From: mece1xg@menudo.uh.edu (Purna Murthy)
Newsgroups: alt.culture.us.asian-indian
Subject: Re: .....Re: Heritage and Culture
Date: 17 Nov 1992 10:36:52 -0600
Organization: Dept. of Wizardry, Univ. of Houston
NNTP-Posting-Host: menudo.uh.edu

tyadav@athena.mit.edu (Tapesh Yadav) wrote:
>===========================
>  tyadav@athena.mit.edu wrote:
>] Personally speaking, I never care about what my forefather's 
>] culture/heritage was/is. In social life, I present "myself," 
>] and "my" thoughts/reasons.
>] And I am happy with the quality of friends I make/keep. 
>
>  mece1xg@menudo.uh.edu (purna) replies:
>] your answers to these questions, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WILL
>] be influenced by what you were taught to believe as "right" while
>] growing up.  and, in that case, it was most likely your parents who
>] showed you "right" from "wrong".  if so, they were probably relying
>] on their OWN beliefs as well as experiences.  thus, some part of
>] your "culture" will be passed on.
>
> This appears to be excessive generalization. A conjecture/hypothesis 
> stretched beyond the yield point.

i disagree.  perhaps i didn't state my point clearly enough.  all i am
stating is that part of you're personality/beliefs/etc. comes from what
your parents taught you.  is that an excessive generalization?

> Lets remove the emotional rhetoric - "whether you like it or not" stuff -
> and make some observations:

the "whether you like it or not", in capital letters, is there for
emphasis, not emotional rhetoric.

> [1] Children from the same family (even twins) have different (very 
>     different many times) beliefs and sense of "rights" and "wrongs."
agreed.

> [2] Individuals from same neighborhood differ dramatically.
agreed.

> [3] Above rhetoric doesn't explain the "where did it all begin" of
>     these common rights and wrongs.
it wasn't meant to explain that.

> [4] People disagree. What initiates that disagreement?
huh?  i thought we were talking about what "culture" is?  besides,
if people didn't disagree, we'd all be the same....and that would
make USENET pretty boring!  think, alok, raghavan, preeti, and even
trina would all agree!  it boggles the mind! :) :)

> [5] If there is something really called culture/heritage, many readers of
>     this newsgroup should have overwhelming shared beliefs; but, with few
>     months of its life, all I observe is a set of very contrasting 
>     opinions/thoughts. 
you're making this a black and white issue.  isn't it possible that
there are SOME things which are common, but others which are different?
also, you're statement seems to imply that it's only the "culture/heritage"
issue that make up people. personally, i don't believe that.

> [6] You can never completely know anyone other than yourself. So I don't 
>     how you can be sure that everyone IS influenced; Would suggest you to
>     not generalize or underestimate the human ability to be a fountainhead
>     of thought/reason/values. 
>     Yes, we learn. And we should. But, learning isn't programming.
IMHO, we're all influenced by our surroundings.  each and every one of
us.  your very "thought/reason/values" are constantly being influenced.
by your statement, you seem to imply that i underestimate the human
ability of thought.  when?  where?  i don't recall every making such
a comment or implication.

> Given all this, I can hardly find any substance in your assertion: 
>   "Whether you like it or not, you answers will be influenced by....."
>
> Did I misunderstand you?

i guess so.  let me try again.  do you agree that your environment
influences you?  if so, then i assert that a combination of all the
influences in your surroundings, which is unique for each person,
make up your personality. included in these "surroundings" are
family, specifically parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.
these people will (in all the families i have seen) tend to
have similar beliefs/customs/etc.  thus, they will influence you
in the way you perceive your surroundings, at least at an early
age.  as you become older, you begin to explore other aspects of
your surroundings and re-evaluate yourself and beliefs. you are
free to accept or reject anything you want to believe.  you are
also free to accept or reject new ideas as well.

my point is that irrelevant of your current set of beliefs, part
of them has been influenced by your family.  now, what does this
have to do with culture?  well, i further assert that part of
these beliefs exist among people in the same geopgraphical area.
why?  i don't know.  i'm not an sociologist or anthropologist. 
it's just a fact that has occurred in the past.  if you don't believe
me, i suggest a couple of good books on anthropology
may help explain my statement further.

now, this group of people, collectively, have some common
sets of principles/beliefs/values/etc.  it is this collection
of beliefs that form the basis of a culture.  of course,
these are all my opinions.

a coupe of other points.  whenever topics such as "culture"
or "heritage" are discussed, they automatically lend to generalizations.
that's because these are terms referring to groups of people,
not individuals.  thus, they are not 100% accurate in description.
that is, culture and heritage refer to common ideas among
people.  it doesn't mean or imply that all the people in that
group will agree on everything.

>T.Y.
>----
>tyadav@athena.mit.edu

peace and long life,
-purna

Xref: sparky alt.culture.us.asian-indian:1218 soc.culture.indian:37307