There have been many studies of the relationship between cultural attributes and economic or technological 'progress.' I think several things can be said about this that these studies tend to miss:
1. As I see it, 'Progress' is itself a culturally defined notion. What seems like progress in one culture may be viewed as societal self-destruction in another. So if we are to use the term usefully, we will have to define what we mean by 'progress'. 2. Culture, like organizations, individuals, or societies, can be viewed as a human system. That is, it will have a set of basic functions taking place within a structure that links its different components. (Jim Miller LIVING SYSTEMS THEORY and Stafford Beer VIABLE SYSTEMS MODEL suggest ways to create models of these systemic functions and structures.) Human systems go beyond others in the sense that human systems involve values, hopes for the future, fears, etc. The sum of these things is what we call 'culture'. (I am not using the term in the sense of the arts, theater, music, etc.) 'Progress', then would be a value that a society might or might not place great emphasis on. 3. In the West and in Europe and the US in particular, notions of progress have become dominated by the notion of wealth and acquisition and so we embrace technology and the exploitation of natural resources as the means and fuel for such economically-defined progress. But in many other cultures, 'progress' is seen differently, and the West's definition is viewed with emotions and analyses that range form envy, to horror, to repudiation, to boredom. 4. Yes, the West is viewed as being in the ascendancy on a technological, military, and wealth-generation sense. But several things may be reversing this, including, the growing relative financial weakness of the West, the emerging critique of seduction-and-status based consumerism, our growing dependency on outsourcing, the growing military and medical budgets - all of which can be seen as a form of buffering other dysfunctionalities built into 'Western culture'. It is not hard to imagine several other cultures competing to replace the West's as the dominating one, along with their various paradigms of what 'progress' means. It would be a silly mistake, I think, to think that the West has found all the answers and will retain its ascendancy indefinitely. This is certainly not the lesson of history, which has seen the ascendant culture shift among the Middle East, Asia, Europe and less often, the Americas and Africa. 5. It would seem to me that the only strategy that will assist a culture in remaining fresh and vibrant and relevant generally to the opportunities that the evolution of the world offers is one that is intensely curious about other cultures, able to appreciate their genuine strengths and weaknesses, and to learn form them. A successful culture must then know how to routinely transform itself functionally and structurally based upon a wise and expanded definition of culture and values. 6. So perhaps the most viable cultures today will prove to be those that are dissatisfied with themselves, able to learn and to change, and determined to pursue the potential for creating a good society that lies within their culture. Lawrence _____ From: Jeff Fink [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 11:37 AM To: vortex-l@eskimo.com Subject: RE: [Vo]:OT: Culture and the evolving human Is it culture that allowed western Europe/America to develop such incredible technology while all previous insipient techno societies such as China and Egypt failed to mature technically? I tend to think that freedom and the rise of a middle class are essential. There must be time and resources available to large groups of people in order to amass great amounts of knowledge through experimentation. I don't think any previous civilizations had those ingredients. Jeff _____ From: R.C.Macaulay [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:38 PM To: vortex-l@eskimo.com Subject: [Vo]:OT: Culture and the evolving human Been reading this thread with interest at the views expressed. Anyone care to expound on the impact of another component .... CULTURE. What role does culture play in the grand scheme of things? Richard No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1183 - Release Date: 12/13/2007 9:15 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1183 - Release Date: 12/13/2007 9:15 AM
