. It may fade with time and some people may forget what was presented, but some will take his eye-opening information and create their own impact on society because of what was learned. Gogichaishuili may be of different ethnicity and cultural ways, but he does not segregate the world based solely on cultural beliefs. He understands that society and the world as a whole is not so black and white, that it is full of colorful people with very different ways of life, beliefs, culture, beauty, and survival, but looking past that we are truly not so different after all. These cultural and political differences have led to many drastic issues, and one of these problems is something the world still faces today. War is a terrifying thought, no matter what beliefs or certain cultural ways a society might have, it is something that to world tries to avoid, but in some cases, it is inevitable. When families lose a beloved family member to the devastations of war no matter their culture, they grieve. No matter the political difference, we feel grief in the same way. Everyone shares the same emotions, health issues, the certain needs of living including shelter and food, and we share the same environments, as well. Gogichaishuili mentioned that a few countries had issued articles about elephants, which is a mammal that we are a quite familiar with. Because of the commonality of this one animal, it gave us the ability to see how each of those countries see elephants and what differences are in place. Spain studied the techniques of fighting elephants, India wrote about how they were used for transportation before railroads, America made an article about the study of how to breed bigger and better elephants, while Russia’s trying to figure out how to send them to the moon. Just by the titles, Looking at the world as whole, it could be said that it is very different and it is. It is separated by culture and the way children are raised, but our values are the same. On the inside, we are all the same, but become different when we grow up and are influenced by outside forces as well as what we are taught by our families. Although it may be clear to some people when answering the questions about if we are truly that different or not, but there is always new information that blurs those lines and creates new questions. So, is there truly and answer to this posed question? Are we truly so abundantly different, or are we more similar than some would like us to be? PART 3 Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
The speaker, Dato Gogichaishvili, presents his experience as a person working with different cultures and their differences. He first starts off with an example about his conversations with different people, that end with unexpected results. He says that “all three people are living in completely different worlds” on account on their cultural differences. People of different cultures assign different meanings to a variety of things. They can share symbols that have entirely different meanings to them, for example, a wink of the eye, waving at someone, eye contact. Dato uses an example about time sensitivity to demonstrate different meanings. I know that where I live, it’s expected of you to arrive to your appointments on time, but in other cultures, to be late is acceptable. These cultural differences show the many perspectives that people have. Dato’s more tragic example about the plane shows how cultural differences, how our meanings and language are different, can cause deadly misunderstandings. His “elderly example” is also something that highlights different perspectives. In one culture, they take care of their elderly financially, like the speaker paid for his father’s things. Other cultures show their respect by standing when elders walk into the room, speaking respectfully and etc. Does that mean the culture that doesn’t do all those things, respect their elders less? No, they just show their respect differently. Differences like these can cause misunderstandings, and animosity. My family is Mexican. I grew up around Spanish speaking people in an expressive family orientated culture. However, my brother and I were the only two people in the household that couldn’t speak Spanish. That language difference is what kept me from fully understanding, or feeling as if I belonged, in that culture. I could only speak English, and thus could only connect with others in English. There were no Mexican parties, songs, or friends, for me. My family that was less focused on Mexican culture, became more distant from the extended family as a result from our families’ cultural differences. But like Dato explains, if we change that animosity to forgiveness, to thanks, we can make a difference. Culture helps us understand each other. Are we different? Are we the same? Are we both? All people are the same we just have different habitats studies say. Dato says in Jordan its ok to be late for an appointment you would just put the blame on the bus for being late. In America they might not take and still charge you for the visit. Human values are universal we just express our values differently. Dato says he has a Turkish friend that stands up every time his father comes into the room out of respect. Does that mean we don't have respect? NO, in America its more common to stand up when a judge or a bride enters the room. People judge the unknown, its human. When I was 18 I went to Mexico and one night as I was leaving the club. The streets were filled with women and their little children selling bracelets. In my mind I'm thinking these kids need to be sleeping, but in her mind shes surviving. Dato goes and talks about how we can all talk about the same topic but have different outcomes. Every country writes a article on elephants in Spain they say the would use the elephants to fight, India would use them for transportation, and America would make bigger and better elephants. Again same topic just different solutions. Things like war happen because cultural difference. TO some one it might sound like a great idea to another might come as an insult. We should try to look at others perspectives. Even though most of us Americans might have been raised similar we all are very different. Even growing up in the same home your thoughts or values are not always the same. Papyrus 789 Gander 789
The video talks about many cultures from multiple viewpoints. It asks the big questions when it comes to sociology, such as the differences in culture; what is the same, and what is different? Eventually, the video asks those two questions again, but this time, at the same time. The lecturer talks from his viewpoint as a comedian, and someone from Georgia. This can prove to be an interesting perspective, such as the joke about when he saw the helium balloons being sold for two bucks. He started this talk about Ted, which eventually led to this talk about culture, and how each of us may be different. It is clear how much research was done to examine the sociological perceptive in culture. He explains his view on culture, as is it different than others views. It is explained that the word 'culture' has a lot of different meanings. Such as when he stated that a famous person said, "People are the same but the habits are different", afterwards revealing that it is a quote spoken from such a major figure in philosophy as Confucius. That provides an additional something of value to take from the video. Later, when he talks about other meanings of culture, he compares how culture is perceived by others. I personally like to talk about the story of his friend, who stands up when his father enters the room to show respect. While the lecturer in this story keeps siting, that does not mean he does not respect his father, but in his culture they do not need to stand up to show how much he respects his father, after all he is paying for his father's trip to Spain. Compare how he behaves, and how his brother behaves; his brother must have a strict list of what to do, while the he can multi- task, like being on the phone while playing tennis. On a more somber note towards the idea of similarities between people, he makes the point that most would still mourn death of a family that died during a war, even if they live in different places, like people from Georgia and Russia. This is a very good example to put in the video. He was very good at keeping the audience's attention. The talk had a multitude of points to make, some being harder to think about than others. When it comes down to it, I suppose life can be considered a game of options versus choices versus goals. Culture is largely responsible for our patterns of behavior, patterns that are often founded in practicality, and even more often founded by tragedies and miracles, famine and abundance, as well as harsh rulers and just kings; culture only exists when there are at least two people experiencing the same thing, trying to make sense of it, or make the best of it, together. Nearly every case of social interaction stems from patterns of interaction, that are perpetuated by expectations of fulfilling said interaction. For example: someone enters an elevator that you were riding alone, will you greet them, or will you remain silent? This being example of options; culture defines which ones are considered normal, directly determining which are considered strange or even offensive. In this case we will assume greeting the other person is normal. Saying 'Hello' would not provide any information, it would not help the elevator go faster, but many of us still do it because it is expected, or at least we think it is. Of course, even in just that interaction, there are countless different routes to take, like asking what floor they are stopping on. This is an example of choice; while it may or may not be expected of you to greet them, you can define how that expectation plays out, even purposely subverting it.
Now, assuming you are a sentient organism, you probably have a reason (even a 'stupid' one) for doing things. Let's say the person in the elevator is someone you interact with often, and you expect to continue seeing that person in this building you frequent for a long time. You greet them and ask what floor they are going to, even pressing the button for them and starting small talk. You want this person, that you see often, to be friendly towards you. This can be considered a goal; you want a positive relationship, so you do what is expected and even go beyond. In short, people choose from options, with an understanding of likely outcomes, outcomes that are largely influenced by culture, for the sake of accomplishing goals. Culture definitely influences how people interact, but it doesn't really define them, their choices while working with it do.
Are we different? Are we the same? Or are we different in the same? The man in the TED Talks video says that he does not know. If I were to answer this question, I would say that we are different in the same. I say this because if you really think about the examples he has provided, it would not be very just to say that it was strictly either different or the same, so for that it must be both. Referring to his example of respect for the elderly, he and his friend seemingly have the same amount of respect for their fathers, one just shows it differently than the other. The example with the elephant was also very important as well. Both of the people looking at this elephant see it as useful or maybe even important, but for different reasons. Lastly, the example with the bus. In our own culture we blame ourselves for being late and missing the bus, while in other countries they blame the bus. While all of these things are just minor examples, people often get mad at one another over things like this. Then, I really liked his example about writing a letter to your enemy. The letter started as a list of things the enemy was hated for, but ended as a letter of why that person was thankful. The point he was trying to make was, that maybe instead of seeing something different as a bad thing, maybe try seeing it as a good thing instead. If not a good thing, look for the good in the situation. Maybe you learned a lesson, learned something new, made a friend, whatever it may be. Seeing the glass as half full, rather than half empty, and having that positive outlook on the negative situations in life makes living just a little bit more enjoyable. This video really have helped me better understand the many different meanings of culture. Back in the past everyone treated each other like crap, in other words unequal. Because for one thing race played a major role then followed the stereotype of the area where a person lived. After watching this fascinating video I asked myself the same question he asked himself, “Are we different, the same, or both,” and I have came to the conclusion that I don’t quite know either. Because everyone is the same on the outside in reference of being human and we all strive to be successful but different on the inside in reference to knowing multiple languages, come from a different country, believe in God or not, or even like the same sports. In the video he mentioned that “Columbia is the one of the highest PDI cultures in the world,” so a union leader will have a lot of concentrated power compared to his union management team. This past summer I went to California for and while I was there I stayed in Koreatown and I kind of experienced a culture shock because when I went to one of their restaurants they had stuff that I eat and made it in a American way but called it something totally different. So I was expecting something different but I just got an ordinary hamburger. When this guy started talking about elephants being the same but also different it kind of connected to this video about a camel that I watched because in that video it talked about the different cultures that has camels and how they are similar to each other but then different. For example, and American camel is the same as a camel from Egypt in the simple fact that they are both camels but different in how they survive. So you can always learn something new when meeting someone who is like you but yet different. -(NIKE789, White789
My group came upon opposing viewpoints. While one believes that ideas and values stay pretty consistent throughout culture, the other believes that there are more differences among differing cultures than similarities. When it comes to worldly culture, are really that different? I believe that we are both. I think that a lot of our ideology and values are the same. Our relationships harbor the same feelings and our actions are what creates the divide. Our differences appear in the way we react, behave and demonstrate our ideas and values. Meaning, two people can have the same value, say love of children, and express that differently. One person can show tough love and be strict to bring the child up “right,” whereas the other is more laid back and showers the child with acceptance. You see the most similarity among cultures when in a crowded, busy city, such as New York City. One Asian man is taking video of his family around all of the monuments, one Russian mother is scolding her daughter for walking too far ahead of her, and an American father is getting his family vendor food. We see the biggest differences, however, in history. Our cultural differences cause fear and hatred. The French are known to hate the Americans, and Americans are known to fear the Iranians. These fears and negative feelings cause tension and can blow up in huge ways such as war, mentioned as well in the Ted Talk. Right now, you see America tweeting its political thoughts about nuclear war and North Korea threatening us. So, are we different? In short, we are all different and we behave differently and express our ideals differently, but don’t we ultimately have the same values and feelings? As you see, in this viewpoint, a member notes that while there are plenty of differences, they key ideologies and values are consistent. In the next view, the other member of the group believes that even values differ from culture to culture and that we are very different. She says, when it comes to cultures I feel that we are all different in plenty of ways like are language, religion and values and the way that dress. When we go to go to a different country we never know what to expect or how to handle to certain things because you don’t want to be disrespectful. One of the main things that are different with cultures is how we greet one another. For example, in Italy they are used to kissing each other on the cheek to greet one another but in the United Stated if someone came up to you trying to give you a kiss on the cheek you would think that it’s weird but to them it’s just a friendly gesture. In some countries one of their important values are arranged marriages. For instance, they would arrange their child to marry someone who’s very wealthy or just try to find someone who they feel has the best interest for them. In my country, we are used to having the freedom to choose who we want to marry and actually get right to get to know the person before we choose to marry them, in India they don’t have that option if they were to give their opinion on how they felt about the person they are marrying they are coming off as disrespectful to their parents. Language is one of the important aspects to every culture, each culture has different languages. When it comes to are languages and word choice we have to be careful when talking to someone from a different culture because it could have a different meaning and it could lead to a misunderstanding. In Islam, the way women dress is very important they are to be covered all the way up and to wear loose fitting clothes to show respect to their culture. That’s why I feel that when it comes to culture we are different because everyone has different beliefs. So, with these two different beliefs about the question “Are we different” explored, are we? There is no distinct answer for that question so ask yourself that question and see what you think. Catzfuhdays789 Crown789
So are we really different? Perhaps we are the same? Or perhaps we are both? That particular question may prompt tons of responses amongst human kind. The ways in which we as humans are the same includes: our rituals, languages, symbols, etc.. Using the example given within the presentation, Georgians find it exceptable too be late to appointments, while here in America in preparation for the workforce us Americans are taught to be on time no matter the surrounding circumstances....it's thought to be professional and showcases great work ethic. As for similiarities, well those fluctuates between our love for our children/family, respect for others/elders, tradition, etc.. Here in American as a U.S. citizen everyone put their right hand over their chest, remove hats, and stand during the pledge of allegiance. Even still we are different in how we express ourselves pertaining to such human values. Losing a loved one is a significant point in anyone life, grievance or a form of suffering may following but the way you grieve may be completely different from mine. Being both different and the same would be most accurate if we were speaking in terms of identical twins, individuals whom share the same personality type, or when gathering information specifically for a certain ethnic group, the behaviors may differ based on economical status as well as other things.
