Culture Part 1 Heredity What is Culture Knowledge

Culture Part 1 Heredity

What is Culture • Knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society • Society – a specific territory inhabited by people who share a common culture • Culture defines how people in a society behave in relation to others and to physical objects

Culture and Heredity • Heredity – The passing of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another • Instincts – genetically inherited patterns of behavior • Nonhuman animals rely heavily on instinct to survive

Instincts • Humans do not rely as much on instincts – There is no mating period – No blueprint in our minds of what shelter to build – Humans rely more on the culture they have created to guide behavior

Heredity and human behavior • Reflexes - an automatic reaction to a physical stimuli – Being pinched – Being tickled • Drive – impulses that reduce discomfort. – Eat, sleep, drink, and associate with others

Sociobiology • The study of the biological basis of human behavior • Charles Darwin and theory of evolution • Sociobiologists believe that the most essential human behaviors are transmitted through genetic code

Sociobiology • Sociobiologists believe in a close relation between humans and animals

Criticisms • Fear of using genetics as a justification to label specific races superior and inferior • Societies around the world are so different that genetics cannot be the only explanation for human action • Is there a middle ground?