Culture in Our Lives

All cultures have established a set of beliefs that constitute the code of values and moral laws for the people who belong to that particular culture. In Asia, for instance, people were exposed to certain social phenomena and consequently adopted corresponding beliefs that now dictate their behavior as a completely separate culture. In other countries, people share different beliefs and values due to a variety of important factors. Religion is one of the most important deciding points that shape the society in terms of its cultural beliefs and traditions. Another important component is history that can tell us about the events of the past that might have had some influence on the further development of people in that particular country. We are inevitably shaped by our past because history has a habit of repeating itself, even if the human condition allows us to intellectually forget.

Cultural differences present a very interesting social phenomenon to study and understand. There are cultures that share very similar values and traditions and there are cultures that have very different beliefs. In the confines of this paper, I will focus my attention on the differences between Chinese and American cultures that in my opinion present very good examples for this study. There are myriad differences in all aspects of social activity and there are probably more differences than similarities in these two cultures.