In my opinion those things that allow us to be both different and the same creates individuals and place an impact on society as a whole. The world would be so "blah" if we acted/reacted the same and or lived under the same circumstances/rituals/traditions. I'll leave you with this how would we grow and thrive mentally or in any aspect of life, if it were so predictable? Differences and similarities are the ying and yang effect here, it balance out our society. mommyoftwo789
No matter what your culture is no matter what your skin color is everyone is different. The exact things in life that make us different are the things that make us the same. Even though we try to be different; the fact that we even try to be different, is a similarity in itself. On the surface everyone is different, unless we are talking about twins, but even then twins have slightly different features as well. Some people have pale skin, some have tan skin, and others may have dark skin but way deep down inside all of these people are the same. Everyone in the world has their own way of thinking and the fact that we all have our own way of thinking, although different, makes us the same. There are different types of learners in the world, there are auditory learners, visual learners and there are kinetic learners; these people learn differently but they all have a learning style. As Confucius said "all people are same its just their habits that are different" these people are learning, it's just they learn in different ways. In some cultures people can't eat certain foods, wear certain clothes or even speak to certain people. In other cultures people can do what they want, when they want, and with whomever they want. In each of these cultures the people will do what the rules say because that is their culture; different cultures same response. In some cultures in other countries the animals we consider pets in America are food to them; and animals we consider food in America are considered pets to people in other countries. Overall, yes we are all different; we all have different parents, come from different countries, and know different people. We all grew up in different neighborhoods and we all have different addresses. We have all been through different things, good and bad, and not two of us think exactly the same; but are we really that different? Don't you have goals? Don't you have aspirations? Don't you have values? Well I do too, and so do other people all around the world and in other cultures. Everyone receives the same information, we just interpret it differently. Zar789
This gentleman explained cultural differences in so many ways that really made sense to me. When I think about different cultures or cultural stereotypes, I realized that it really is learned. I learned it from seeing or hearing these “opinions” about other people or countries that are predefined. It could be that I grew up hearing my parents or other family members talking or making comments, or I could have seen it on a television show, read it in a newspaper article or at a comedy show. The predefined subjective cultures help us predefine the world’s people. There are so many cultural differences in the world but who decides this? Who decides if our culture is really the different one, or the same one as others? Are we both just different and the same in many ways.
When you look up the definition of the word culture, you find many different meanings. Is a culture one that the population of people have the same beliefs and values? It could also be that they have all been programmed in their minds to be similar. Or are people the same, but we have different habits that make us seem different? I know that sociologists have been researching this for a long time. But are we researching not only how we are different in rituals, languages, customs, and habits as well as why we think these things about other cultures as well as our own?
I do believe that we express different things of value differently among different types of people or cultures. I would not dare question an adult as a child. But now, in today cultural society even in the United States, that has changed dramatically. Parents do not tend to discipline their children as strictly as they used to and as they do in other cultures. I believe that cultures change accordingly to different generations as well. I still try to teach my children that ultimately you should respect adults and elderly and especially your parents. I believe that too often in today’s society I am noticing that the culture is changing where we are teaching the children that it is okay to disobey rules and the laws the government has put forth to protect us. MommaJ789
From the beginning of the video, he had catches me by his funny story about three men with three different culture in the same spot. This story show how cultural of each individual can be together but different. I like his three questions on the screen different? Same? Or Both? I had the same answer as him, I don't know.
Culture was built on thousands of factors and was shaped by thousand minds. Each cultural has many aspects that are completely different with each other, from the way we speak to the way we behave. For example, Vietnamese students bow any teacher that they pass by on the school hallway while America students said hello or give the high-five to their teacher. They both different but show the same meaning that the students gave respect the teacher. It true that every culture on the world process the same meaning of idea but was considered different by the way people behave and practice differently. Just like the third definition he gave in the video: "All people are the same. It's only their habits, that are different". Another example is when you visit the Mongolian house, you have to give them the gift and they too do the same, to show polite while at France house, you have to give the compliment to the house to show the same polite and respect.
Cultures different because we believe they are different. The case of having two people with exactly same culture will never happen because each individual has different culture. Even my sister and I, bot came from the same family, same country, same religion but we have different culture. Like he said, cultural different is a serious problem. People just simple don't like other because other are different from them. That is the reason why we have cultural conflict and war. Basically, war happen because two sides though they are different so that many deaths. I feel kind of sad because what he said was right. Cultural stereotype can be terrible and we still don't have the specific vaccine to prevent it. The final 15 things" I thank you for "we send to our enemy is one way toward the creation of this vaccine. It just the small act but it will have impact overtime. Thank you for his speech to make me more understand about culture different around me. Zero789
I like the story at the coffee shop that he is using as an example to say that everyone of them where in a different world based in their experience in life and what they considered to be important to each one of them. He was Thrilled about him being able to participate in the recoding of John Lennon at NBC studios in California and for him this was big and important, The first guy he talked to was thrilled about being selected to do a TED talk. However for David (the guy telling the story) this “TED” wasn't even within his scope of view or even knew the meaning of this. The second guy he talked to was so focused in providing a good service and doing his job that he couldn't see the humor in David’s joke. I get to see that we are all the same as human beings and biologically we are the same what make us different is our personalities and the way that we see the world and the way we view what are our priorities in life. I really liked when he quoted Confucius “All People are the same; it is only their habits that are different” before questioning, are we different? Are we the same? Talking about people as whole. The Example of the airplane to give an example of similar behavior and how we all complain about the same things just in different languages and missing what really matter in the process. He said that we can laugh about cultural differences and stereotypes, but sometimes this misunderstanding of cultural meaning can be a matter of life or death as he explained the tragedy of the Avianca flight from Colombia and tower control that caused them to misunderstand the message causing the dead of many people as the result the plain running out of fuel. I love how he is trying to transform hate in to forgiveness and thankfulness.
I enjoy the beginning of the video where the guy talks about how we as people always tend to look at the darker side of everything we become involved with. We look at planes like there are a cramped and overcrowded object that we are trapped in for hours. We will never look at planes the way people did back in the 1900’s. They looked at planes as an amazing thing, you could fly around the sky like a bird. People were inspired and they appreciated things more. The current generation of the world can’t look at the world and all the wonderful things as if they are wonderful things.
The joke the guy told about America partying was a notable example of proving people have a good sense of humor. This is a major political discussion about how everyone feels about America and how America feels about everyone else. The audience laughed even though it presents a serious matter. Most people will have a good sense of humor to laugh at this joke. There Are some that will look at this joke and complain about it because it may be a serious matter to them.
The presenter talked about how war is due to cultural differences. I agree with this in a way. I think wars in the past that involved the united states were more focused on the differences in our country and others. Even though the cause of World War I is debatable, I can say that logic behind the start of the war points to the fact that the Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian nationalist. These assassins believed that everything the archduke was doing was wrong. To the Archduke everything he was doing was right and just. They assassinated him and sparked a war because their culture taught them about values differently than that of Austria-Hungary.
I agree with his statement about not knowing whether we’re different, the same, or both. We all have our own individual preferences and we all have our own identities. Every person has someone else that is like them in someone way, but at the same time they are completely different.
There are many ways to express culture. We all have diverse ways to do that. In America, there are consequences for being late. You might be fired...wrote up. laughed at...made to feel guilty and lastly...you should take ALL the blame. And sometimes death might not even count. depending on what kind of boss you have.
In Georgian culture, its accepted to be late. If you are late no matter if it was the bus that you where late for. you woke up late. It’s not YOUR fault. That's a very convenient way to look at things from an Americans point of view, but to them it’s no big deal. I have been late to various places such as work or class. Its either you get a comment from a co=worker saying what happened.
As far as a class in concerned you DEFINETLY will get the class stare from everybody and they are probably thinking "why is he late " especially if it’s a consistent thing. I have been around people who don't have fathers or mother and some who do and some who grew up in a single parent home. They show respect differently. They might take their parents out to eat. give money ...take them on a trip. Anything In the Turkish culture when your father comes home you must stand up. Now most Americans you would hear that and say ...'WHY??”. that's something that they are used to doing. I’m pretty sure there are some stiff consequences if this isn't done promptly when he father arrives home. All cultures have norms and things that are considered weird.
