As I've been studying Hofstede's five cultural dimensions (power distance, individualism/collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long/Short Term Orientation), I remembered a little book I had read years ago called Foreign to Familiar (by Sarah A Lanier) in preparation for a mission trip. She used several other categorizations including Hot/Cold climates, Relationship/Task, Direct/Indirect, Inclusion/Privacy, and High Context/Low Context.
What's amazing to me is that we use so many different ideas to try to somehow express the complexity of the human race. It's wonderful to see the variety of human experience and background and it just makes me think that it's a miracle any of us can really work with each other at all. It reminds me a little bit of isolated biological communities like the Galapagos, Australia, or Madagascar where different populations of animals begin to take on characteristics of their own. Even though those animals on the Galapagos for example are very similar to other animals found on the mainland, they are unique in many ways. In some cases, so unique in fact that they would not survive if they were removed from their local habitat.
As our world grows smaller and smaller, people are in some sense, being forced into environments that may or may not be conducive for their success (at least in the short term). So people may be forced to do what the animals do: adapt, move, or die. I'm hoping that as I begin to learn more about other cultures and their special characteristics, that I can adapt and help others to adapt as well. The research shows that even though the globe is becoming smaller because of technology and our ability to communicate more easily, our cultures are not about to go away quickly. It's the hidden, assumed, historical "feeling" of our own culture that is not so easy for others to grasp, and for us to communicate. So I suppose that my learning about other cultures, is forcing me to be more accountable to understand and help others understand my own.
What's amazing to me is that we use so many different ideas to try to somehow express the complexity of the human race. It's wonderful to see the variety of human experience and background and it just makes me think that it's a miracle any of us can really work with each other at all. It reminds me a little bit of isolated biological communities like the Galapagos, Australia, or Madagascar where different populations of animals begin to take on characteristics of their own. Even though those animals on the Galapagos for example are very similar to other animals found on the mainland, they are unique in many ways. In some cases, so unique in fact that they would not survive if they were removed from their local habitat.
As our world grows smaller and smaller, people are in some sense, being forced into environments that may or may not be conducive for their success (at least in the short term). So people may be forced to do what the animals do: adapt, move, or die. I'm hoping that as I begin to learn more about other cultures and their special characteristics, that I can adapt and help others to adapt as well. The research shows that even though the globe is becoming smaller because of technology and our ability to communicate more easily, our cultures are not about to go away quickly. It's the hidden, assumed, historical "feeling" of our own culture that is not so easy for others to grasp, and for us to communicate. So I suppose that my learning about other cultures, is forcing me to be more accountable to understand and help others understand my own.
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