Why are cultural changes a form of colonialism (establishing a political community)?

submitted by [deleted] from (self.culture)

I have started learning some anthropology. Anthropologists define culture as information inherited in a society about what the world is like and how to behave in it.

With this definition in mind, why would people not believe that culture, by definition, changes, simply because more information is added over time? Indeed, some cultural changes are positive and some are negative and it is important to take in the good and keep out the bad, but some third world nations--for example--get belligerent concerning styles of dress or decry westernization, although they benefit from western ideas, trade and communication technology.

How is it rational to believe you can receive new information about reality without updating your society's set of inherited information? Surely you will not insist that people pretend a god eats the sun during a solar eclipse in an age of space travel, however ancient and venerable this datum is?

And yet they insist cultural changes are a form of colonialism. How so?

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[–]jet199 3 insightful - 4 fun3 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

Because they don't know what culture is or why we have it.

They think it's all funny clothes and interesting foods. Sometimes they see it is differences in lifestyle but don't appreciate those developed to exist in a particular environment and aren't just quaint traditions.

[–]fschmidt 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Modern western culture is pure evil, so it should be entirely rejected. To only take in the good, only take in ideas from when the West was rising, which means certainly no later than 1920.

[–]Tiwaking 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

fschmidt 2 insightful - 1 fun - 9 hours ago Modern western culture is pure evil, so it should be entirely rejected.

I miss the times where police didnt wear bullet proof and stab proof vests and didnt have guns. They used to be members of the community, not shock troops used to suppress dissent :(

[–]Tiwaking 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

This is the Wooadabe from Africa and this is their courtship ritual: The Woodabe wants a wife - 2 minutes . Its pretty cool. Would I do it? No because its not my cultural practice. A little closer to my home is this: link it is a picture of Maori people in 1864 wearing a mix of European and traditional Maori clothes. Here is a picture of Queen Elizabeth in 1954 wearing a traditional Maori cloak - does this make Queen Elizabeth less British?

How is it rational to believe you can receive new information about reality without updating your society's set of inherited information?

It is entirely rational. Buddhists didnt give up Buddhism because of mobile phones. The Chinese still celebrate the Lunar New Year after thousands of years, but they dont believe that an evil dragon or whatever comes to try and eat them. But this cuts both ways: Despite being made illegal by the British in India in 1829 Sati or Widow burning was still practiced
Japans Emperor still sleeps with the Sun Goddess: Japan emperor spends symbolic night with goddess to end rituals

[–]jet199 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Clothes are actually a sign of technical adaptation. Sitting around naked and sweaty is actually less comfortable than having a thin cotton to wick the moisture away even though it may seem like it might be hotter. British trade around the world expanded mainly through textiles. The hawians used to demand reems of cotton before they'd trade anything else. I saw a documentary about natives in Brazil who had moved to towns, they said they could go back to the hunter gatherer life any time but the only thing they wouldn't give up was the clothes.

[–]Tiwaking 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

jet199 2 insightful - 1 fun - 53 minutes ago Clothes are actually a sign of technical adaptation.

It is quite funny to see Indian people come to New Zealand and ask "Why dont Maori people wear clothes?". Its because they didnt have large animals, animals with wool. They did make cloaks out of bird feathers and dogs and clothes were made out of flax, because the polynesian Tapa cloth didnt grown in New Zealand so the knowledge and technology to use it mostly died out. Indians have had textiles for thousands of years, but are still DESIGNATED SHITTING STREETS