Impact of Culture on Identity

Impact of Culture on Identity How does the culture we are born into effect the kind of person we become? Culture plays an integral part in an individual’s life. Various aspects of life are governed and influenced by the culture including the social behavior, norms, and the influence over the judgment and decisions. I particularly believe that culture is a prominent aspect of life and subsequently has to do with the kind of person we become in our life. The testimonies to the influence of culture in one’s life is apparent by some aspects as follow, the culture to which a person belongs has a strong influence over his thoughts and ideologies, the culture manifests his ability and potential of the work he does, the culture reflects his social behavior and the way he responds to various predicaments. On the surface, it shapes our life and our vision for how we look at the world. Culture is dynamic it keeps changing, its surface appearance is deceptive, what you see on the surface isn’t necessarily what is under it. Therefore to determine the effect of culture on an indi vidual is often complicated and there are some implications which are to be accepted without questioning, that is to say the effect of culture on people vary and affects us vividly. However, I am going to fret that it affects us in a positive manner. The culture has a strong influence over our thinking, ideologies and understanding. As thinking is one of those aspects that keeps vacillating and growing with in us, shaping our life every time we learn something new. And the culture is one of those attribute which helps in augmentation of our cogitation. Some of the culture which observe open-mindedness are often more likely to grow and develop faster than the others who observe conservativeness. This model of thinking will ultimately affect the development of an individual, hence the one with open-mindedness will grow faster, and this is apparent by taking the example of USA’s and Vietnamese culture. The one who belongs to an open-minded culture will always be ready to take risks and accept the opportunities he is provided with, because such aspects are deeply etched in their culture and resultantly would be exhibited in the individual [1]. So by taking example of two contrasting nations like Vietnam and USA one can witness the force and potent of culture, that how it shapes the lives of the living entities residing within it. In the novel â€Å"Fallen Angels† the protagonist-Perry makes a statement that, â€Å"We were supposed to smile a lot and treat the people with dignity. They were supposed to think we were the good guys. That bothered me a little. I didn’t like having to convince anybody that I was the good guy. . . . We, the Americans, were the good guys.† (Page 112 Fallen angels, Walter Dean Myers)[2].This statement shows the thinking of Perry which has been influenced by his culture, making him think that they were the good guys, just because they were helping others for their own independence. But they failed to see the other side of it and the repercussions it would bring. That is to say â€Å"we only see and understand what our culture teaches us†. Educational phase is an important stage of life, and sometimes it can be linked with some aspects of culture. Some cultures are often considered to be more superlative when it comes to intelligence and understanding of its students. Some of which are indeed in reality, while some aren’t, but relying on such generalized and over-simplistic ideas is dangerous. But if viewed from my point of view, the effects are positive. That is to say, if a person represents a culture where intelligence and understanding are the aspects embedded in them, in a culture where education is considered to be an important aspect and is meant to be achieved, then the student would be of greater knowledge and understanding in the end, which would eventually help him in becoming a better person in life. This aspect of intelligence is either governed by the genetic inheritance or the surrounding environment prevailing the society, an alluding outcome of the culture. Furthermore, sometimes when others don’t meet the boundaries of expectations and anticipations set by us, developed through the thinking we gaine d by our cultural understanding, we often consider that as cue that either we are different or they. As we can see from the above mentioned examples how the thinking is influenced by the culture surrounding us and resultantly and ultimately affects the kind of person we become in future. Secondly, the cultural values manifests how we deal or respond to the conflict or harmony that is omnipresent around us and also how it shapes our understanding about them. In the novel â€Å"Fallen Angels† Perry had to go through many phases of exasperation and intimidation, but every time he seemed to be responding each situation differently. When he was in hamlet on pacification, he encountered a Vietcong who was trying to shoot him but he couldn’t because his rifle wasn’t working, Perry stood petrified wondering what to do, but finally it dawned upon him that in order to save himself he had to shoot him. At first he wasn’t ready to shoot the Vietcong because he viewed war as â€Å"immoral and senseless killing of people†. But he responded according to the requirement of the predicament that is he finally killed the Vietcong. I surmise that, indirectly his response towards Vietcong was influenced by his cultural values. Explicitly stating, the cu lture had taught him how to respond to each situation, that â€Å"it’s not always about responding in a perfect way, but rather responding in a manner the predicament requires and deserves†. In addition, after doing the research on culture of other country (Vietnam) and understanding them through a different perspective, I have also developed a sense of understanding and a respect for their cultural values and how it has transformed them in spite of their ignorance toward knowledge. Considering my response towards their culture as an example in itself, it can be made apparent that my response isn’t an instinctive one but rather an acquired one, because â€Å"that’s the way I was brought up, to see the goodness in others neglecting the indecency that occurs in it simultaneously†. The origin of the response can be deeply rooted in my culture itself as it has nothing to do regarding my knowledge itself. Furthermore, in â€Å"Hamlet† by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is confronted by the ghost of his father, asking him to avenge his death. The audience of that time had accepted the event unquestioningly, the question was not whether the ghost really existed or not, but perhaps was it actually the king or a wicked soul masqueraded. But if a