Are some cultures superior to others?

[Infohawk]

Are some cultures better than others?

I don't believe that certain races are better than others, but I do believe that some cultures are better than others.

The definition of culture that I am thinking about is the "shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an instituti on, organization or group." (See Wikipedia.)

Which culture is best?

 

[ichy]

Of course some cultures are better than others. Western culture is better than Saudi or Afghan culture, their ways are backward, inferior and often evil.

 

[Steeplerot]

Not this one, its twisted puritanical roots, violent nature and greed worship make for a screwed up hypocritical culture of self-centered shallow twats as a whole with the biggest murder rates and incarcerations to prove it. If we did not have a large military/geographic advantage to secure resources and cheap labor to support our bourgeoisie lifestyle we would be another Somalia.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

I would say every culture has value and to compare/rank them based on your particular value system is inherently flawed by your own cultural bias....i.e. there is no "best" IMO.

 

[ussfletcher]

I'd say that African, South American, and Middle Eastern cultures are all inferior in the aspect of social and technological development. Western and (modern) Asian cultures generally reward the trend of technological evolution (Which drives society to evolve) and thus are 'better'.

 

[feralkid]

Live active cultures are the best.

http://aboutyogurt.com/index.asp

 

[cliftonite]

Yes I do.

 

[Siddhartha]

Of course some cultures are better than others. Western culture is better than Saudi or Afghan culture, their ways are backward, inferior and often evil.

How many people has "Western Civilization" killed in the last 110 years?

 

[cwjerome]

I guess another way to phrase it is, "Are some ideas, principles and concepts better that others?"

Of course.

I think the only way someone could really say no would be to deny choice exists (ie, there is no morality) or to have no ethical concept of "the Good."

 

[nonlnear]

I guess another way to phrase it is, "Are some ideas, principles and concepts better that others?"

Of course.

I think the only way someone could really say no would be to deny choice exists (ie, there is no morality) or to have no ethical concept of "the Good."

There is another way. Some view all cultures as variously misguided ways to achieve "the Good". I think it's kind of a weaselly way to avoid answering any questions while still pretending to have definitions, but some like it like that.

 

[Albatross]

I think Western culture is superior to all other;in the sense that it provided the intellectual framework in which all cultures express and validate themselves.
The truth of tomorrow might not be western,but the modality of apprehending and expressing this truth certainly will be.
The rise of Asia,fundamentalism,terrorism are all ,in a very broad sense,Western concepts.Simply put ,the West is indifferent to no one and its legacy it`s so broad that whether people accept, reject, or modify it, the problems will still be discussed and resolved in terms first imposed by the West

 

[feralkid]

I think Western culture is superior to all other;in the sense that it provided the intellectual framework in which all cultures express and validate themselves.
The truth of tomorrow might not be western,but the modality of apprehending and expressing this truth certainly will be.
The rise of Asia,fundamentalism,terrorism are all ,in a very broad sense,Western concepts.Simply put ,the West is indifferent to no one and its legacy it`s so broad that whether people accept, reject, or modify it, the problems will still be discussed and resolved in terms first imposed by the West

Are you actually serious?

 

[Albatross]

why?

 

[Praxis1452]

Of course, but it doesn't translate itself into a single number. You could say that certain cultures emphasize hard work over others, and thereby those people are "better" for working harder. Or, some emphasize equality etc.

 

[Sclamoz]

I think first you need to define how you accurately judge the worth of a culture.

 

[xj0hnx]

How many people has "Western Civilization" killed in the last 110 years?

As opposed to the number of people killed by other cultures? Give me a fucking break.

 

[woolfe9999]

I don't like the relativistic stance of adbicating our capacity to morally judge either other people or other cultures. I can and do judge other cultures according to my own standards. However, I see nothing constructive in ranking cultures from "best" to "worst," and I see no real point in labelling any particular culture as "bad" or "good." I tend to confine my observations to particular practices, e.g. I think honor killings, which happen to occur in many Islamic cultures (and some non-Islamic ones), are morally wrong.

- wolf

 

[SandEagle]

black girls > *

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I would say every culture has value and to compare/rank them based on your particular value system is inherently flawed by your own cultural bias....i.e. there is no "best" IMO.

:thumbsup: Yep.

