On the Nature of Culture

"The greatest route to understanding the self is to understand others." - Gruffi Lozla, Author

A popular text on concepts used to understand cultural differences.

Historical Details

History

Anthropologist Lozla was a human anthropologist who dedicated her life to understanding the nature of culture across the fairly contained space of Whohe Dvuha. Over her journey, she worked on defining a few terms to help describe cultural differences. Many anthropologists after her have expanded on her ideas and use her work to help foster communication and diplomatic treaties.

Public Reaction

Initially, the public dismissed Anthropologist Lozla's work.

Legacy

Anthropologist Lozla's work is required reading for the diplomatic corp in the United Halla Alliance.

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Much of the information in this text is based on real sociological and anthropological ideas. The following are sources that I used to help develop it in context of Hillit.

• Posted August 18, 2016. (2019, January 31). Intercultural Communication: High and Low Context Cultures. Retrieved June 26, 2020, from https://online.seu.edu/articles/high-and-low-context-cultures/.
• Wikipedia contributors. High-context and low-context cultures. (2020, June 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 26, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High-context_and_low-context_cultures&oldid=963624011.
• The Basic Difference Between High-context and Low-context Cultures. (2015, February 04). Retrieved June 26, 2020, from https://historyplex.com/difference-between-high-context-low-context-cultures.

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On the Nature of Culture

The following is a series of excerpts from the text, some summarized for simplicity.

On the Nature of Context and Communication

Most people I have met have expressed how much easier it is to speak with and communicate ideas to members of their own culture. This fact seems to be an assumption everyone holds, but I proposed an understanding as to why.
I have found that communication is centered on the interpretation of physical, verbal, and emotive clues between two sentients. How I gesture with my neighbor in Irita differs how I gesture to an aasimar in Atina. This is because the meaning of gesture, emotions, and tone varies based on a culture's standards.
I propose the introduction of the idea of a "high context" and "low context" end of a "context spectrum" for cultural understanding.
High context cultures place value in subtle communications, such as nonverbal cues. They tend to have some of the following qualities.

• Association. Relationships take a long time to develop and trust slowly grows. Identity is rooted in existing groups, such as family or work. Social structure and authority is centralized. Productivity depends on the group and internal relationships. Relationships tend to be stable and last a long time. Hierarchy and society is centralized.
• Interaction. Nonverbal elements are significant. This can include vocalized tone, gestures, facial expressions, and eye motion. Information is conveyed implicitly and relies on context. Communication takes time to complete; it can circle the point before reaching it. Disagreement and conflict is personally taken. Conflict must be directly avoided.
• Territoriality. There is little concept personal space. Communal areas are more common.
• Temporality. Time is natural and belongs to others and nature. Time is not personal. Societal changes take time to happen since practice is rooted in tradition. Activities are performed when it is proper to do so.
• Learning. Multiple sources of knowledge and wisdom are used to learn from. Knowledge is achieved with observation followed by replication and practice. Learning and problem solving are group tasks. Quality of knowledge is valued.

Low context cultures place value in direct communications. They tend to have some of the following qualities.

• Association. Relationships develop quickly, but are short-lived. There are no clear social boundaries, which allows many people to be included in a social circle. Tasks are completed with existing methods and the goal is the focus. Identity is established based on merit and achievement. The hierarchy and society is not centrally structured.
• Interaction. Conversation relies on explicit verbal elements instead of nonverbal. Information is communicated clearly and directly. Communication is direct and to the point. Disagreement is not a challenge and not taken personally.
• Territoriality. Privacy is important. Individuals have a rigid personal space and tend to be isolated from each other.
• Temporality. Time is a product that can be spent or saved. Societal change can swiftly enacted and changes can have rapid results. Time is scheduled so that a task can be done most efficiently in a window.
• Learning. Singular sources of knowledge and wisdom are used to learn from. Knowledge is colored by perception. Learning is achieved with direction and explaination. Problem solving is an individual task. Speed and efficiency of learning is prized.

I find it helpful to assign a numerical score to roughly estimate the amount of context a culture has. A value of 1 means it is a very low context culture and tends to be very individualistic and direct. A value of 10 means it is a very high context culture and tends to be very communal and nonverbal. I have found that cultures that are predominantly long-lived sentients tend to have higher communication context than shorter-loved sentients.

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Type

Text, Philosophical

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authoring Date

4 AR

Authors

• Gruffi Lozla, Human Anthropologist