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On culture.
2025-01-02 20:41ON CULTURE
'Cultures are particular ways of accomplishing the things that make life possible - the perpetuation of the species, the transmission of knowledge, and the absorption of the shocks of change and death, among other things. Cultures differ in the relative significance they attach to time, noise, safety, cleanliness, violence, thrift, intellect, sex, and art. These differences in turn imply differences in social choices, economic efficiency, and political stability.'
- Thomas Sowell, Migrations and Cultures
There are a lot of factors that influence a person's chances of being successful in school, in the professional world, or in life. Much of it starts with culture. A stable home and family life probably helps you more in school than (say) having a high IQ. And for having a healthy, fulfilling life, a high IQ is irrelevant.
I was one of those kids who scored high on aptitude tests, but performed poorly in school, and it certainly wasn't because I spent too much time playing sports. (In retrospect, sports probably would have helped me.)
Most of what we know about the world, we learn from other people. This includes not only declarative knowledge (information about things like mathematics, geography, practical skills, whatever) but also the knowledge of how to interact with other people. We use the feedback of other people's reactions to help keep us sane; we learn how to think, speak, and act by observing others.
We also learn the values and the habits of the people we associate with, and whose continued acceptance and approval we seek. If you choose friends who have high standards and expectations of themselves and of you, it will have an effect on you. If you hang out with people who make excuses for failure, or who regard themselves as too "special" to be troubled with conventional notions of work, discipline, and accomplishment, it will have a different effect.
Knowledge is the most valuable commodity that we exchange on a daily basis. We rely on both technical knowledge (the "how to build a bridge" kind) and social knowledge (the "how to win friends and influence people" kind) to get through life. You might possess great technical knowledge (as, say, an engineer), but you need social knowledge to capitalize on it (by building a rewarding career, relationships with your colleagues, and family life). It is not an either/or choice between jocks and prom queens on the one hand, or math champs and engineers on the other.
Culture is the body of social knowledge, built up and evolved over generations, that makes it possible for people to support one another and negotiate with one another, without having to re-invent the metaphorical wheels that keep society running. [374]
'Cultures are particular ways of accomplishing the things that make life possible - the perpetuation of the species, the transmission of knowledge, and the absorption of the shocks of change and death, among other things. Cultures differ in the relative significance they attach to time, noise, safety, cleanliness, violence, thrift, intellect, sex, and art. These differences in turn imply differences in social choices, economic efficiency, and political stability.'
- Thomas Sowell, Migrations and Cultures
There are a lot of factors that influence a person's chances of being successful in school, in the professional world, or in life. Much of it starts with culture. A stable home and family life probably helps you more in school than (say) having a high IQ. And for having a healthy, fulfilling life, a high IQ is irrelevant.
I was one of those kids who scored high on aptitude tests, but performed poorly in school, and it certainly wasn't because I spent too much time playing sports. (In retrospect, sports probably would have helped me.)
Most of what we know about the world, we learn from other people. This includes not only declarative knowledge (information about things like mathematics, geography, practical skills, whatever) but also the knowledge of how to interact with other people. We use the feedback of other people's reactions to help keep us sane; we learn how to think, speak, and act by observing others.
We also learn the values and the habits of the people we associate with, and whose continued acceptance and approval we seek. If you choose friends who have high standards and expectations of themselves and of you, it will have an effect on you. If you hang out with people who make excuses for failure, or who regard themselves as too "special" to be troubled with conventional notions of work, discipline, and accomplishment, it will have a different effect.
Knowledge is the most valuable commodity that we exchange on a daily basis. We rely on both technical knowledge (the "how to build a bridge" kind) and social knowledge (the "how to win friends and influence people" kind) to get through life. You might possess great technical knowledge (as, say, an engineer), but you need social knowledge to capitalize on it (by building a rewarding career, relationships with your colleagues, and family life). It is not an either/or choice between jocks and prom queens on the one hand, or math champs and engineers on the other.
Culture is the body of social knowledge, built up and evolved over generations, that makes it possible for people to support one another and negotiate with one another, without having to re-invent the metaphorical wheels that keep society running. [374]