Moreover, there are positive and negative aspects to every culture. Trying to examine it as unbiasedly as possible (and I know this flawed, but work with me), we could argue that, for example:

"Western" culture promotes competition, striving for success, and technological advancement, but has cons of unhealthy sexual attitudes and fixations on unrealistic ideals (celebrity).

"Eastern" culture promotes community values, respect, the quest for knowledge, and peace, but may be too pacifist and indecisive in times of emergency.

There is no one metric you can use (whether financial success, educational attainment, or "happiness") to rank-order cultures or nations. Of course we have tried throughout history to do so, but all of these methodologies are flawed in one way or another.

The utopia would be a blend of different positive elements from all cultures, but then certain values would be in conflict with one another.

Certain cultural practices which inflict physical harm on others (e.g. female genital mutilation in Africa) are probably the closest you can get to an indictment of a cultural element (note: without condemning the entire culture). Even then, there are less egregious negative practices in all cultures which are in a moral grey area.

 

[magomago]

I can't see how one would rank culture or say it is better either. By what criteria and methods? How do we know that criteria or method isn't biased towards a specific culture? How do we know our perspective of others isn't already affected. Edward Said wrote a very interesting book called "Orientalilsm" on this topic in the 70s. Controversial, but it brought up a lot of good and important points.

From my perspective, each has good parts and bad parts. Every culture is also ever changing, constantly shifting and morphing to the stimulus exerted upon it. The culture of today isn't the same culture of 10 years ago. The comparison is more stark if you look at things 30,50,70 years ago. Do we only compare cultures at the current instant in time? What about all those stimuli that I mentioned? Political Stability will easily affect a culture - Political Turmoil over decades will most definitely leave a negative mark on a culture (by whatever standards and methods we want to use) and we can see that easily in many examples throughout in past and present history where, even by our own western standards, we see a culture regress and take backwards steps.

I barely answered the question and brought up more questions than answers, but a question like this really is best suited an academic environment because it will be thought about and considered more carefully than on an internet forum.

To take it a different direction....Do I think culture is converging? Yes, it is, because of increased communication capabilities. However, that doesn't mean a single homogenous culture will exist the world over. If it can't happen on a national scale, how do we expect that to happen on a global scale.

edit:

zomg zapped in P&N...keep it out of here!

 

[feralkid]

why?

Because everything you posted is utter bolonium, which is instantly refutable through even the most rudimentary research.


Are you 12?

 

[Albatross]

Because everything you posted is utter bolonium, which is instantly refutable through even the most rudimentary research.


Are you 12?

beside no arguments,i see nothing

 

[blackangst1]

Depending on what youre talking about, yes. There's technology, history, food, cultural morals, among others.

 

[MotF Bane]

Not this one, its twisted puritanical roots, violent nature and greed worship make for a screwed up hypocritical culture of self-centered shallow twats as a whole with the biggest murder rates and incarcerations to prove it. If we did not have a large military/geographic advantage to secure resources and cheap labor to support our bourgeoisie lifestyle we would be another Somalia.

lmao

 

[Moonbeam]

So long as folk are unconscious of their motivations, they will always believe their own culture is the best with some exceptions. We think we are motivated by all kinds or positive values and principles but don't see our dark hidden side. We hate ourselves, were made to hate ourselves as children and told that only in conformity to the values of our parents would we be safe. We learned we would be punished if we did not obey and to not obey is therefore bad. So we had to die to what was natural for us and take on a mask. That mask is our ego, the exemplar of all that we were taught is good. And we are an exemplar of our culture, marching moronic sheep. We would now rather die than open up our minds to the possibility we were brainwashed. To be brainwashed is bad and we are good. We can't allow ourselves to know how bad we feel

Now occasionally a rebel comes along, and not really so occasionally, but often, and he, out of the same self hate, rejects his culture. He decides his ego is better than other people because he is different and more fair. But it's that same old self hate.

Culture, nationalism, any thing you identify with out of your ego, is a disease, a trap you have stuck yourself in. To be objective you must die to everything you hold as sacred. You must be unattached to any thing idea ideology culture, team, party, etc.

But because of your terror of what we experienced as a child and the depth to which we buried it, we probably won't ever get free. Only by seeing the tremendous danger we face by attachment, will we even have a chance.

The world is dying because we want to stay asleep.

When asked about western culture Gandhi suggested it would be a good idea.