The guy in the video made some very good points and he definitely made me realize how different things are for people across the world . If everyone didn't have they own culture the world would be a very boring place. We all should try to understand we all come from various places and have different views of life that effect how each person views the world. Germany everything is prohibited unless its allowed. In the US ..it’s the total opposite.IM pretty sure if you tried to do that in the US people’s lives would be turned upside down!!
I did not settle for the answer he gave “I do not know if cultures are different, same or both”. In my opinion, I believe cultures are different like people do believe that there are many different cultures in the world so of course they are going to be different but deep down, all human cultures are essentially the same. Our cultural values maybe universal but the way we express things is different from one another. For example, when approaching someone or saying hello in the United States, it may be different in another country but you are both trying to do the same exact thing. I came from Africa, and adjusting to the US cultural was very different for me but there were a few things that were similar to my country that I used to make myself comfortable with the country. I liked how he used the example how the other cultural blamed the bus for being too fast and the US would say it was there fault for not catching the bus that is why they were late. I also agreed about what he said that “we hate people who are not the same as us”, it’s a habit that we have, we think everyone should be similar to us or act like us otherwise we hate them. We also don’t really realize that the things we hate about other cultures or a particular person teach us something that is why I really liked how he ends his speech with the two subject emails. I myself tend to dislike people who know more than I do, but I know that I will learn that something I do not know from that person or culture. When comparing both of our opinions with our partner we both agree that we are both on the same page. I also agreed that cultures are both the same and different. I have been lucky enough to be exposed to a lot of cultures in my life. I am the daughter of a biracial couple and am lucky enough to have a Mexican and an American background. Along with having a mixture of cultures at home I have traveled to quite a few places. I can see how the TED speaker means about witnessing many different cultures. In some Mexican cultures women, usually don’t work they stay home and take care of children and their home, which is different to how mother American family see it they are a very progressive family they believe in the equality of men and women. My father has brought this up to his very old school grandparents and they are completely outraged that my mom isn’t following Mexican beliefs. A lot of the way cultures can be the same are when it comes to their values, the main one being family. There is not very many cultures that do not have family as their number one value. Most cultures believe family comes first and that they would do anything for their family and that no one come between family, most cultures believe this. Other ways that I believe they are different are just the things that cultures find important. Things that I may find important in my American culture would not be important if a culture in like Haiti, or in a culture with a lot of poverty. Cultures can be different even in the way that we may never really think of. For example, in American us using out index finger to point something out maybe found very offensive in other cultures. We both believe that cultures are different and the same and they will always be. Ria789 | Vct789
In this video, he discusses how different cultural differences are but how they are the same as well. The question he asked at the beginning was if we thought they were the same, different, or are they both? How he started out his presentation was talking about when he was talking to this gentleman about how he was excited for this opportunity he had with this Jay Leno show and the other guy was discussing how he was excited for this Ted Talk opportunity. Once he asked what the Ted Talk was, he started to explain, but then says, “If you don’t know what that is, then never mind.” And that was the end of their discussion. Then when he went to get his second coffee from the coffee shop, which took place in Burbank, and when the employee asked him what he wanted, he told him that he wanted helium in his coffee. Only because he had seen a sign in the shop before that said, “helium $2 each” and then he goes on to say how each of the three people from that story were living in three completely different worlds. Cultures help us predefine the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the World around us. He, then goes on to defining the word, culture. One of the few he lists is “the beliefs and values are the way of life.” But the main one that he wants us to pay attention to is “All people are the same; it’s only their habits that are different.” Let’s be honest, we all measure cultures. There are millions of other dimensions. Following that, he goes on to give examples. The first one he gives, is how we look at people interpret what missing the bus means. Georgians will be okay with it if they come into an appointment late and say they missed the bus. It would be the buses fault because it was going too fast. It would be acceptable for them. But if others used that excuse, it’s not the buses fault, but only our own. In Turkey, they stand up when elderly enter the room. In the example, the Turkish man stands when his father enters the room but that does not mean the Turks show more respect for the elderly than someone of a different culture. It all depends on the paradigm we are in that shapes how we all go about our lives. He then makes a joke about America, Canada and Mexico as an apartment where America is the party going on, Canada is the people a floor above trying to get them to calm down, and Mexico is the people who show up uninvited. Personally I found that joke extremely funny had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard. He later adds, in America we say everything is allowed unless it's prohibited. In Germany they say everything is prohibited unless its allowed. and in latin america they say everything is allowed even if it's prohibited. Tying back into the Georgians, they say why do we have to care about it now; let it happen first and then we will find out what's allowed and what's prohibited. He then dials it back and talks about cultural miscommunication that took place when a plane crashed. The plane was coming from Columbia to New York with a Colombian pilot and a New Yorker Air traffic control officer. The pilot told Traffic control where they were and then said that they were running out of fuel. Columbia is a power of distance culture the more important information was at the end rather than at the front like Americans are used to hearing. Since it was second it was assumed to not be a big deal and the New Yorker ignored it causing 250 lives lost. At the end of the video he puts back up the questions: Are we different, are we the same, or are we Both? The answer he gives is that he does not know, but he does know that those differences create animosity between people who do not act the same, it does not matter whether they are from the same culture or not. He adds in too that no matter how small you may feel that you can make a difference just by changing one word to another, by changing Hate to Forgive, than Forgive to thank you. Which in our opinion is what the world needs right now, more forgiveness and more appreciation. Schmidt789 Cassiopia789
ReplyDeleteThere are many different cultures out there that can lead to a vast number of different behaviors. It's easy to define people we do not know through such menial categorization. If you never talk to people, to actually get to know them, you will never see what lies below their mimicry of others in their society. It's the same logic as saying that all cardboard boxes must have the same contents because they come from the same place, while never opening one. The point being, that the focus of your comment (and the video, to be fair) on behavior from people of different nationalities can mislead people to the conclusion that everyone in a society is a complete robotic slave to what is considered normal. However, let it not be said that you did not make a lot of good points. Patterns of behavior DO exist, and are greatly tied to society and its culture, and it is common for people to measure one another by their culture. It is important to recognize, however, that behavior is vastly different than intention. If we want to be able to live alongside those of different cultural backgrounds, then we should always be thinking about the intentions of others, and focus less on trivial formalities.
Delete-gamer789
-SoarSore789
I too liked the idea of simply(not as easy for some) changing the words we may use from negatives to positives. Doing so can make a difference among mankind and have a huge impact society.
DeleteSome people may feel as though it's "only" a word or two, may even hear words uttered like what difference would it really make? But think about it this way, telling/texting someone you "hate" them may be all that person need to pull the trigger or tightened the belt loop around their neck. Opposite of that thought, telling that same person you "forgive" them, showing support or some form of compassion may just save their life and being them off that ledge. Saying hello or smiling works just the same in my opinion, it doesn't take much. For example, your words may land you a trip to the big house, like the young lady in Massachusetts who used text messages to "encourage" her then boyfriend to commit suicide. Mental illness is real people, there is power in our words, please use them wisely.
mommyoftwo789
I agree as well about changing words. I learned early on as a manager of a department of 130 healthcare workers that you cannot always give feedback on only the negative. And since we are speaking of culture, the culture of getting a review from a manager is usually stressful because we are always nervous about what we will be told we do wrong. I always told my employees what they did right and then spoke of what improvements even on the positive things they did would make them look even better to peers and patients. Just simply changing the way you say something makes a huge difference on the meaning that is being portrayed.-MommaJ789
DeleteI liked the way this speaker used different scenarios to show how cultures collide, how cultures are different, and how cultures are similar. Understanding and learning about different cultures can help us to not experience culture shock or cultural miscommunication when we travel outside the United States or traveling within the United States.
DeleteThe ending was awesome when he talked about how we all can make a difference no matter how small. Changing the wording in each email to your enemy. I agree with both of you that this world does need more forgiveness and more appreciation then maybe, just maybe this world could be a better place.
Granny789
Wow! Just from reading this comment, I can review quickly what I just watch plus more explanation for each joke and meaning the speaker want us to understand. I understand his opening story about three different people with three different worlds met in the same spot, and I Iike this illustration. Thank for explaining the example the speaker gave about the airplane accident. The example gave the evidence of how culture different is serious problem and led to the huge impact like 250 losses of this misunderstanding situation. It hard to not be cultural stereotype because as the human tend to dislike other behave different from them. But we have to understand that every individual are unique, even two people came from the same culture can be very different. How can people be friend or interact when they tend to dislike other different from them? People are smart and they learn to accept it or ignore it. That is how we the human can survive and make the world better.
DeleteI really enjoyed this TED talk and it was mind blowing how important it to pay attention to others with a respectful and kind approach and actually see that we have all the same components and what make us different in the eyes of others is the fact that we all have different habits just like the quote from Confucius. The miss interpretation of life took many lives during the Avianca flight accident. I can say that I will try to be more aware so that I can try to avoid this kind of mistakes and to be kind to others the same way I would like to be treated. Koi789
The first block comment belongs to Zero789 and the second block belongs to Koi789.
