We all would agree that we cannot live without culture. It is the matrix within which we live and move and exist. We relate to culture as a fish relates to water. It is just part of us.The rapid changes occurring in Turkey cause great challenges for young adults and youth. You can see it just by walking around a shopping center and observing the families together who are out to window shop and see the contrast. The technology around us and the products and merchandise available on the market are revealing.
You see young adults arm-in-arm with their moms or aunts who are not computer-friendly and very conservative in dress together browsing the retail stores. Perhaps the adult can just manage to use the basic functions on a mobile phone. On the other hand, the youth most likely does not have a clue what life without all the technological gadgets-- headphones for their favorite music, playing games and texting on the phone and working and playing on the computer -- is like. The young person’s likes and habits are impacting their culture.
Is culture good, bad or neutral?
We human beings are like fish and can live inside a culture but not outside of one.
When I meet foreigners who have come to America to study, I can understand some of the feelings they experience -- some of you reading this may feel as though you’ve been rescued from the culture into which you were born and in many ways no longer feel you fit in there anymore.
Probably when you made the move abroad you were pulled out of your home culture. The sad thing is that you may not have been able to feel completely at home in the other.
Many of us get worked up into a state of anxiety about what our modern world and technology is doing to our societies.
Diane Rehm on National Public Radio is one of my favorite commentators. One of her topics recently dealt with culture and technology. She asked the question of whether technology changes culture or culture changes technology.
Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist and Intel Fellow, addressed this subject at the 2006 Computer Research Association (CRA) Conference at Snowbird. Bell believes that while we tend to think that technology changes culture, it’s more often the other way around. Cultures are very robust and change slowly. It’s typical for a new technology to be adapted within a culture and used to support existing patterns of behavior. She provides examples:
Mobile phone manufacturers have developed popular phones for Muslim users that support their religious practices by (1) reminding them when it is time to pray, (2) orienting them towards Mecca and (3) disabling incoming calls for 20 minutes during prayer time. Bell gave many other examples from Africa and Asia that show how new technology is being used in ways that fit into existing cultures.
Many of us have a love-hate relationship with technology and what it seems to be doing to culture. You may have thought that because of advances in technology we are losing the human touch -- that personal touch.
The most obvious example is when we need to make a phone call to a company and want to speak with a person. So many companies these days seem to provide all kinds of services to customers without ever having to employ a real person, and therefore they save tons of money and provide good service at the same time. Or do they really provide good service?
Visitors to Turkey are usually impressed with the technology available here. However, they are surprised by the sharp contrasts of culture. Certainly the availability of new technology in Turkey (and for that matter, globally) is providing a new perspective and way of looking at culture. But is it causing an even greater divide? It definitely is raising a new culture.
All this change doesn’t worry me too much, as human cultures are apparently more resilient than we naively assume.
“Culture is seen as a kind of road map made up of various forms designed to get people where they need to go.” -- Sherwood Lingenfelter
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
