Test 2: CH 3 Culture

Question 1

how do superstitions translate particular experiences into meaningful observations?

Answer 1

they enable people to cope with specific life challenges

Question 2

what does culture give to concrete and sensory experience?

Answer 2

meaning

Question 3

high culture vs pop culture

Answer 3

high culture is enjoyed mainly by upper class (opera, ballet, etc)
pop culture is enjoyed by all classes (movies, pop music, etc)

Question 4

why does high culture tend to only be enjoyed by the upper class?

Answer 4

because appreciating its fineness takes a certain amount of time and money that only the rich can achieve

Question 5

dominant vs subordinate culture

Answer 5

dominant culture helps the powerful categories of people exercise control over others
subordinate culture challenges dominant culture

Question 6

culture (book)

Answer 6

consists of the shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real life problems

Question 7

symbol (book)

Answer 7

concrete object or abstract term that represents something else

Question 8

where does the meaning of a symbol reside?

Answer 8

in what the symbol refers to

Question 9

our definition of culture notes that symbols are…

Answer 9

shared

Question 10

look name and see meaning

Answer 10

“look” (concrete behavior)
then “name” (cultural part)
then “see” (abstract understanding/significance)

Question 11

abstraction

Answer 11

ability to create general concepts that meaningfully organize sensory experience

Question 12

concepts allow humans to do what 4 things?

Answer 12

organize, classify, interpret and generalize their experiences

Question 13

cooperation

Answer 13

capacity to creating a complex social life by establishing norms and values

Question 14

production

Answer 14

human capacity to make and use the tools and tech that improve our ability to take what we want from nature

Question 15

3 main human capacities for survival

Answer 15

abstraction
cooperation
production

Question 16

what is a taboo?

Answer 16

the strongest norm; when violated, it causes revulsion and punishment is severe

Question 17

3 steps evolutionary psychs use in their argument for their biol. explanation of human behavior

Answer 17

1. identify a universal human behavioral trait
2. offer an explanation for why this behavior increases survival chances through reproduction
3. conclude that behavior in question cannot be easily changed

Question 18

genes never develop w/o _____________ ____________

Answer 18

environmental influence

Question 19

3 parts of the Sapir-Whorf thesis

Answer 19

we experience things in our environment and create concepts about them (1 to 2); we develop a language to refer to the concepts (2 to 3); language influences how we see the world (3 to 1)

Question 20

what do symbolic interactionists say culture is the outcome of?

Answer 20

culture is the outcome of our choices and culture shapes/constrains our social relations

Question 21

Why is Canada said to be undergoing rapid cultural diversification?

Answer 21

Because of a rising number of immigrants and the wide range in their countries of origin

Question 22

multiculturalism

Answer 22

federal government policy that promotes and funds the maintenance of culturally diverse communities

Question 23

What is Canada’s official culture?

Answer 23

We don’t have an official one

Question 24

cultural relativism

Answer 24

belief that all cultures have equal value

Question 25

What is Quebec's Bill 21?

Answer 25

Bans the display of religious symbols worn by educators, cops and legal personnel; Quebec's way of trying to reinforce its distinctiveness as French

Question 26

rights revolution

Answer 26

socially excluded groups struggled to win equal rights (in the second half of the 20th century)

Question 27

how did the rights revolution begin?

Answer 27

when the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948

Question 28

rites of passage

Answer 28

cultural ceremonies that mark the transition from one stage of life to another

Question 29

globalization

Answer 29

when formerly separate economies/states/cultures are tied together and people become aware of their growing interdependence

Question 30

postmodernism

Answer 30

mix of cultural elements from dif times and places, diminuition of authority, and decline in consensus of core values

Question 31

Western culture is the opposite of what culture of our times?

Answer 31

Postmodernism

Question 32

what does postmodernism do for ordinary people?

Answer 32

empowers ordinary people and makes them more responsible for their own fate

Question 33

the questioning of authority spread the quickest in which country in the 60s?

Answer 33

Canada

Question 34

who is less deferential to authority: americans or canadians?

Answer 34

canadians

Question 35

2 faces of culture

Answer 35

freedom and constraint

Question 36

3 aspects of new freedoms that culture allows us today

Answer 36

diversity globalization postmodernism

Question 37

rationalization

Answer 37

the most efficient way of attaining goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so

Question 38

Weber said rationalization makes it seem like we're living inside of a...

Answer 38

iron cage

Question 39

the regulation of time helps us to what?

Answer 39

achieve goals

Question 40

consumerism

Answer 40

tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods and services we purchase

Question 41

constraining forces on our lives

Answer 41

rationalization consumerism cultural capital act

Question 42

how do people "become" ads?

Answer 42

by wearing/owning things with labels to display the kind of people they are

Question 43

how does social media constrain us?

Answer 43

it has become a compulsion for many

Question 44

why are attention spans shrinking according to Sean Parker?

Answer 44

social media is constantly providing people with likes or new knowledge that releases a burst of dopamine

Question 45

effects of social media constraint

Answer 45

neglect of loved ones decreased capacity to focus increased risk of anxiety and depression

Question 46

counterculture

Answer 46

subversive cultures that oppose dominant values and seek to replace them

Question 47

cultural capital

Answer 47

the beliefs, tastes, norms and values that people draw on in their everyday life

Question 48

when does the "gatekeeping" function occur?

Answer 48

when dominant groups define their specific kinds of cultural capital as prereqs for recruitment/selection

Question 49

differences in cultural capital are connected to what?

Answer 49

social classes

Question 50

is cultural capital material or symbolic?

Answer 50

symbolic

Question 51

culture jamming

Answer 51

creative methods used by individuals and groups to challenge dominant cultural capital

Question 52

what is the point of culture jamming?

Answer 52

draw attention to the consequences of consumerist culture

Question 53

what is the paradoxical nature of culture?

Answer 53

culture is created to help adaptation/problem solving but once created it becomes something that humans must adapt to at varying degrees

Question 54

3 lessons that virtual culture teaches children

Answer 54

you will always be heard you can direct your attention wherever you want you will never have to be alone