For the Culture

Once we take on an identity marker, either by choice (subscription) or endowment (ascription), we implicitly inherit the cultural characteristics of the community through the interworking of the meaning-making system. Let’s explore this further by unpacking the systems.

Durkheim argued that members who subscribe to a particular culture tend to act in concert to promote social solidarity among its members. He referred to this phenomenon as “collective effervescence.” This concept is superpowerful because it suggests that what we believe, what we do, how we make meaning of the world, and how we communicate are all b

Slow culture is what causes us to behave the way we do—our shared beliefs and values—and fast culture is a reflection of a community’s beliefs displayed in how society functions (most often seen in rituals, language, art, music, and film). Fast culture is typically ephemeral (a new diet trend or slang word), and slow culture occurs over long stretc

The artifacts that we wear, the behaviors we adopt, and the coded language that we use are outward representations of our worldview.

Community members use their lexicon, much like artifacts and behaviors, to signify their cultural subscriptions and exercise the beliefs and ideologies associated with it.

Anaïs Nin is famously quoted as saying, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” That is, the truth is not as objective as we would like to believe. The truth is culturally mediated and socially negotiated and constructed based on our communal view of reality—our beliefs.

Therefore, our cultural affiliation is anchored by how we self-identify—the categorical labels we use to tell people who we are and to associate with other people based on who they are.

Symbols, patterns, pins, buttons, hats, clothes, tools, and technology of all kinds of variety make up the many forms of human-made creations that reveal information about the values and customs of the people who use them.

Behaviors are the set of actions, manners, rituals, traditions, and ceremonies in which members of a community engage.