similar scene were to be placed in front of the audience of present time they would be reluctant to accept the ideas regarding the ghost, on the contrary they would disregard the originality and seriousness of work. This won’t be considered as an outcome of evolution in the human minds, but perhaps a development in the cultural teachings and understandings, for how we have been brought up to respond to or view such events. So this were the some form of the illustrations, for how cultures trains our reaction to respond to a conflict, not necessarily conflict but rather our response towards the happenings in our surrounding . And lastly, culture is also an important body controlling the manifestation of our social behavior, etiquettes, attitude and the potential of an individual to strive or work for something. Learned behavior is the foundation of human cultures and the transmission of this behavior ultimately powers the wheel of development of human culture. Human behavior produces cumulative changes in the society, and the constantly changing society requires constant behavior adjustments. Simply stating our demeanor and attitude are neither static or nor deterministic, it chiefly depends on the changes in the culture. In an interview conducted in Canada, a Chinese elder man pointed out that he hasn’t experienced any conflict since the last 40 years of his life [*]. Among one of the possible reason for his denial, one would be seeing the cultural preferences and differences in society through lens of harmony and mutual respects for others, which is the result of his Confucian upbringing. This at titude and perception of the Chinese was eventually a result of his cultural values, which helped him in becoming a wise and knowledgeable person in his life. His culture had taught him about the attitude he should have towards his own culture as well as for the other cultures. Now to demonstrate the influence of surrounding culture on our disposition, let’s take an instance of culture of Vietnam and India, if a boy was born in a Vietnamese family but his upbringing allegedly happened to be in Indian family, than the boy rather than getting accustomed to social behavior and etiquettes of Vietnam would tend to get accustomed to that of Indians. And fundamentally would demonstrate the attitude and disposition of a typical Indian. So the point of my insistence is that our surrounding culture demonstrates the way we would behave and how our attitude would tend to be. Now rather than using chop-sticks while eating, he would insist upon using his hands to do the same activity. And while greeting people instead of bowing and handshaking he would do Namaste (a gesture formed by joining two hands and bringing them down to chest). Now, an illustration of influence over our potential or our ability to strive for something. In Indian culture, the â€Å"sants† [3] (a person who attains the highest state of enlightenment by meditation and worshipping god) are considered to be an exponent of the Indian cultural values. They only strive for achieving salvation in their life, regardless of how tempting objects you place in front of them, they don’t develop desire for them. Consequently if there is no desire in the mind, they won’t be worried about it and also if any desire arises they won’t feel ease without shunning it. My point of emphasizing the idea is that that their commitment towards their works is so determined that they would never deviate from their path. The aspects of their potential and that of their outstriven ability are an exa mple in itself, if viewed from my point of view. In no other culture in world, would you find such adamant people. Their deterministic demeanor is a result of the cultural values. Again taking the culture of Vietnam and USA as a point of justification, in Vietnam children are encouraged to solve math problems mentally rather than using the calculators, but they do not consider this as a sacrifice and also their education system emphasizes more on morality rather than independent thinking. On the contrary, the Americans try to make their life as easy as possible by using technology. Also their education system emphasizes more on independent thinking rather than morality. So the inference which could be drawn from this happening is that both the culture are approaching the same work, but they have two distinct ways to achieve and strive for it. In conclusion, it is obvious by now that the way of life a person would live in future is derived chiefly from the cultural values and aspects of the specific group he belongs to. The three specific reasons I used for justification of my thesis are as follow, firstly the culture has strong influence on our ideologies and thinking, in a broader sense we as a person are an outcome of our thinking and ideologies. Secondly, culture demonstrates our way of responding to various conflicts and harmony prevailing in the society, dealing with conflicts is an important dimension of life and eventually and indirectly our response generated towards it is determined by the culture we are influenced by or born into. And lastly culture is the primarily body, that demonstrates our disposition, attitude and the potential and ability to strive or work for something. Just like economy and country, culture is also one of the most important dimension of our life. Cultures are not just about traditions, f ood customs, languages, dress etc. but perhaps, it has a broader horizon than the literary context, which requires a great deal of understanding and contemplation as a whole. Cultures are like underground rivers flowing within our lives, which gives us messages and teachings, shaping our perception, judgments, attribution and ideas for self as well as others. â€Å"We as a whole are inseparable from culture†. Work cited: *Lebaron: Mediation and Multicultural Reality.Lebaron: Mediation and Multicultural Reality. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 201 LeBaron, Michelle. Culture and Conflict.Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 . Cultural Influences and Education.Cultural Influences and Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. How Cultural Differences May Affect Student Performance.GreatSchools. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. Myers, Walter Dean.  Fallen Angels. New York: Scholastic, 1988. Print Shakespeare, William, and David M. Bevington.Hamlet. Toronto: Bantam, 1988. Print. From what I have experienced and understood in my life about different culture. The novel I had chosen for my culminating task. The ideas explained in the holy book of Indians â€Å"Vachanamrut† Note: while writing the essay I had to make certain implications, and also I used my experience as point of justification in certain matter.

