Culture is probably both the most difficult and the most important idea in social theory. I think of it as the amount of knowledge and habit you have internali

Culture is probably both the most difficult and the most important idea in social theory. I think of it as the amount of knowledge and habit you have internalized from the outside world; I internalized saying please and thank you, it is now part of "me." (Not so with elbows on the table). I also internalized punctuality, more or less. I have internalized a lot of books and what one more conventionally thinks of as "culture" (classical music, Russian novels, anything the French make). One might internalize a predisposition to smooth over conflict, or one might internalize exactly the opposite and learn to start fights at the slightest hint of provocation; if you live in a violent society, the latter serves you well and might be necessary for basic survival, but if you are trying to make a career in an office the former is usually better.