What Is Culture?

Culture is an umbrella phrase that covers the entire set of human behaviors and social norms prevalent in various human societies, including the beliefs, arts, customs, practices, laws, social skills, arts, and knowledge of the people in these societies. In some cases culture can be seen to refer to the whole structure of societal practices, while in other cases it may be seen to refer to a particular type of cultural domains (e.g., the spiritual cultures). A major part of what makes a culture is its historical development. It goes back to the earliest traces of mankind and it was through these early cultures that different peoples came into contact and established relationships with one another. Over time different civilizations developed their own distinctive cultures.

Cultures are influenced by two main factors. The first factor concerns the basic shared elements of a culture, which are usually a set of common practices and beliefs based on religion, power, and identity. These elements form the core of a culture and are subject to change over time. Changes in these core elements affect how a culture comes to view itself and how it sees the world around it. These changes have had profound effects on the way that a society forms its own reality and they have even been responsible for the creation of new forms of civilization (for instance, the rise of industrialization in Europe and the United States as a result of the rise of technological advancement).

Another factor that affects a culture is the history of a civilization. A civilization is considered to be a long-lasting tradition. The history of a civilization is intimately connected with the evolution of its population and the evolution of its social structures. Moreover, the size and extent of a society’s history have a direct impact on the level of cultural diversity that exists within a society. This is because for a society to develop complex and advanced social structures it needs a large number of members with a wide range of educational, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.