Human Rights :: Human Rights Essays

This is a 3 page paper that describes evaluates and recommends the human right aspect of application in real life. INTRODUCTION: As laid down by the United Nations there are 30 articles pertaining to the definition of Human Rights. According to these articles it contains human rights to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and the right of freedom from discrimination and the right of free and fair trial. RESPECT FOR FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS: Globally speaking the world has faced a lot of human discrimination collectively in the past year, and this human rights violation is still going on. â€Å"All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured. The question of human rights is so fundamentally important that there should be no difference of views on this. We must therefore insist on a global consensus not only on the need to respect human rights world wide but more importantly on the definition of these rights.†(1). The tragedy of September 11 is a major human rights violation, but it doesn’t end here. The repercussions have lead into more human rights degrading. The supposedly guilty ‘terrorists’ held in Guatemala Bay are a living proof of serious human rights violation. With treatment meted out like animals to them they are being kept in cages in open view all the time. Where is one wonders the U.N. rights article number 11- Right to be considered innocent until proven Guilty? It is also clearly stated in the U.N. Charters of War and Crime that all arrests made in a state of war will be treated as Prisoners of War. And such prisoners have basic fundamental rights which are not being followed on these prisoners. To date there are innocent Saudis, Pakistani nationals and even French confined in these cages and whose governments are demanding their release. Since it is guarded severely in Cuba there are no exclusive pictures and footage to view for an audience however snaps and eye-witness accounts of Red Cross workers and Human Rights groups is available. â€Å"We need to think in global terms because the effects of one nation's actions are felt far beyond its borders. The acceptance of universally binding standards of Human Rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants of Human Rights is essential in today's shrinking world. Respect for fundamental human rights should not remain an ideal to be achieved but a requisite foundation for every human society.