DeleteI agree with you one hundred percent on your last statement. The world does need more forgiveness and appreciation. It would be so cool to see if everyone would stop judging people from different cultures and give them chance how much we would learn from each other. I thought it was a very powerful statement about everyone being the same and only their habits are different, because it is so true. People spend so much time looking at what is different and judging the person than getting to know them and realizing that we are all the same, we all have feelings. I found it interesting when he brought up war in the video it was a good way to put in a different perspective of how we are all the same. As stated the families on the other side are feeling pain just as much as we are when we lose someone. The part where you mentioned the animosity between people who act differently really hit home with me. I’ve lived all over the US and this is so true just within our country. I see the way some northerners talk about people from the south. I’ve seen the way that people from the Midwest talk about people from the West Coast. I didn’t pick this up in the video, probably because I was typing my responses, but it really is true especially when I started thinking about it. We’re not talking about people from Canada and people from Uruguay, this is within our own borders. It was truly eye opening once I went back and rewatched the video how close to home this hits. In regard to the part about writing the email I think it is important to remember that even if it seems small to you it could mean the world to someone else. EPIC789 & pmed789
DeleteIn society today we believe that we are both the same and different when it comes to the cultural meaning. We are different because there is so much to life. A few ways that the three of us are different is ethnicity, language, traditions, and thought processing. We are a team made up of African American, Caucasian, and Mexican. There is two of us that speak English and one that speaks English and Spanish. Although the language we speak is something different when it comes to each other language is just another factor of how we are different, because what the two of us speak English vs. the one that speaks Spanish, the only thing that is in the way is how we communicate with each other. How we communicate and what we communicate about just plays a major role on how everyone just communicates differently but yet in the same form. Just by our background and language, that shows we are already different in just the beginning. There are also rituals, symbols, beliefs, and values that can play a role into our lives. Our beliefs and values can be the same as someone else’s outside of our group and in each other but they are different in their own ways because everything else makes us who we are. All of us come from different backgrounds, just as we are all exposed to many different things but we can all be the similar yet the same at the same time. If we look at culture differences we come from many different backgrounds. One of us had this personal experience: Unfortunately differences do create animosity and fear of the unknown. I have to admit I didn’t know much about Muslim people. My only exposure was through the media, which was predominately negative of course. I started working at Unity-Point Methodist and I was surrounded with many foreign physicians. I worked one on one with a Muslim physician. We had a difficult time in the beginning because I didn’t understand why he needed to pray five times a day and what that entailed. I was brave and started asking questions, I was nervous because the only exposure I had was negative. To my surprise he was friendly and happy to share why he prayed and what it entailed. This improved our working relationship immensely. I can say that this physician and I are very good friends and we respect each other very much. Another experience one of us had was a divide within her own culture, which was impacted by a difference in economical backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteWhen the big question is asked; are we the same, different, or both? I had a difficult time coming up with this solution. In my head, the first thought that I had in mind was that we were all different. But once I watched the whole video all the way through, I was able to change my mind on that perspective. I think that we are all both. Yes, we can be both, the same and different in various ways. We don’t all have to agree on certain things, but when comparing on culture to another, they may be very similar, while, if you compared one of those two to another one, they may be completely different. It all depends on where.
DeleteEven comparing people of the same ethnic background to each other, or comparing people of the same community they can be both as well. They can be of the same religion but different race. Yet can also be of the same race and different religions. Cultures vary family to family and even person to person. Yet that is how the world stays interesting and fun. We encounter people every day that impact us on how we feel that day and how we go about life. Personally, I find life to be more interesting when it is surrounded by people who add to a conversation rather than be yes-men and agree with everything you say.
Schmidt789 Cassiopia789
Part 2
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather still lives in Mexico and for his birthday I attempted to send him some money in order for my cousin to be able to purchase some chocolates for him. I was made aware by my mother that my grandfather has a sweet tooth, so I figured it would be a sweet gesture for him to receive some chocolates due to him not being able to have the luxury of this. Instead of him reacting the way that I thought he would he actually scolded me for doing this. He did not believe that I should have spent money that way and that it was not a necessity. This made me realize that even though we have the same culture we have different economic views due to our geographical location and necessities. While another one of us experiences the differences in family issues. I have always been exposed to my mother side. I have grown up to only know my mothers side which is Caucasian and the history, values, and beliefs. My mother has raised me in a close family home that yes we have our ups and downs but we stick together and get through our problems together. Family events are always well planned, everyone is very successful in life with marriage and children. I have grandparents that are “old fashion” and are by the books which rubs off on us as grandkids and our parents. But if I were to look at my dad’s side which is African American, everything feels broken because I’m not exposed to that side much. Its not that they are failures because they aren’t but our beliefs and values are completely different. I have found out over time when I do socialize with them that when it comes to family events nothing is planned, not everyone is close to each other, and a lot of my dad side of the family don’t have the marriage and children going hand in hand. I have learned over time that things are completely different through life experiences. I then go back and ask my mother questions on why its like that and she never has a good answer and that’s not her fault but I’m learning there’s a culture difference that separate’s us.
In conclusion, after watching the video it really made us think about what he prosed: Are we different, are we the same, or are we both(same and different)? We agree with the speaker that it is still a “I don’t know” answer. Which we have to admit that it was disappointing because we were waiting for his point of view. We think the answer would be that we are all these different things at many different times in our lives. We think it’s important to point out that we will experience these with all types of people as well as our own culture we interact with on a dialy basis.
Unknownzeeha, Red line, Animallover-789
I completely agree that there are so many differences in the world that we live in, we could probably go on for eons listing how different we are. The blog above mentions that although we do have all these differences we still have some tiny cultural similarities, that even those are a little different when given more thought. I agree, and what language we speak may not all be the same and may look physically distinct on paper, but the action is all the same. It is the way a person gets their message to another human being, no matter what it sounds or looks like. Although there are all these differences, there are just as many similarities to find through the cultural haze.
DeleteEven though our differences are huge you are right that we have similarities. I enjoyed reading the different scenarios each of you experienced. One thing I did notice is the similarities between the lines, you all learn something from your experiences. Whether it be a moral, new found information or the difference in family values, you all learned something new from someone else. That’s what learning different cultures is about right? We learn to appreciate the lessons that we learn that are within each story. Each one of your stories spoke to me and I can relate to each one with my own experiences in life. You spoke about how the media impacts our lives so pervasively. Sociologically, we're all living in our own little cultural bubble, and unless we pop it on our own, like the example of the blogger at Unity Point Methodist, making a pointed effort to educate and re-evaluate their point of view, we can't truly grow as human beings, nor as a society. Media and family are huge influences on us, and media and family are cornerstones of culture. That begs again the question that seemed to these bloggers so unsatisfactorily answered. Are we different? Are we the same? Are we both? The point of view that you had to offer was not only brilliant, but so satisfying that I want to put it up on youtube. We we all feel different from someone. We will all feel that wonderful sense of same-ness and kinship. And sometimes, when you're looking dead in the face of someone wonderful and frustrating and confusing and brilliant- you'll be very unfortunate to find that you can feel distant difference and sweet sameness in the same person. At different points in our lives, as we evolve, as culture and society and people around us evolve, we will feel differently. Laws will change to make different things socially acceptable. Life will change along with it. Culture will shift, people will shift accordingly. Life is long, and people are changeable. I don't know is a very philosophical answer, truthful perhaps, but unhelpful in the way that a shrug of the shoulders can make you want to strangle someone. Your answer is much more comforting. The difference might not last forever. Wait, and at some point in your life, you'll feel same-ness with someone.
Slimjim789
Buwowski222
MelRich895
You make very good points! I personally connect with your examples, especially the ones in part two of your post. I grew up similarly in a family that had different cultures, that had different ways of doing things. My family was more introverted, while my extended family was more extroverted. In a way, this made us feel distant, and more excluded, on both sides. It was harder to connect with each other. My family is also pretty frugal, and would’ve reacted the same about only using money for necessities. Our extended family, while not “rich”, were freer with spending for everyone in their family. In my family’s eyes, this was wasting money, while in their eyes, it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. It's funny how family is the same but so different. I have a grandmother that will not except gifts for her birthday, but always gives money for everyone else birthdays. She has its a waste and to save our money. She grew up always giving and only getting what she needed not what she wanted. Not only is culture different but generations. How I see things is not how my grandparents or parents see things. My brother and I are ten years apart and I see my self wondering why does he think like that well its his generation. For example gay marriage my great grandma said she never thought she would see that let alone it being legal. As for myself I see it as normal.
DeletePapyrus789 Gander789
Are we different or are we the same? “All people are the same, it is only their habits that are different.” At the very beginning of the video we are faced with this question, which I will admit is a very challenging question because each side has a valid argument but at the end of the day we are all people. Just because our context is different does not mean that we are different as people. In the video, he gives the example of running late, one person would say I missed the bus. Another person from a different culture might say I am late because the bus was to fast to catch. Even though one blames themselves and the other blames the bus they are both still getting to the main point of being late. Another example he used was grieving when a family member dies. When a family member dies in America, a person will feel pain, sorrow and remorse as well as grieve for the loss of life. In Russia, do people not have those same feelings? What about Mexico? We, as a people, all have those feelings when someone we love or care about dies. It might not necessarily be to the extent as others, but we still grieve. Even though some countries or cultures grieve differently, it’s still grieving. The same could be said for a being hurt physically. If I lacerate my leg bad enough to require some sort of medical intervention, it will still produce pain no matter what culture or country I come from. While this is the most basic way form of trying to understand how we are all alike, we are also very different. Take for instance the way children are viewed. In the US, we put our children into the school system so that they can learn skills and get an education. This way that when they become adults they have a shot at becoming successful and being a productive member of society. In other countries, children don’t go to school. Instead they may have work on the family farm, work in a factory or at the very worst be sold as soldiers to fight in wars. Do all societies VALUE children? I would think so, but it’s what they do to earn that value that is different. The same could be said for the elderly. In the US, most seniors that are healthy enough are completely independent. In other countries like India, the children completely take over care and responsibility for their parents and grandparents at a certain point. An example of this in the US would be that once seniors cannot take care of themselves, a large majority of them end up living in some sort of assisted living facility or a nursing home where care is provided by licensed healthcare workers. In other cultures the family would end up taking care of them. Does this mean that people in the United States care any less about the elderly than people from India? I would like to think not, our culture is just different than theirs. Our elderly still have care given to them, it’s just how we go about having them cared for is different. So given those examples we can see how cultures are different, but even with those differences we are still very much the same. Towards the end of the video he talked about if you were to send an email to your enemy and put the subject as “15 things I hate about you “ and listed them. Then you change hate to forgive, and forgive to thank and the information has changed. By changing the words you are growing as a person. To me the video made me realize that once you realize that we are really all the same you have already grown as a person, and once you start treating everyone the same then you are starting to make the change the world needs to see. EPIC789 & pmed789
ReplyDeleteWe think people are both the same and different. However we do see your point of view on how people may actually be the same and it's just their habits that are different. We agree with many of the examples you provide. You make it so everyone can look at this post and some how relate to it. We also found the bus example rather interesting, that in one country it's more acceptable to be late and in another it's frowned upon. Here in the United States we are less hands on when our loved ones pass away. We have other trained professionals take care of our loved ones. In other countries the family is more involved in the funeral and burial process. In many other countries this process is much longer than in the United States.
DeleteHowever we believe that you also have to look at other things lke economic backgrounds and religion. That also plays a big role in cultural differences. For example in the United States you said that most elderly will end up in a nursing home, but also in the United Stated people can rely on social security as an income, or a means of paying for that home health or assisted living facility. In other countries this is something that is not offered. Along the same line, many countries do not offer public schools or parents are not able to send their children to school for a variety of reasons. We think that there are many different aspects that play into this and we have to view many different things besides just cultural differences and realize there are also differencs that are impactd because of religious views and economic backgrounds.
We really like the speakers idea of typing the email in three different ways. We think this is great advice, espcially in this day and age. We are very quick to send an email, facebook, and or twitter message without putting much thought into it. We don't think about the long term affects that our words may have on ourselves and others. There are major consequences for our actions. This advice / example given allows us to think about we are feeling and why. And send a message that is productive, because negative only breeds more negative.
