Culture

## **Culture overview**

Ourvo is populated by a race of people who are in pretty much every way identical to human beings on Earth, both physically (except that they tend to live an average of 120 years rather than 80, at least in developed countries, and reach adulthood around age 26) and (for the most part) psychologically. In Merritian, which is coincidentally identical to English, they are known as "People" or in older times often as "Folk".

**Psychological gender**

There is one very important difference between Earth culture and Ourvo culture. Like on Earth, Ourvo's people are divided into men and women (with a relatively small proportion of intersex and transgender individuals), but there is also a psychological gender binary recognized in most countries that has nothing to do with sex - the Pragmatics and the Idealists, who are both roughly evenly split between male and female. Pragmatics tend to prefer structure in their life and focus on the tangible while Idealists have a tendency to "go with the flow" and focus on non-tangible aspects of reality. About sixty percent of Ourvo's population is Pragmatic and about forty percent is Idealist, and in virtually every country Idealists, like women, face a certain degree of discrimination.

Since the late 1060s (about 10-13 years ago) there has been a movement in many countries towards non-binary identities that embrace neither Pragmatism nor Idealism.

Most countries that recognize these two psychological genders assign a person to one or the other between the ages of three and seven. Some countries focus more on a person's sexual gender identity while others focus more on a person's psychological gender identity. In most countries clothing tends to be designed to physically fit a person's sexual gender (such as "curvier", tighter clothing for women and "boxier", looser clothing for men) but the colors and accessories are assigned mostly based on psychological gender. However, with modernization these differences are diminishing.

**Ethnic groups and civilizations**

As of the present (the year 1080) there are two dominant superpowers in Ourvo, each associated with a dominant civilization.

The nation of Merritt is located in the northern and western hemisphere of the world and takes up the majority of the northern half of the Western Continent. It is the cornerstone of Western civilization and the Classical Isles eastwards across the ocean and the Southern Isles in the southern hemipshere are culturally and economically connected to Merritt. Most of Merritt's current inhabitants came from the Southern Isles but their culture, as well as most of the ancestry of the elite comes from the Classical Isles.

The philosophical and moral focus of Western civilization is focused on rights pertaining to the self, and one's pursuit of personal happiness is seen as more important than harmony within the group. People are generally called by their personal name rather than their surname in these cultures. Westerners traditionally believe in a human-like supreme being that they are capable of having a personal relationship with, although there is no dominant church. The western religion is known simply as The Faith.

The nation of Honba is located on the Eastern Continent, westwards across the ocean from Merritt. It is the second most powerful country in the world and forms the core of the Eastern civilization, which is much older than Western civilization. The entire Eastern Continent, with the exception of the outyling Classical Isles and some enclaves on the continent's west coast is part of the Eastern civilization.

Eastern civilization's moral and philosophical focus is on living in harmony with others, and individual liberty is seen as less important than the health and harmony of the community. People are generally called by their surname rather than their first name in these cultures, except in the content of close relationships such as that between family and close friends. Easterners believe that a person's essence lives on in their descendants, and originates from their ancestors, and that the division between the self as the rest of reality is illusory. Eastern religion is known as True Harmony, or Weadu.

There is also a Southern Continent, the southernmost part of which is covered in ice and the northern part of which is inhabited, and not dominated (though often tributary) to either Western or Eastern civilization.

Since the early 1040s there has been a significant mixing of Western and Eastern philosophy and culture, largely driven by immigration and trade between the two spheres. The myriad cultures of the Southern Continent have also become influential in the West and East, particularly among younger generations.

See also:

Fashion of Merritt

Fashion of the Auld Countries

Western popular music

Eastern popular music

Sports of the world