My Most Special Moment

Once I was training in my boxing gym and I was lifting 18kg weights. The other weights were set out on the floor for when I needed them. I was on my last set of ten when I fell back and the weight came crashing down and landed on my leg. I couldn’t feel my left leg. I twisted my ankle and then I was rolling around in excrushiating pain. My manager came in once he heard my call of pain. He sat me up and I hobuld over to the ring. He sat me down on the side of the ring and got me a glass of warter. Ten minutes later I gave my dad a call and he came straight to the gym.My dad and my manager took me to hospital. We arrived in an hours time. The traffic was bad and I hobuld over to a chair and sat there with my manager while my dad went to reseption. By the time we got to the hospital my leg had swollen up to the size of a baby elephants foot. I was called in, the doctor said ‘What is your name? ’ I said ‘Mark. ’ I was given an x-ray and sent to the emerge ncy room and was told some hart breaking news considering that I had a big fight coming up, they said, you have broken your tibia and sprained your ankle.I had to stay in a hospital bed for 2 to 3 months. Each day my leg was getting better, My family visited every day and my manager to. I was getting better pritty fast. My manager came in the room and gave me good and bad news. I said, ‘Can I hear the good news first? ’ ‘OK,’ he said. I was told that Joe Calzaghe, one of the best boxers in the world, was coming to see me in a few weeks time. And the bad news was that my boxing match was canceled but I wasn’t bothered about that. After a week, Joe came to see me. I was waiting with the door open.He came in and my dad and my manager left us to talk. We were just chatting about boxing and I was asking questions about how many fights he had won. He said just over 18 in his career. He asked me how any I had won and I told him six so far. We had a good cha t and a cuple of moments later he said, ‘Will you be able to make it to my match. I’ll get you front row seats. ’ I said, ‘I don’t have enough money. ’ But he produced tickets from his pocket and they were for the front row by his corner. I said, ‘Thank you so much. You have made my day. ’ I was out of hospital in no time.My dad came to pick me up and I was happy to see my street and most importantly my family. I was welcomed home with celebrations and we partied. The next day the boxing match was on and me and my family were ready to go. We got there in an hour and sat in our seats. Joe’s fight was over in three rounds with a clean knockout and the towel thrown in. I jumped up in excitment and after the match he called me and asked if I wanted to go clubbing. I said ‘yes. ’ So we went out together and had a good time. We kept in touch and we are good friends even now.

6 Ways to Nurture Your Inner Entrepreneur

6 Ways to Nurture Your Inner Entrepreneur The idea of owning and operating your own business appeals to you. You love the idea of taking an idea of your own creation and then working to turn that idea into a working business that allows you to earn money, and allows you to spend your days doing what you love. Unfortunately, you also have doubts. You dont know if you have enough risk tolerance to become an entrepreneur. You doubt your ability to come up with a great idea, and you are unsure that you can make it through the grueling processes of finding financing and developing a business plan. Youre definitely unsure of whether or not you can manage all of the different tasks you will be expected to take on once your business is launched. Does this mean that your dreams of becoming an entrepreneur are dead in the water? Of course they arent. It simply means that you have to find ways to nurture and develop your inner entrepreneur until you are ready turn a fantasy about owning a business into the real thing. 1. Learn About Other Successful Entrepreneurs One of the best ways to build on your natural entrepreneurial ability is to get some good advice and inspiration from some of the greats. When you learn about the successes, failures, and struggles of notable entrepreneurs you begin to gain an idea of the traits you need to develop to become a successful entrepreneur in your own right. You can also find encouragement if your own efforts arent becoming fruitful as quickly and as smoothly as you would like them to. There are many books that you can read to educate yourself on influential entrepreneurs. 2. Work at Being an Entrepreneur Where You Are You dont need to be the owner of a business to nurture entrepreneurial skills. In fact, launching a business of your own is a horrible way to develop these skills. It is way too risky to put financial investments, time, and other resources on the line in the hopes that you have developed the entrepreneurial chops to start a successful business. What you can do, however, is develop these skills before you try to start your own business. For example, you can... Volunteer to take on leadership roles at work, in school, or other organizations to which you belong Formulate ideas for beneficial projects at work, pitch them, and carry them through to completion Act as a mentor to those who are less experienced than you 3. Become the Party Planner in Your Social Circle There isnt anything entrepreneurial in throwing a small get together, but if you throw a big event, you will learn a lot about what it takes to own your own business. When you put on a major bash you must contact and negotiate with vendors, coordinate multiple schedules, get other people to pitch in, find and obtain funding to pay everybody involved, and then make sure that everybody is satisfied. 4. Start Keeping an Idea and Problem Journal Great entrepreneurs collect ideas and problems. Just like writers who keep a journal for writing down snippets of story ideas, you should begin keeping a journal of business and project ideas, along with problems that you identify that need solutions. At some point, it is very possible that you will come into your head that will eventually be developed into a full-fledged business concept. You will also find that the more you write your ideas down, the more new ideas you will have. 5. Learn to Find as Much Value in Failure as You do Success One thing that differentiates entrepreneurs from other people is their ability to embrace failure. To an entrepreneur, failure is an opportunity to learn something, and then use that knowledge to come up with a better solution. If you can change your attitude about failure involving small things, eventually you will be able to embrace even big failures and use them as a learning experience. You can start by making a commitment to analyze every failure, not to determine where you went wrong, but to determine what you did right, and what you learned. 6. Take on a Part Time Opportunity to Own Your Own Business If you have good interpersonal skills, you could try taking advantage of a work at home opportunity that will give you a bit of entrepreneurial experience. There are many well-known companies that are constantly hiring people who wish to operate their own home based business. You can sell and market products ranging from cosmetics to kitchen supplies. If you think these arent real businesses, think again. You have to develop a list of potential customers, sell your product, pay your supplier, and track the money you have earned for tax purposes.

