Sensation,
perception and culture
During the first
two weeks of class, we analysed the concepts of sensation, perception, and culture,
the professor Heiko Schmidt give an explanations on how these concepts are
related when shaping culture. First, I will begin describing the concepts of
sensation and perception. Then, I will analyse the concept culture and give and
explanation of perception and sensation relates to each other. Finally, I will
try to give a response to my research question Are cultures
and traditions unchangeable?
During the second class of Intercultural management, we analyse how
sensation and perception affects culture. Let us begin with the definition of
sensation and perception in order to have a broader idea of what it means;
sensation is “the neurological process by which we become aware of our
environment” (Sagepub, n.f)
Sensing that includes sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch helps to
shape culture. One of the best examples of how the senses shapes culture is the
weather; weather shapes the attitude, mood, gastronomy, traditions, customs and
the economic development of a region. For example, the Caribbean region of
Colombia is characterized by their hot weather and proximity to the sea, therefore
the gastronomy is based on seafood (coconut rice and variety of seafood),
clothing is also made to withstand the hot climate of the region and Finally,
the actitude is also shaped by the weather, the region is characterized by
their cheerful spirit all the year (In fact, the region has different festivals
during the year).
By the other way, Perception is “The ability to see, hear, or
become aware of something through the senses” (Oxford Dictionary , n.f) . For example, how
Colombians perceive war is different as the way foreigners does. Foreigners has
the misconception that Colombia is involved in a civil war (civil war meaning
that there is polarization between two groups) for us the conflict only affects
unfortunately the rural area of the country and represent a small proportion of
violent deaths. Therefore, the country lives a period of insecurity lead by
common criminals and organized groups called Bacrim that fights against others
to get the control of the drug routes.
Culture
There
is not an universal definition to culture, some definitions consider culture as
“ the cultivation of human spirit” (Definición.de, n.f) which I like the most because it gives the
best explanation of culture. Since the beginning of the humanity, humans have
evolved through the acquisition of knowledge. This is clearly seen in the Renaissance
between the fifteenth and sixteenth century when there was a cultural explosion
that enriched arts and sciences. However, how is the evolution of culture
related with sensation and perception? Perception
is the understanding of our surroundings through the senses, which implies that
the environment plays and important role. For example, medicine evolved thanks to the
feeling of pain, humans tried to soothe pain through medicinal plants and
fruits. When they realised that certain
plants and fruits soothe pain they identified it through their smell, colour
and taste. Let us say that Abigail lives in the fifteen century in Latin
America, she has sore throat and the only way in that moment to soothe pain was
trough natural medicines. She knows that ginger tea combined with lemon is good
to sore throat, she goes to the forest and looks for ginger plant a lemon; the
way she recognizes ginger plant is because is similar to a tuber (Yucca or
potato) and its located in the ground. Lemon is completely different; the colour
is green and is circular as a ball. She caught
the ingredients and prepared in hot water, which produces a good smell, and
taste good. Therefore, she drinks the tea and feel better; this is only
possible thanks to knowledge acquired by their ancestors and transmitted by
them through education, which in other terms is science.
However,
Thomas that lives in the same century but in Europe does not know ginger
because it is a tropical plant. Nevertheless, he use other ingredients that are
available to their surroundings such as honey with cider vinegar and hot water,
which recognizes through their colour and smell.
In
conclusion, sense and perception are extremely linked with culture because as
humans evolve also does the culture.
Are cultures and traditions unchangeable?
Culture
is like a living being, is constantly changing and its affected by the
environment (Canadian International Development Agency, 2001) . For example,
globalization is a factor that always is shaping culture especially technology.
Now is common to see how the automatized machines substitutes the culture of
labour hand, which leads to changes in the societal organization of countries. In
addition, some other cultural traditions are adopted in other countries for
example the celebration of Saint Valentin in Asia especially in Japan and South
Korea.
Canadian
International Development Agency. (2001). Preguntas sobre cultura . Retrieved
from http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/inet/images.nsf/vluimages/policy/$file/culture_espanol.pdf
Definición.de.
(n.f). Retrieved from http://definicion.de/cultura/
Oxford Dictionary
. (n.f). Retrieved from
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/es/definicion/ingles_americano/perception
Sagepub. (n.f). Culture’s
Influence on perception . Retrieved from
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/45975_Chapter_3.pdf
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