Four Common Myths about Culture Four Common Myths about Culture Culture is a product of tradition Culture does not result from tradition but from the activity of sharing, exploiting, utilising, and dividing some area of the earth and its resources. Successful cultures are those that adjust these activities in response to the changing physical, social, and economic constraints of their environment. To achieve this societies do draw on traditions but also draw on their needs and aspirations. Tools, skills, laws, forms of communication and entertainment are usually more about meeting today's needs than clinging to traditions.
People choose a variety of adaptations within environmental constraints.
This is strongly affected by non-material dynamics such as religion, worldview, a sense of identity, and forms of humour that can persist despite a changing environment. The Shuar Nation, First Peoples of Ecuador and premier rainforest agriculturists until the 1960s, witnessed the destruction of their rainforest homeland for cattle ranching. Undeterred, the Shuar became premier cattle ranchers and also consultants to other indigenous people facing catastrophic environmental change. Third, distinct ways of doing things lead to distinctive housing types, cuisine, smells, languages, sounds, and sights that manifest in a cultural landscape. Thus, one culture can be distinguished from another by using our senses, not just our theories.