Braving the Middle School Book Talk

Braving the Middle School Book Talk When we writers began our quest in the literary world, we held several fantasies.â€Å"My book will sell more than Harry Potter†, â€Å"Johnny Depp will call and beg me to let him produce my book into a movie†, â€Å"Stephen King and I will be on a first name basis† (come on, I can’t be the ONLY one thinking of this!). But then we write, and lo and behold, that status doesn’t come, the fame and money dont come but other things come. Maybe you receive local recognition, an invite to do a book talk at a local book club, or school, or library. After a local newspaper mentioend my locally-published middle grade book, I was approached This is my fourth year of doing book talks to middle grade students, and I have come across some interesting tidbits I thought might help my fellow literary artists out there. Public speaking is a common fear. I used to be the lead singer in a band, and I had to talk, and I was scared to death of it. That was years ago. Of course since then stage fright has multiplied – and then to think, â€Å"You have to talk to kids! They have the attention span of†¦ a gnat!† Well that’s what teachers kept telling me anyway, but†¦ I approached my very first book talk in pretty much the same way I approach my writing. â€Å"Don’t think about it, keep a short outline in your head, step up, do it ignore the outline.† Truly, some people are better off at winging it, but for those of you who aren’t, here’s some advice from someone who has had to stand in front of ‘tweens’ for three years running. 1. Don’t be afraid. These are kids, they don’t work for the I.R.S. 2. You are their entertainment. You being there means they don’t have to do class work. They want you there! 3. Exude the joy of writing to them. They need to see it, feel it, hear it in your presentation or you’re just another grown up, talking. 4. Be prepared. Have samples, teasers, book marks. They love taking that stuff. True it may never make it home, but some of it will. 5. Plan entertaining answers for common question like: a. Are you rich and/or famous? My challenge to this is to let them know that though we can eventually gain a mass of riches, we write for the love of writing. One question I always ask is â€Å"How many of you here like to write?† and it never fails, I get one or two hands go up in a classroom, and they aren’t excited to let their friends know this. So my response is â€Å"That’s great. How many love to read?† More hands go up. â€Å"Well there ya go, you can’t read unless someone is writing, so you couple of writers will be fueling their reading hunger, get started.† b. â€Å"Miss Jones says that when we write, we have to do re-writes. How many times do you have to re-write the same story?† Answer? â€Å"Do you have a favorite song? Do you know it c. â€Å"I can never get ideas, all my ideas come from books I already know.† Answer:   â€Å"Ideas are all around you, just look for them. Writing to me is like a puzzle. It comes in pieces then as you write it puts itself together.† An example I give in every class is this one : â€Å"You know when you go to the grocery store with your mom and the cashier has a name tag ‘My name is Brian, ask me about my dog’. What about Brian’s dog? Well Fluffy died two weeks ago, but Brian has it in his freezer because he loves that dog and just can’t let go – and yes that’s dead dog hair on your Lucky Charms.† It always gets a laugh. Ideas are everywhere, a good exercise is to ask someone what they did over the weekend, and expand from there – and even make it a quick game. â€Å"We went to the zoo.† â€Å"Ahh, ok, so suppose you were at the zoo, and as you walked Basically, the audience wants you to sway them. They need to see the fire to write in you, and you will inspire. I love to share the fact that when I was in middle school I spent almost all of my time drawing comic books – or graphic novels as they like to call them these days – and that I credit my high school English teacher in lighting the fire in me to write. She pulled me aside one day and said â€Å"Why don’t you try writing a short story, I think you could do it.† I did. She liked it, and the rest is history. If you are an author of YA or Middle Grade books, contact the media specialist or lead teacher at your local schools and ask for a chance to speak with the kids. A good time for this is either during the month of November which is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), or during your local schools National Literacy Week. Either way you can wow them with your literary artistic skill and craft. Make us proud.

