ransmission

ransmission involves intergenerational learning (via teaching and imitation), which makes it distinct from biological transmission. In cultural transmission, individuals are influenced by people other than their biological parents, while in biological transmission only the parents can be the source of influence. Thus, only human beings have “cultural parents” (e.g., members of extended families, teachers, and other influential people). Cultural evolution is also not restricted to intergenerational influences.

Ideas are transmitted within generations so much so that it is even possible for older people to model their behaviour after younger ones. The two processes are also similar in important ways. Both proceed in interaction with the demands of environment. Both involve changes that either stay or get lost depending on how adaptive they are (i.e., how nicely they fit the environment in which they first occurred).

Thus, at the human level, we find evidence for a “dual inheritance” theory. Biological inheritance takes place through genes, while cultural inheritance takes place through memes. The former takes place in a “top-down” manner (i.e. from parents to children), while the latter may also take place in a “bottom-up” manner (i.e.

from children to parents). Dual inheritance theory also shows that although biological and cultural forces may involve different processes, they work as parallel forces, and interact with each other in offering explanation of an individual’s behaviour. socio-cultural context in which it occurs. Human behaviour is fundamentally social.

It involves relationships with other people, reactions to their behaviour, and engagement with innumerable products made available to us by our predecessors. Although many other species are also social like us, human beings are cultural as well. You may ask: what does it mean to be cultural? In order to answer this question, we will need to understand the meaning of culture.

In the simplest terms, culture refers to “the man-made part of the environment”. It comprises diverse products of the behaviour of many people, including ourselves. These products can be material objects (e.g., tools, sculptures), ideas (e.g., categories, norms) or social institutions (e.g., family, school). We find them almost everywhere.

They influence behaviour, although we may not always be aware of it. Let us look at some examples. The room you might be in now is a cultural product. It is the result of someone’s architectural ideas and building skills.

Your room may be rectangular, but there are many places where rooms are not rectangular (e.g., those of Eskimos). While reading this chapter you might be sitting on a chair that some people designed and built some time ago. Since sitting in a chair requires a particular posture, this invention is shaping your behaviour. There are societies without chairs.

Just try to think how people in those societies would be sitting in order to do some reading. Students sit on chairs in the “classrooms”, but chairs are not found in all schools. In schools in most villages there are no chairs for students. They sit on the ground, or on a piece of sack spread over it.

That in some societies children gather in rooms facing a teacher is another kind of cultural product, called “schooling”. This institution may have material aspects, such as buildings, and ideational aspects, such as the notion that schooling should take place at a specific place and time, or the idea that individuals attending “schools” must be evaluated and given certificates on successful completion of schooling. This institution also provides with behavioural expectation for all those who participate in it . Both teachers and students have a series of roles to play and responsibilities to share.

Individuals, families and communities have different views about schooling. Some believe that school education is a valuable thing. They have unshaken faith that school education can make people powerful and change their destiny. Others consider it neither valuable nor do they have faith in its strength as such.

Some societies emphasise on equal education for boys and girls; others do not. Some groups widely participate in the process of schooling, others (e.g., some tribal groups) participate little or not at all. People with special needs often remain deprived of school education for a number of reasons. People’s views about communities, gender, caste groups and those with special needs and their educability also differ widely across societies.

As you look around you will find that much of our life as human beings involves interacting with various cultural products, and behaving in accord with them. This means that culture shapes our behaviour in a significant manner. However, it may also be noted at this point that just as culture shapes us, we also shape our culture. Several anthropologists have pointed out the mutual influences of culture and psyche on each other.

They suggest that the relationship between individuals and their social surroundings is interactive, and in the course of these interactions, they constitute each other. This perspective emphasises that human beings are not passive recipients of cultural forces. Instead, they themselves create the context in which their behaviour is shaped. Talk to students belonging to different States regarding their food, festivals, dress, customs, etc.

Prepare a list of the differences and similarities and discuss with your teacher.