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Recently had a throwaway thought while reading The Dawn of Everything. The formation of cultural norms fundamentally sit on the idea of recollection of the dis
by amar-laksh 5y ago
Recently had a throwaway thought while reading The Dawn of Everything.
The formation of cultural norms fundamentally sit on the idea of recollection of the distant past and not of that which has just happened in front of you.
Example:
The reason for wearing ties is part of the western cultural code not because each person distinctly and has first-hand witnessed how it started, it's just being shaped by historical precedent.
So what happens, over time, to cultural norms when the recollection can be made in first-person, distinct ways? (Think the internet, VR)
- ruined 5y agoThis has happened to some extent forever, through oral tradition, but manufactured media certainly accelerates the process. If you’re interested in this kind of thing i’d recommend Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson, in which the author analyzes the way nationalism developed with the invention of the printing press. It's a classic text of anthropology and absolutely blew my mind when i read it as a teenager.