AnimalLover789
Redline789
Unknownzeeha789
What is culture? Culture is the way we think, how we act, and what we own. It links us to our past and guides our future. To understand what culture is we need to keep in mind both thought and things. There is nonmaterial culture, which are the ideas created by members of a society and material culture, which is the physical things created by members of society. Culture shapes what we do, what we think, and how we feel. In this video, the speaker asks a question of “are we different, are we the same or are we different and the same?” He gives a definition of culture as defined by Confucious as “All people are the Same; its only their Habits that are Different”. The world has cultural differences and people often view their own way of life as “natural”. Sharing certain beliefs and values. Since we as individuals view our own behavior as the typical “norm” we create cultural differences. This could lead to culture shock, a feeling of disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. I thought the example with the helium balloon was very interesting. He asked the coffee shop worker to add helium in his coffee. This is not the typical “norm”. I mean who adds helium to their coffee. The coffee worker’s definition of “helium” probably is a chemical element that’s in gas form in which makes you incapable of pouring it into coffee. On the other hand, the speaker could have been from a different culture where the word “helium” had a total different meaning causing a misunderstanding of cultures.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of cultural differences he used was the “America-Canada-Mexico” scenario. This speaker talks about the humorous aspect of America’s relationship with Canada and Mexico as if America is throwing a huge party and inviting Canada, but Canada doesn’t want to come to the party because they weren’t invited, and America states that Canada should come anyway because Mexico came and they weren’t invited either. This to me is a sensitive area because it sounds like he is crossing into possibly dangerous territory by joking about illegal immigration. Having a sense of humor about the differences of certain society’s culture is okay, but in certain social situations it could be devastating. The speaker talked about the Avianca Flight from Columbia that resulted in death of 250 people due to cultural miscommunication.
Part 1
Thanos789
Granny789
This gentleman talks about many different aspects of life in many different parts of the world, often comparing life and culture to life in what is obviously his homeland, Georgia. But in a way, this kind of comes across as slightly annoying and almost a bit arrogant, as if he’s just bragging about his life. Although it clearly doesn’t justify someone standing up and walking out during his speech. I could sympathize with someone who wanted to, in a way. He is very proud of his culture and who wouldn’t be. Yes, he made several references to his Georgian culture, but he used them to compare the similarities amongst cultures. He mentioned the topic of lateness when a person must catch the bus. He stated that “in the American culture a person may say I was late because I missed the bus” but a person from his Georgian culture would say “I’m late because of the bus”. Even though the language content is worded differently the meaning is the same. They both were late. This brings up values. Being late is okay in the Georgian culture, no one makes a big fuss about it. In the States being late is a sign of disrespect to another person’s time. We all share the same basic universal human values, such as family life, respect to our elders, and commitment. Just like the speaker stated when a person loses a loved one no matter what culture you are from we have the same feeling of grief.
ReplyDeleteHe states that he doesn’t know if we are all the same, different, or both. Then he seems to almost explain how we are both. I believe it’s pretty simple that we are both. Whether you’re talking about people in the same culture, or people all over the world, we all have things about us that differ greatly from within the same culture, and we have things in common with people that live clear across the globe from us. Personally, I don’t really see how he truly does not know, especially after all the experience and knowledge he displays from what he talks about having done. I’m really not trying to insult this speaker, but it just seems really odd that with all his experiences in life, he seriously doesn’t know if human beings across the world are different, exactly the same, or if we’re both. I say the answer is painfully obvious…. both. Forever. Whether we like it or not, whether we try to be only one or the other, I don’t think there will ever be any possibility of us ever not being both the same in some ways and different in others.
Part 2
Thanos789
Granny789
The speaker on the video spoke about a personal story that he experienced with two strangers in a coffee shop and he saw that him, and the other two guys (the TED guy, and the coffee guy) were living in three different worlds, and that, each one of them has his own predefined subjective truths, and realities that collided into that small cafe, and then he says that CULTURES do that too, and also he says "Cultures helps us predefined the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the world around us."
ReplyDeleteI think that the three characters of his story represent three different CULTURES or three different GROUPS with three different perspectives or views about the same world, with its own truth and realities, three different CULTURES with three different views about how the world looks like, behaves, and how the world it should be. I can say that every CULTURE sees the world in different way because every CULTURE think and act in different way.
On the other hands he provided three definitions of CULTURE, and posed three questions to talk about cultural differences. The first definition was "beliefs and values and shoots, arts of life." the second one was "it's the collective programming of the mind.", and the third one "all people are the same; it’s only their habits, that are different.”. My favorite definition of CULTURE is "Culture is the ways we think, the ways we act, and all the material objects that together we own." In the Hispanic community we think to keep all the members of family together, very close and that thinking makes us to act cooperating to sponsor members of the family to bring them to the country to provide them better opportunities. All the material objects, all the physical things created by our craftsman give us an identity and the feeling to feel proud from the CULTURE we come from.
The speaker mentioned the Power of distance, the individualism and the collectivism, the masculinity and the feminity, the uncertainly avoidance, the time orientation as dimensions that explained how different people are. For instance if we talk about time orientation, in some CULTURE arriving late is not a problem, in other is considered rude. The speaker on the video mentioned that en Georgia is acceptable to be late, but maybe in England could be rude.
Also, he posed that some research suggests that most of the human basic values are universal, values such as: love of children, justice, respect to the elderly, tradition, success, money. What makes us different is the way we express those values. Well, I see that some CULTURES confine elderly in nursing homes while others CULTURES keep their elderly people with them at home because of the high respect they feel for their old people. This value, the respect to the elderly, it's stronger in some CULTURES than other CULTURES.
Finally, I can say that some CULTURES consider right to use CULTURAL DIFFERENCES or CULTURAL STEREOTYPES to make jokes, but whoever wants to make those kinds of jokes has to have good knowledge about that CULTURE to avoid hurt feelings and be involved in a serious trouble.
the_soccer_league789
The speaker on the video spoke about a personal story that he experienced with two strangers in a coffee shop and he saw that him, and the other two guys (the TED guy, and the coffee guy) were living in three different worlds, and that, each one of them has his own predefined subjective truths, and realities that collided into that small cafe, and then he says that CULTURES do that too, and also he says "Cultures helps us predefined the paradigm through which we see and make sense of the world around us."
ReplyDeleteI think that the three characters of his story represent three different CULTURES or three different GROUPS with three different perspectives or views about the same world, with its own truth and realities, three different CULTURES with three different views about how the world looks like, behaves, and how the world it should be. I can say that every CULTURE sees the world in different way because every CULTURE think and act in different way.
On the other hands he provided three definitions of CULTURE, and posed three questions to talk about cultural differences. The first definition was "beliefs and values and shoots, arts of life." the second one was "it's the collective programming of the mind.", and the third one "all people are the same; it’s only their habits, that are different.”. My favorite definition of CULTURE is "Culture is the ways we think, the ways we act, and all the material objects that together we own." In the Hispanic community we think to keep all the members of family together, very close and that thinking makes us to act cooperating to sponsor members of the family to bring them to the country to provide them better opportunities. All the material objects, all the physical things created by our craftsman give us an identity and the feeling to feel proud from the CULTURE we come from.
The speaker mentioned the Power of distance, the individualism and the collectivism, the masculinity and the feminity, the uncertainly avoidance, the time orientation as dimensions that explained how different people are. For instance if we talk about time orientation, in some CULTURE arriving late is not a problem, in other is considered rude. The speaker on the video mentioned that en Georgia is acceptable to be late, but maybe in England could be rude.
Also, he posed that some research suggests that most of the human basic values are universal, values such as: love of children, justice, respect to the elderly, tradition, success, money. What makes us different is the way we express those values. Well, I see that some CULTURES confine elderly in nursing homes while others CULTURES keep their elderly people with them at home because of the high respect they feel for their old people. This value, the respect to the elderly, it's stronger in some CULTURES than other CULTURES.
Finally I can say that some CULTURES consider right to use CULTURAL DIFFERENCES or CULTURAL STEREOTYPES to make jokes, but whoever wants to make those kinds of jokes has to have good knowledge about that CULTURE to avoid hurt feelings and be involved in a serious trouble.
PART 1
the_soccer_league789
Navajo789
There are many examples of cultural differences in everyday life. Ones that you see just walking to class and back. The way we express our culture depends on so many variables. One example I liked was how people see planes. Generally a more rich culture sees a plane as just a basic means of transportation. As a more poor culture is amazed by the fact that they are flying in a literal airbus. Cultures collide all the time. That was a main point the speaker was trying to convey. He used the coffee shop example, but everyone has examples to share. For example just today in a restaurant, I was sitting next to a very vocal Latin American family, whereas my family being german was very quiet and did not talk much. In some ways cultures are very opposite, but in other ways they are the same. Even though two different cultures have different ways of saying they are late, they both have the same underlying meaning. That they were late. The speaker says that human values are universally but they way we express them are different. He goes on to talk about respect for the elderly. Some cultures respect their elderly by standing when they approach, or by letting them sit while you stand, however other cultures may not do that but still have the same amount of respect for the elderly.
DeleteMany people think that culture is the same among people that come from similar backgrounds. However, that is not true. The speaker used an example that him and his brother, even though they are from the same family, are very culturally different. One brother acts like he has the culture of a Scandinavian, and the other brother acts like he is more from Brazil.
War happens because of cultural differences. One country sees another country doing something they do not like and war breaks out. However, both countries will mourn the same. Both families of the war will be sad if a loved one dies. Culture causes problems, but also brings people together. As explained in the video culture brings out Animosity. People do not like people or things that are different from themselves. We as people need to be more open to culture as it can greatly help us function, and enjoy our daily lives.
PART 2
The_soccer_league789
Navajo789
There are many different ways to express culture.We all have different ways to do that. In America there are consequences for being late .You might be fired...wrote up.. laughed at...made to feel guilty and lastly...you have to take ALL the blame .And sometimes death might not evencount .depending on what kind of boss you have .In Georgian cuiture its accpected to be late. If you are late no matter if it was the bus that you where late for .you woke up late..its not YOUR fault. That's a very convenient way to look at things from an Americans point of view ,but to them its no big deal. I have been late to different places such as work or class.Its either you get a comment from a co=worker saying what happened . As far as a class in concerned you DEFINETLY will get the class stare from everybody and they are probably thinking "why is he late " especially if its a consistent thing. I have been around people who don't have fathers or mother and some who do and some who grew up in a single parent home. They show respect differently. They might take they're parents out to eat ..give money ...take them on a trip. Anything. In the Turkish culture ..when your father comes home you have to stand up. Now most Americans you would hear that and say ...'WHY??" . that's something that they are used to doing .I'm petty sure there are some stiff consequences if this isn't done promptly when he father arrives home .All cultures have norms and things that are considered weird .The guy in the video made some very good points and he definitely made me realize how different things are for people across the world . If everyone didn't have they own culture the world would be a very boring place . We all have to try to understand we all come from different places and have different views of life that effect how each person views the world. Germany everything is prohibited unless its allowed .In the US ..its the total opposite.IM pretty sure if you tried to do that in the US peoples lives would be turned upside down!!
