Amanda Dunman 1

NS 1400
Assignment 5
June 4, 2006
Culture Change

Every society is intrinsically disposed to culture change, but also to resist change. Each

society transforms continually, some at a quicker pace than others (Ember, Ember & Peregrine).

There are direct and indirect processes that function to encourage the reception of new ideas and

inventions while other cultures within society support enduring constancy. Why does this

happen? Common behaviors, ideas, and values that were customary in one generation are altered

or substituted at another time (Ember et al.). Cultural change can occur due to the environment,

inventions and pressure within society, to contact with other peoples.

This change can be steady and internal, or swift, with considerable external demands.

Since the physical and social environment in which people live changes, they modify the

necessary parts of their culture in response to a transforming environment. Qualities and

behaviors that might be adaptive in one setting may not be in another. A given custom represents

only one of society’s many possible adaptations to its surroundings (Ember et al). Therefore,

different societies may choose different means of adapting to similar circumstances or choose

not to adapt at all (Ember et al.). Another example of an external influence would be regular

contact between two or more separate societies, which can cause cultural change. The customs of

the different peoples may unite, resulting in a single culture or one society could completely

absorb the cultural patterns of the other, perhaps by military domination (Ember et al).

Changes in culture can have unpredictable future costs. A society’s culture must benefit

its people, at least in temporarily, for it to be passed on to proceeding generations. Culture is

integrated and thus it cannot be expected for people to alter facets of their culture vital to their

lives, whether or not it is possible to be incorporated well into their life-style (Ember et al.). The
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NS 1400
Assignment 5
June 4, 2006

pressure for consistency in new behaviors and the invention of more advanced methods could

push a society towards cultural changes (Ember et al.).

The Uncertainty of Scientific Understanding

Science is affected by cultural, social, and personal attitudes. This is because science is a

human endeavor and what affects scientists will therefore have an effect on their research.

Scientific understanding is surprisingly quite subjective in practice and scientists have tended to

demonstrate stern loyalty to their theories (Ember et al.). Different people can study the exact

same set of data and dispute about which theory best explains the observations (Ember et al.). As

opposed to the traditional view that science is to be sheltered from biases and the imperfections

of people, in reality, science is unavoidably full of humans’ shortcomings.

Many people assume that a scientist is an utterly objective person, free of bias and

presumptions, keen to discard a popular theory if it were scientifically falsified. This is not true

whatsoever. The reality is that scientists are humans, and humans are fallible (Ember et al.).

Either in the hope of individual success or because they genuinely believe their ideas to be true,

scientific hypotheses (although essential to the scientific method) can be tricky because they lure

scientists, either deliberately or unconsciously, to support data that coincides with their

hypotheses (Ember et al.).

Another problem is that of observation. It is not possible to acquire entirely objective

observations, even if it were capable to practice full hypothetical neutrality (Ember et al.). There

is no straightforward method that can say if evidence confirms a scientific theory, which
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NS 1400
Assignment 5
June 4, 2006

becomes problematic when scientists must choose which theory to accept as the most reasonable.

Even then, when an explanation is supported, there could still be reasons for uncertainty.

According to the scientific point of reference, all knowledge is indecisive and thus subject to

increasing or decreasing verification as new tests are established (Ember et al.).

Should there be a Universal Language?

Innovation and creativity are essential conditions for the ability to see things from

different perspectives, rather than being enclosed in a single frame of mind (Ember et al.).

Suppose that someone believes that it would be better for international communication, if there

were only one language spoken throughout the world. Would that person also overlook the

elimination of his or her own language for the sake of doing so? Probably not. Having multiple

languages facilitates communal understanding in interpersonal relationships. With the

development of anthropology and anthropological linguistics, researchers have been able to gain

an expanded knowledge of the oldest, most isolated languages and thereby obtain some

comprehension of cultures very different from their own (Ember et al.).

In place of confusion, the existence of many different languages has offered mutual

benefits. People can better acknowledge other peoples’ needs, concerns and ways of life, and

vice versa. Human practice throughout history has shown that cross-linguistic communication

has always been attainable. Neighboring languages borrow and lend words from one other –

Romanian, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese have share many resemblances (Ember et

al). Language differences that are significant preserve specific geographical boundaries, creating

dialects that enhance cultures (Ember et al). Multi-linguistic communication can therefore
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NS 1400
Assignment 5
June 4, 2006
increase understanding, discourse, and tolerance between cultures, rather than disputes (Ember et

al.).