What Is Nonmaterial Culture

Culture is a word used almost daily by almost everyone. It is a common word but what exactly is culture. 'Culture is a set of beliefs , traditions, and practices; the sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors (except instinctual ones), and practices; everything but the natural environment around us. To break it down even further, there are two types of culture; nonmaterial and material. Nonmaterial culture can be defined as 'values, behaviors, and social norms. ' Whereas material culture can be described as 'everything that is part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology. '

What does all that mean though? In my head when I think of nonmaterial I think of something being

People who drive BMW 's view their car as being luxurious however they are able to afford it so in essence it is a car. People who don 't drive BMW 's maybe because they do not have money view their cars as being not as nice. If you drive an old Toyota Camry, you have made it your culture to drive an old Toyota Camry whereas people who drive BMW 's have made it their culture to drive BMW 's. Whether it be money, caring or not caring about the car you drive, people have created their own culture. The way people live differs from location to location. This may be because of many factors such as money, views, or because that is how a certain person was raised but whatever it may be, we as individuals have made it our cultures. What we have, what we spend our money on, how we view certain regions or beliefs is all different because we as individuals are allowed to think how we want to think and do what we want to do because it is our own culture.

I am a resident of New Hartford and I view New Hartford as being my home, a great place to have a family and get a good education. People who do not live in New Hartford view New Hartford people as being snotty, rich, and arrogant. That is not how I view the city of New Hartford because I live there. Think about the Civil War. The south versus the north views on slavery. Based on location, this view was severely different based on one thing and one thing only,

As we evolve as individuals, our entire society evolves. We have our individual cultures that exist within societal culture. Government, philosophers, and time has allowed us to evolve as a society. Both material and nonmaterial cultures exist today but we are being driven by time. As time goes on, our individual cultures evolve just as society evolves.

I view culture as being one big blanket that covers our entire world. We eat, drink, sleep and do everything others do on a daily basis. Within the world blanket of culture, there are different locations whether it be countries, cities, towns, or county 's that develop their own culture. Within that culture there are individuals who make their own culture based on their views, they behaviors, and the things they have. No matter the location we have our own culture as one people. Within locations we have our own cultures. Each is ever changing and evolving as we as people evolve and