Deming points Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deming points - Essay Example Additionally, this physics doctorate holder also devised the phrases of assignable-cause followed by variation in chance-cause (Deming 80). Shewhart is also credited with coming up with the concept of statistical control that is a fundamental technique in designed experiments. Furthermore, he used mathematical statistical theories in order to comprehend data drawn from physical processes instead of producing a normal distribution curve. Therefore, there are several Deming points that assist in the management philosophy. However, in this case it is essential to study one and understand how it brought benefits to one of the group members (Deming 79). Therefore, in this instance, I think the promotion of education has brought numerous benefits especially when compared to the experience at Indiana State University. For example, it has enabled workers in gaining additional skills and expertise of handling matters. These include the arising challenges of modernity in the management world that are controlled by technology. Another importance of promotion of education is the ability to gain in terms of analytical thinking and memory of pertinent issues in the management field. After the interview concerning the 14 points of Deming, the following points were highlighted as the direct benefits in solving situations (Deming 81). For example, the use of purpose to guide most objectives has been beneficial in terms ensuring the objectives of management are met. Similarly, the constant review of processes helps in the improvement of different areas of management. This is in terms of understanding of employees and motivating them to perform in their respective duties. Alternatively, the working of various departments as a team helps in the completion of tasks in good time. On the other hand, politicians are conducting promotions on the basis of merit which

Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Organizational Culture - Essay Example Closely related to organizational culture in meaning is organizational values. Values refer to acceptable standards that govern individual employees’ behavior in an organization. Without these values, each employee would adopt behaviors that they deem fit in their own analysis which could conflict with the behaviors that an organization seeks to promote. The organizational values have to be in line with the mission and the vision. Woodside (2010) gives examples of the distinctive values in blue chip companies like Ford Motors and Marks & Spencers which were established by their founders and further sedimentation accomplished by their inheritors. Values would be chosen through the process of measuring, diagnosis, deciding and finally embedding. It has been noted that organizational culture guides the success of an organization, hence an important aspect to both the profit making and the non-profit making organizations. But success or performance remains a relative concept among business research scholars. Woodside (2010) gathers definitions of performance from various scholars ranging from an organization’s ability to achieve its goals to an organizational measure of efficiency, effectiveness and economy. In the same way, there exist various variables in measuring organization performance. This complexity has been cited by Shahzad, Luqman, Khan & Shabbir (2012) as the reason for minimal research on the impact of organizational culture on performance. In this paper, performance would be considered as the attainability of an organization’s goals. A positive correlation has been established between organizational culture and organizational performance with well performing firms possessing certain strong cultural traits. Shahzad, Luqman, Khan and Shabbir (2012) noted that superior and perfectly imitable organizational culture ensures attainment of sustainable competitive advantage.