ReplyDelete-college kid789-
I’m not sure what scenario you would be late for where death wasn’t an acceptable excuse, but I absolutely agree that our culture has made punctuality an extremely important attribute of a person’s character. To Americans, it shows that you care enough about something or someone to be on time, or early. Regardless of what culture we’re a part of, tardiness is almost always the fault of the individual who is late. I’m never going to say that there are no exceptions, because, of course, there are always exceptions. I’m just saying that of all the times people are late in this country, most of them could have been prevented by that person by either leaving a little earlier, double-checking to be sure they have everything they need, making sure they have gas, bus money, or whatever. Thanos789
DeleteDato Gogichaishvili’s TED talk was admittedly not one of my favorites. I did enjoy the beginning remarks about subjective truths. It is interesting that language shapes our reality. There are ways of saying things and words to define things in different languages. Including symbols, body language, and cultural norms. I think that the basic human values throughout every culture is the essentially the same. We all have different way of expressing these values. I feel as if his attempts at humor were a little dry, and he might have done better if he talked more in depth about cultures and their histories. That’s something that bothered me, he neglected to talk about how and why some of these cultural ways came to be. He did however, pique my interest in the country of Georgia. Their culture seems interesting! The example about the war between Georgia and Russia and the families of the soldiers hit home for me personally. I believe there is no point to war and all wars start with cultural differences and nationalistic pride. If we all realized that our basic human values are the same, we wouldn’t be killing each other. He is right, we do tend to hate other people who act differently than us. I feel as if we should honor these differences, and maybe even learn a thing or two from different cultures. If it is true, that our basic human values coincide, then the end goal is the same throughout the world. The things we see in others, good or bad, are truly a part of ourselves. The term “it takes one to know one” is actually pretty spot on. I don’t think Dato did a very good job of explaining how we can change and respect each others differences. His advice about the email was okay, but he could of touched on that a bit more and explained to the audience about how to recognize that we are the same.
ReplyDeleteEven though, I didn't understand all the humor in this video...I did grasp his point of view. Changing the different countries but using the same scenario. Tell the audiences that Americans and Russians response the same way to coming to the knowledge that their son has died in the war. The way he ended the presentation was better good, making the audience think outside of what they are feeling and into what they can change. I want to focus on his three questions: "Are we different? Are we the same? Or are we the same and different?
I would answer yes to all these questions. Yes we are different, do to historical facts of the division of different nations and different practices whether lasted down or made up. In class we discussed the interracial dating, how in Chicago it's something that isn't practiced or it is rarely seen. This may have been a cultural shock for those we are Chicagoans, but to a person in Peoria it is as normal as seeing two people of the same reason together. This brings up the second question: Are we the same? Yes we are. This using the example from before, both the interracial couple and the couple of the same both require something that we as humans need from each other, and it isn't love. A human contact. Studies have shown that human need to be connected to each other one way or another. New born babies can actually die from not having their mothers holding them after birth. One way or another we all need to bond with someone, and it's normal for everyone to have a feeling or need of being wanted. And with that being said we are all different and the same. Our cultures and upbringing being slight different in names or design but it is still a way for people to be connected to each.
QuinkThick789, OMiE789
My group actually agrees with you for the most part, especially with the first part of your response. We say that your values and ideologies stay consistent while the main difference come about in how we express those values. Even within the same culture values are expressed differently. For example, two people love each other very much but one shows their love through working full time to support the other and the other shows their love by spending time with each other. So, this would cause problems in their marriage because they do not understand the way the other shows the same emotion. Maybe hate across cultures stems from not understanding one another. Catzfuhdays789 Crown789
DeleteAre we different? Are we the same? Are we both? This clip spoke volumes. How he used comparisons in the most unexpected way, like the interaction between himself, Ted, and the coffee guy, how journalist worldwide wrote an article on elephants and how each title was different and meant something to that specific culture, and the comparison to the mosquito. How even the smallest actions can cause a reaction. How it can change and outcome even though it is tiny. It really gets you to think, are we different, the same, or both? Dato Gogichaishuili states “I don’t know.” Which I am sure everyone can relate to when you concentrate on the subject. We all have our differences in culture we all have our similarities. His definition by Confucious, “All people are the same; It’s just their habits that are different” is what really got me. The way someone may treat their grandmother or even how they address her might be completely opposite to how someone else might. She might have a different name than Grandmother, like Grandma or Nana. The same can happen with Grandfather, Grandpa or Papa.
ReplyDeleteDato says, “no matter which culture we are in we behave differently” so cultures like a Hindu culture sets arrange marriages, while we (Americans) do not. They show love for their children in a different way in their culture. They pick their mates and even though I may not know a lot about their culture it can be assumed it is to benefit the future for their children. While we have different values, we all try to teach our children differently to grow up and become respectful adults who make something of themselves. Neither of which say we do not love our children, we just act upon our love differently.
The comparison he makes to a mosquito, how such a small creature can make such a huge difference is such an important statement. I have a friend and the detail most noticeable in her living room is she has a wall where there is a board banner that says, “Be the change you want to see in the world” and under that picture is many different pictures of her and her daughter. I asked her why she decided to decorate the wall that way and she said it was done to remind herself and her daughter that even though they are two people out of 7 billion in the world, they can make a difference if they try.
PART 1
Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
One of the other most beautiful and terrifying things illustrated in this video I noticed is that people, even just two out of 7 billion, trying their hardest can make a huge difference. Just two people miscommunicating over an airplane landing could lead to the death of over two hundred people. Cultural differences shape society, and therefore our lives, and the lives of those around us. Intonation, expression, the way we use words, it all changes varying on our cultural backgrounds. Americans make things bigger, more dramatic, we have a love for flair. Germans take a more pragmatic approach, blunt and what a foreigner may perceive as cold initially. When these lines cross, it can end in misunderstandings, or more famously, outright war. Even in our own families, and cultural and social spheres, however, people can end up being different.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker, Dato Gogichaishivili brings up his own brother, likening their relationship to that of 'chalk and cheese'. People are different. And it's not always just because of the environment we were raised in, or what we were brought up to believe or understand. Personalities clash, and personalities meld, and sometimes, people are different. More often though, people are chronically the same. It's a theme written on by every author, poet and play write in history. Human nature. Our ability to somehow come together, despite being from totally different social strata, different countries, pick up a young adult novel and you'll have a few novelists theorizing that people will get right on with someone from a different planet.
Human empathy is one of the strongest forces on earth. Love, democracy, taking care of the elderly, taking care of our youth, these are some examples of how similarly people will react. On the flipside, humans are found all over the world to react with violence, hatred, bigotry and negativity to many things that challenge their worldview. Which is why I found Dato's ending so impactful, and bittersweet. Don't we all have something, that we could have someone for, in our life? And perhaps it is good, to be the bigger person, to step up and to say I forgive, I let this go, I unburden myself and I unburden you. To say thank you, for all the pain, however- I disagree with thanking that person. You cannot make someone stronger by hurting them. Someone simply becomes stronger by overcoming what is done to them. Perhaps that is a cultural difference too, a micro paradigm exclusive to my thinking, because I would not press send on that last message. I'd just read another article on a Russian elephant sent to the moon.
PART 2
Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
Dato Gogichaishuili is just one person out of millions of people in this world who had made one presentation, and then presented it to an immense crowd, including the people that watched it on the internet. He’s the tiny mosquito in an exhausted sea of mosquito’s that took a bite out of society, and left behind a huge impact. It may fade with time and some people may forget what was presented, but some will take his eye-opening information and create their own impact on society because of what was learned. Gogichaishuili may be of different ethnicity and cultural ways, but he does not segregate the world based solely on cultural beliefs. He understands that society and the world as a whole is not so black and white, that it is full of colorful people with very different ways of life, beliefs, culture, beauty, and survival, but looking past that we are truly not so different after all.
ReplyDeleteThese cultural and political differences have led to many drastic issues, and one of these problems is something the world still faces today. War is a terrifying thought, no matter what beliefs or certain cultural ways a society might have, it is something that to world tries to avoid, but in some cases, it is inevitable. When families lose a beloved family member to the devastations of war no matter their culture, they grieve. No matter the political difference, we feel grief in the same way. Everyone shares the same emotions, health issues, the certain needs of living including shelter and food, and we share the same environments, as well. Gogichaishuili mentioned that a few countries had issued articles about elephants, which is a mammal that we are a quite familiar with. Because of the commonality of this one animal, it gave us the ability to see how each of those countries see elephants and what differences are in place. Spain studied the techniques of fighting elephants, India wrote about how they were used for transportation before railroads, America made an article about the study of how to breed bigger and better elephants, while Russia’s trying to figure out how to send them to the moon. Just by the titles,
Looking at the world as whole, it could be said that it is very different and it is. It is separated by culture and the way children are raised, but our values are the same. On the inside, we are all the same, but become different when we grow up and are influenced by outside forces as well as what we are taught by our families. Although it may be clear to some people when answering the questions about if we are truly that different or not, but there is always new information that blurs those lines and creates new questions. So, is there truly and answer to this posed question? Are we truly so abundantly different, or are we more similar than some would like us to be?
