The Four Main Characteristics Of Different Cultures

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In every society there are four main characteristics: social exchange, cooperation, competition, and conflict. According to sociologist, this are characteristics that distinguish societies in today 's world. Culture is a very imperative part of society; without it, we would not know how to survive. There are many cultures around the world and within the cultures there are certain norms, established rules, that need to be followed. Cultures, like the San, have a variety of norms. Those norms make up their culture and with them they guide themselves through life. The norms they hold make up what they are today and who they will be tomorrow. The San, often referred to as“Bushmen”or Basarwa, are indigenous, hunter-gatherer people of Southern …show more content…
Sharing is something that everyone hates doing to a point. People do not like to share: food, clothes, technology, and many other things. Unlike now, the San value sharing. The worst saying a person can have is that he or she is “far-hearted” or stingy (p.135). The San value: generosity, graciousness, and modesty. In fact, sharing is a subject of constant discussion among them. As a result, many have have the question, “Who will give me food?” in their mind constantly. A functionalist sociologist would describe this as a practice to help society survive. As a result, they could refer to the action as the San’s “social security system.” This indeed helps social life go by peacefully and more civilized than in today’s current society. The San do not value sharing they also value other things. The enjoy their leisure time, they actually spend more time doing relaxing activities than working. It is estimated that women go out to gather 9 out of 28 days ,and men went hunting 12 out of 28 day. The average amount of hours worked in a week averaged to 44.5 hours. Even at this level of work the community is well nourished , and have better mortality rates and adult life expectancy somewhat better than people from agricultural societies(p.137). They devote to nurturing groups, cultivating relationships, and elaborating their culture. The San are great talkers and like to joke around with each other, this …show more content…
My culture has many elements that are vital. My culture specifically takes personal space, technology, and privacy very serious. Unlike the San, Americans are extremely competitive, also Americans have issues with inequalities with gender and also with race. Not only do they have inequality and competition, Americans also work more than the San. Studies have shown that the average American works for 46.7 hours a week. Many say that apart from the 40 hours required they tend to work about 8 hours more. Also, when a person does not fit it they simply do not. Here when a person is different people tend to leave them alone because the set of established norms are been broken. The San in the contrary never leave a man behind. Even though, that in some extreme cases the leader of the band will ask someone to leave, a person will always have a band to go

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