Reply to comment

Here’s the New Oxford American Dictionary’s definition of culture: the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group; the attitudes and behavior characteristic of a particular social group

On Tuesday we all agreed vocally that American culture or any other culture is never better than another culture, although some of us had maybe thought before that America was more “advanced,” or something. I have to admit that growing up as a first-generation immigrant, I’ve always thought poorly of America: for it’s politics, age, (lack of) culture, policies, etc. Feeling patriotic about being American is just something I’ve never experienced.

I also know that my parents would never disapprove of the mate I chose unless he treated me badly, or something serious like that. Are my parents “progressive?”

For Thursday, I’m glad to make connections between cultural evolution and biological evolution, although I’m still wondering about how closely we may equate Lamarck with cultural evolution. Are we trying to say that Lamarck was right but looked for it in biology, which is (obviously) wrong? I would prefer to just write him off as wrong.