PART 3
Slimjim789 Buwowski222 MelRich895
The speaker, Dato Gogichaishvili, presents his experience as a person working with different cultures and their differences. He first starts off with an example about his conversations with different people, that end with unexpected results. He says that “all three people are living in completely different worlds” on account on their cultural differences. People of different cultures assign different meanings to a variety of things. They can share symbols that have entirely different meanings to them, for example, a wink of the eye, waving at someone, eye contact. Dato uses an example about time sensitivity to demonstrate different meanings. I know that where I live, it’s expected of you to arrive to your appointments on time, but in other cultures, to be late is acceptable. These cultural differences show the many perspectives that people have. Dato’s more tragic example about the plane shows how cultural differences, how our meanings and language are different, can cause deadly misunderstandings. His “elderly example” is also something that highlights different perspectives. In one culture, they take care of their elderly financially, like the speaker paid for his father’s things. Other cultures show their respect by standing when elders walk into the room, speaking respectfully and etc. Does that mean the culture that doesn’t do all those things, respect their elders less? No, they just show their respect differently. Differences like these can cause misunderstandings, and animosity. My family is Mexican. I grew up around Spanish speaking people in an expressive family orientated culture. However, my brother and I were the only two people in the household that couldn’t speak Spanish. That language difference is what kept me from fully understanding, or feeling as if I belonged, in that culture. I could only speak English, and thus could only connect with others in English. There were no Mexican parties, songs, or friends, for me. My family that was less focused on Mexican culture, became more distant from the extended family as a result from our families’ cultural differences. But like Dato explains, if we change that animosity to forgiveness, to thanks, we can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteCulture helps us understand each other. Are we different? Are we the same? Are we both? All people are the same we just have different habitats studies say. Dato says in Jordan its ok to be late for an appointment you would just put the blame on the bus for being late. In America they might not take and still charge you for the visit. Human values are universal we just express our values differently. Dato says he has a Turkish friend that stands up every time his father comes into the room out of respect. Does that mean we don't have respect? NO, in America its more common to stand up when a judge or a bride enters the room. People judge the unknown, its human. When I was 18 I went to Mexico and one night as I was leaving the club. The streets were filled with women and their little children selling bracelets. In my mind I'm thinking these kids need to be sleeping, but in her mind shes surviving. Dato goes and talks about how we can all talk about the same topic but have different outcomes. Every country writes a article on elephants in Spain they say the would use the elephants to fight, India would use them for transportation, and America would make bigger and better elephants. Again same topic just different solutions. Things like war happen because cultural difference. TO some one it might sound like a great idea to another might come as an insult. We should try to look at others perspectives. Even though most of us Americans might have been raised similar we all are very different. Even growing up in the same home your thoughts or values are not always the same.
Papyrus 789 Gander 789
The video talks about many cultures from multiple viewpoints. It asks the big questions when it comes to sociology, such as the differences in culture; what is the same, and what is different? Eventually, the video asks those two questions again, but this time, at the same time. The lecturer talks from his viewpoint as a comedian, and someone from Georgia. This can prove to be an interesting perspective, such as the joke about when he saw the helium balloons being sold for two bucks. He started this talk about Ted, which eventually led to this talk about culture, and how each of us may be different. It is clear how much research was done to examine the sociological perceptive in culture. He explains his view on culture, as is it different than others views. It is explained that the word 'culture' has a lot of different meanings. Such as when he stated that a famous person said, "People are the same but the habits are different", afterwards revealing that it is a quote spoken from such a major figure in philosophy as Confucius. That provides an additional something of value to take from the video. Later, when he talks about other meanings of culture, he compares how culture is perceived by others. I personally like to talk about the story of his friend, who stands up when his father enters the room to show respect. While the lecturer in this story keeps siting, that does not mean he does not respect his father, but in his culture they do not need to stand up to show how much he respects his father, after all he is paying for his father's trip to Spain. Compare how he behaves, and how his brother behaves; his brother must have a strict list of what to do, while the he can multi- task, like being on the phone while playing tennis. On a more somber note towards the idea of similarities between people, he makes the point that most would still mourn death of a family that died during a war, even if they live in different places, like people from Georgia and Russia. This is a very good example to put in the video. He was very good at keeping the audience's attention. The talk had a multitude of points to make, some being harder to think about than others. When it comes down to it, I suppose life can be considered a game of options versus choices versus goals. Culture is largely responsible for our patterns of behavior, patterns that are often founded in practicality, and even more often founded by tragedies and miracles, famine and abundance, as well as harsh rulers and just kings; culture only exists when there are at least two people experiencing the same thing, trying to make sense of it, or make the best of it, together. Nearly every case of social interaction stems from patterns of interaction, that are perpetuated by expectations of fulfilling said interaction. For example: someone enters an elevator that you were riding alone, will you greet them, or will you remain silent? This being example of options; culture defines which ones are considered normal, directly determining which are considered strange or even offensive. In this case we will assume greeting the other person is normal. Saying 'Hello' would not provide any information, it would not help the elevator go faster, but many of us still do it because it is expected, or at least we think it is. Of course, even in just that interaction, there are countless different routes to take, like asking what floor they are stopping on. This is an example of choice; while it may or may not be expected of you to greet them, you can define how that expectation plays out, even purposely subverting it.
ReplyDeletePART 2:
DeleteNow, assuming you are a sentient organism, you probably have a reason (even a 'stupid' one) for doing things. Let's say the person in the elevator is someone you interact with often, and you expect to continue seeing that person in this building you frequent for a long time. You greet them and ask what floor they are going to, even pressing the button for them and starting small talk. You want this person, that you see often, to be friendly towards you. This can be considered a goal; you want a positive relationship, so you do what is expected and even go beyond. In short, people choose from options, with an understanding of likely outcomes, outcomes that are largely influenced by culture, for the sake of accomplishing goals. Culture definitely influences how people interact, but it doesn't really define them, their choices while working with it do.
-gamer789
-SoarSore789
Are we different? Are we the same? Or are we different in the same? The man in the TED Talks video says that he does not know. If I were to answer this question, I would say that we are different in the same. I say this because if you really think about the examples he has provided, it would not be very just to say that it was strictly either different or the same, so for that it must be both. Referring to his example of respect for the elderly, he and his friend seemingly have the same amount of respect for their fathers, one just shows it differently than the other. The example with the elephant was also very important as well. Both of the people looking at this elephant see it as useful or maybe even important, but for different reasons. Lastly, the example with the bus. In our own culture we blame ourselves for being late and missing the bus, while in other countries they blame the bus. While all of these things are just minor examples, people often get mad at one another over things like this. Then, I really liked his example about writing a letter to your enemy. The letter started as a list of things the enemy was hated for, but ended as a letter of why that person was thankful. The point he was trying to make was, that maybe instead of seeing something different as a bad thing, maybe try seeing it as a good thing instead. If not a good thing, look for the good in the situation. Maybe you learned a lesson, learned something new, made a friend, whatever it may be. Seeing the glass as half full, rather than half empty, and having that positive outlook on the negative situations in life makes living just a little bit more enjoyable. This video really have helped me better understand the many different meanings of culture. Back in the past everyone treated each other like crap, in other words unequal. Because for one thing race played a major role then followed the stereotype of the area where a person lived. After watching this fascinating video I asked myself the same question he asked himself, “Are we different, the same, or both,” and I have came to the conclusion that I don’t quite know either. Because everyone is the same on the outside in reference of being human and we all strive to be successful but different on the inside in reference to knowing multiple languages, come from a different country, believe in God or not, or even like the same sports. In the video he mentioned that “Columbia is the one of the highest PDI cultures in the world,” so a union leader will have a lot of concentrated power compared to his union management team. This past summer I went to California for and while I was there I stayed in Koreatown and I kind of experienced a culture shock because when I went to one of their restaurants they had stuff that I eat and made it in a American way but called it something totally different. So I was expecting something different but I just got an ordinary hamburger. When this guy started talking about elephants being the same but also different it kind of connected to this video about a camel that I watched because in that video it talked about the different cultures that has camels and how they are similar to each other but then different. For example, and American camel is the same as a camel from Egypt in the simple fact that they are both camels but different in how they survive. So you can always learn something new when meeting someone who is like you but yet different. -(NIKE789, White789
ReplyDeleteMy group came upon opposing viewpoints. While one believes that ideas and values stay pretty consistent throughout culture, the other believes that there are more differences among differing cultures than similarities.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to worldly culture, are really that different? I believe that we are both. I think that a lot of our ideology and values are the same. Our relationships harbor the same feelings and our actions are what creates the divide. Our differences appear in the way we react, behave and demonstrate our ideas and values. Meaning, two people can have the same value, say love of children, and express that differently. One person can show tough love and be strict to bring the child up “right,” whereas the other is more laid back and showers the child with acceptance. You see the most similarity among cultures when in a crowded, busy city, such as New York City. One Asian man is taking video of his family around all of the monuments, one Russian mother is scolding her daughter for walking too far ahead of her, and an American father is getting his family vendor food. We see the biggest differences, however, in history. Our cultural differences cause fear and hatred. The French are known to hate the Americans, and Americans are known to fear the Iranians. These fears and negative feelings cause tension and can blow up in huge ways such as war, mentioned as well in the Ted Talk. Right now, you see America tweeting its political thoughts about nuclear war and North Korea threatening us. So, are we different? In short, we are all different and we behave differently and express our ideals differently, but don’t we ultimately have the same values and feelings?
As you see, in this viewpoint, a member notes that while there are plenty of differences, they key ideologies and values are consistent. In the next view, the other member of the group believes that even values differ from culture to culture and that we are very different. She says, when it comes to cultures I feel that we are all different in plenty of ways like are language, religion and values and the way that dress. When we go to go to a different country we never know what to expect or how to handle to certain things because you don’t want to be disrespectful. One of the main things that are different with cultures is how we greet one another. For example, in Italy they are used to kissing each other on the cheek to greet one another but in the United Stated if someone came up to you trying to give you a kiss on the cheek you would think that it’s weird but to them it’s just a friendly gesture. In some countries one of their important values are arranged marriages. For instance, they would arrange their child to marry someone who’s very wealthy or just try to find someone who they feel has the best interest for them. In my country, we are used to having the freedom to choose who we want to marry and actually get right to get to know the person before we choose to marry them, in India they don’t have that option if they were to give their opinion on how they felt about the person they are marrying they are coming off as disrespectful to their parents. Language is one of the important aspects to every culture, each culture has different languages. When it comes to are languages and word choice we have to be careful when talking to someone from a different culture because it could have a different meaning and it could lead to a misunderstanding. In Islam, the way women dress is very important they are to be covered all the way up and to wear loose fitting clothes to show respect to their culture. That’s why I feel that when it comes to culture we are different because everyone has different beliefs.
So, with these two different beliefs about the question “Are we different” explored, are we? There is no distinct answer for that question so ask yourself that question and see what you think. Catzfuhdays789 Crown789
So are we really different? Perhaps we are the same? Or perhaps we are both? That particular question may prompt tons of responses amongst human kind. The ways in which we as humans are the same includes: our rituals, languages, symbols, etc.. Using the example given within the presentation, Georgians find it exceptable too be late to appointments, while here in America in preparation for the workforce us Americans are taught to be on time no matter the surrounding circumstances....it's thought to be professional and showcases great work ethic. As for similiarities, well those fluctuates between our love for our children/family, respect for others/elders, tradition, etc.. Here in American as a U.S. citizen everyone put their right hand over their chest, remove hats, and stand during the pledge of allegiance. Even still we are different in how we express ourselves pertaining to such human values. Losing a loved one is a significant point in anyone life, grievance or a form of suffering may following but the way you grieve may be completely different from mine. Being both different and the same would be most accurate if we were speaking in terms of identical twins, individuals whom share the same personality type, or when gathering information specifically for a certain ethnic group, the behaviors may differ based on economical status as well as other things.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion those things that allow us to be both different and the same creates individuals and place an impact on society as a whole. The world would be so "blah" if we acted/reacted the same and or lived under the same circumstances/rituals/traditions. I'll leave you with this how would we grow and thrive mentally or in any aspect of life, if it were so predictable? Differences and similarities are the ying and yang effect here, it balance out our society.
mommyoftwo789
No matter what your culture is no matter what your skin color is everyone is different. The exact things in life that make us different are the things that make us the same. Even though we try to be different; the fact that we even try to be different, is a similarity in itself. On the surface everyone is different, unless we are talking about twins, but even then twins have slightly different features as well. Some people have pale skin, some have tan skin, and others may have dark skin but way deep down inside all of these people are the same. Everyone in the world has their own way of thinking and the fact that we all have our own way of thinking, although different, makes us the same. There are different types of learners in the world, there are auditory learners, visual learners and there are kinetic learners; these people learn differently but they all have a learning style. As Confucius said "all people are same its just their habits that are different" these people are learning, it's just they learn in different ways. In some cultures people can't eat certain foods, wear certain clothes or even speak to certain people. In other cultures people can do what they want, when they want, and with whomever they want. In each of these cultures the people will do what the rules say because that is their culture; different cultures same response. In some cultures in other countries the animals we consider pets in America are food to them; and animals we consider food in America are considered pets to people in other countries.
ReplyDeleteOverall, yes we are all different; we all have different parents, come from different countries, and know different people. We all grew up in different neighborhoods and we all have different addresses. We have all been through different things, good and bad, and not two of us think exactly the same; but are we really that different? Don't you have goals? Don't you have aspirations? Don't you have values? Well I do too, and so do other people all around the world and in other cultures. Everyone receives the same information, we just interpret it differently.
Zar789
This gentleman explained cultural differences in so many ways that really made sense to me. When I think about different cultures or cultural stereotypes, I realized that it really is learned. I learned it from seeing or hearing these “opinions” about other people or countries that are predefined. It could be that I grew up hearing my parents or other family members talking or making comments, or I could have seen it on a television show, read it in a newspaper article or at a comedy show. The predefined subjective cultures help us predefine the world’s people. There are so many cultural differences in the world but who decides this? Who decides if our culture is really the different one, or the same one as others? Are we both just different and the same in many ways.
ReplyDeleteWhen you look up the definition of the word culture, you find many different meanings. Is a culture one that the population of people have the same beliefs and values? It could also be that they have all been programmed in their minds to be similar. Or are people the same, but we have different habits that make us seem different? I know that sociologists have been researching this for a long time. But are we researching not only how we are different in rituals, languages, customs, and habits as well as why we think these things about other cultures as well as our own?
I do believe that we express different things of value differently among different types of people or cultures. I would not dare question an adult as a child. But now, in today cultural society even in the United States, that has changed dramatically. Parents do not tend to discipline their children as strictly as they used to and as they do in other cultures. I believe that cultures change accordingly to different generations as well. I still try to teach my children that ultimately you should respect adults and elderly and especially your parents. I believe that too often in today’s society I am noticing that the culture is changing where we are teaching the children that it is okay to disobey rules and the laws the government has put forth to protect us. MommaJ789
From the beginning of the video, he had catches me by his funny story about three men with three different culture in the same spot. This story show how cultural of each individual can be together but different. I like his three questions on the screen different? Same? Or Both? I had the same answer as him, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteCulture was built on thousands of factors and was shaped by thousand minds. Each cultural has many aspects that are completely different with each other, from the way we speak to the way we behave. For example, Vietnamese students bow any teacher that they pass by on the school hallway while America students said hello or give the high-five to their teacher. They both different but show the same meaning that the students gave respect the teacher. It true that every culture on the world process the same meaning of idea but was considered different by the way people behave and practice differently. Just like the third definition he gave in the video: "All people are the same. It's only their habits, that are different". Another example is when you visit the Mongolian house, you have to give them the gift and they too do the same, to show polite while at France house, you have to give the compliment to the house to show the same polite and respect.
Cultures different because we believe they are different. The case of having two people with exactly same culture will never happen because each individual has different culture. Even my sister and I, bot came from the same family, same country, same religion but we have different culture. Like he said, cultural different is a serious problem. People just simple don't like other because other are different from them. That is the reason why we have cultural conflict and war. Basically, war happen because two sides though they are different so that many deaths. I feel kind of sad because what he said was right. Cultural stereotype can be terrible and we still don't have the specific vaccine to prevent it. The final 15 things" I thank you for "we send to our enemy is one way toward the creation of this vaccine. It just the small act but it will have impact overtime. Thank you for his speech to make me more understand about culture different around me.
Zero789
I like the story at the coffee shop that he is using as an example to say that everyone of them where in a different world based in their experience in life and what they considered to be important to each one of them. He was Thrilled about him being able to participate in the recoding of John Lennon at NBC studios in California and for him this was big and important, The first guy he talked to was thrilled about being selected to do a TED talk. However for David (the guy telling the story) this “TED” wasn't even within his scope of view or even knew the meaning of this. The second guy he talked to was so focused in providing a good service and doing his job that he couldn't see the humor in David’s joke. I get to see that we are all the same as human beings and biologically we are the same what make us different is our personalities and the way that we see the world and the way we view what are our priorities in life. I really liked when he quoted Confucius “All People are the same; it is only their habits that are different” before questioning, are we different? Are we the same? Talking about people as whole. The Example of the airplane to give an example of similar behavior and how we all complain about the same things just in different languages and missing what really matter in the process. He said that we can laugh about cultural differences and stereotypes, but sometimes this misunderstanding of cultural meaning can be a matter of life or death as he explained the tragedy of the Avianca flight from Colombia and tower control that caused them to misunderstand the message causing the dead of many people as the result the plain running out of fuel. I love how he is trying to transform hate in to forgiveness and thankfulness.
Koi789
I enjoy the beginning of the video where the guy talks about how we as people always tend to look at the darker side of everything we become involved with. We look at planes like there are a cramped and overcrowded object that we are trapped in for hours. We will never look at planes the way people did back in the 1900’s. They looked at planes as an amazing thing, you could fly around the sky like a bird. People were inspired and they appreciated things more. The current generation of the world can’t look at the world and all the wonderful things as if they are wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteThe joke the guy told about America partying was a notable example of proving people have a good sense of humor. This is a major political discussion about how everyone feels about America and how America feels about everyone else. The audience laughed even though it presents a serious matter. Most people will have a good sense of humor to laugh at this joke. There Are some that will look at this joke and complain about it because it may be a serious matter to them.
The presenter talked about how war is due to cultural differences. I agree with this in a way. I think wars in the past that involved the united states were more focused on the differences in our country and others. Even though the cause of World War I is debatable, I can say that logic behind the start of the war points to the fact that the Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian nationalist. These assassins believed that everything the archduke was doing was wrong. To the Archduke everything he was doing was right and just. They assassinated him and sparked a war because their culture taught them about values differently than that of Austria-Hungary.
I agree with his statement about not knowing whether we’re different, the same, or both. We all have our own individual preferences and we all have our own identities. Every person has someone else that is like them in someone way, but at the same time they are completely different.
There are many ways to express culture. We all have diverse ways to do that. In America, there are consequences for being late. You might be fired...wrote up. laughed at...made to feel guilty and lastly...you should take ALL the blame. And sometimes death might not even count. depending on what kind of boss you have.
In Georgian culture, its accepted to be late. If you are late no matter if it was the bus that you where late for. you woke up late. It’s not YOUR fault. That's a very convenient way to look at things from an Americans point of view, but to them it’s no big deal. I have been late to various places such as work or class. Its either you get a comment from a co=worker saying what happened.
As far as a class in concerned you DEFINETLY will get the class stare from everybody and they are probably thinking "why is he late " especially if it’s a consistent thing. I have been around people who don't have fathers or mother and some who do and some who grew up in a single parent home. They show respect differently. They might take their parents out to eat. give money ...take them on a trip. Anything In the Turkish culture when your father comes home you must stand up. Now most Americans you would hear that and say ...'WHY??”. that's something that they are used to doing. I’m pretty sure there are some stiff consequences if this isn't done promptly when he father arrives home. All cultures have norms and things that are considered weird.
The guy in the video made some very good points and he definitely made me realize how different things are for people across the world . If everyone didn't have they own culture the world would be a very boring place. We all should try to understand we all come from various places and have different views of life that effect how each person views the world. Germany everything is prohibited unless its allowed. In the US ..it’s the total opposite.IM pretty sure if you tried to do that in the US people’s lives would be turned upside down!!
-college kid789- -ViciousAfro789-
I did not settle for the answer he gave “I do not know if cultures are different, same or both”. In my opinion, I believe cultures are different like people do believe that there are many different
ReplyDeletecultures in the world so of course they are going to be different but deep down, all human cultures are essentially the same. Our cultural values maybe universal but the way we express things is different from one another. For example, when approaching someone or saying hello in the United States, it may be different in another country but you are both trying to do the same exact thing. I came from Africa, and adjusting to the US cultural was very different for me but there were a few things that were similar to my country that I used to make myself comfortable with the country. I liked how he used the example how the other cultural blamed the bus for being too fast and the US would say it was there fault for not catching the bus that is why they were late. I also agreed about what he said that “we hate people who are not the same as us”, it’s a habit that we have, we think everyone should be similar to us or act like us otherwise we hate them. We also don’t really realize that the things we hate about other
cultures or a particular person teach us something that is why I really liked how he ends his speech with the two subject emails. I myself tend to dislike people who know more than I do, but I know that I will learn that something I do not know from that person or culture. When comparing both of our opinions with our partner we both agree that we are both on the same page. I also agreed that cultures are both the same and different. I have been lucky enough to be exposed to a lot of cultures in my life. I am the daughter of a biracial couple and am lucky enough to have a Mexican and an American background. Along with having a mixture of cultures at home I have traveled to quite a few places. I can see how the TED speaker means about witnessing many different cultures. In some Mexican cultures women, usually don’t work they stay home and take care of children and their home, which is different to how mother American family see it they are a very progressive family they believe in the equality of men and women. My father has brought this up to his very old school grandparents and they are completely outraged that my mom isn’t following Mexican beliefs. A lot of the way cultures can be the same are when it comes to their values, the main one being family. There is not very many cultures that do not have family as their number one value. Most cultures believe family comes first and that they would do anything for their family and that no one come between family, most cultures believe this. Other ways that I believe they are different are just the things that cultures find important. Things that I may find important in my American culture would not be important if a culture in like Haiti, or in a culture with a lot of poverty. Cultures can be different even in the way that we may never really think of. For example, in American us using out index finger to point something out maybe found very offensive in other cultures. We both believe that cultures are different and the same and they will always be.
Ria789 | Vct789