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Last week's discussion about the book Parable of the Sower was insightful. While reading this book during the fall break, I just did not like it. The background described by the author was really gloomy. I am a very optimistic person and always resist to get to know the darker side of the society. I think if the world going to be like what is described in the book which American civilization degenerates quickly, crime is rampant, food is scarce, and inflation is out of control, I will just commit suicide to escape from this painful world. I knows it sounds a little bit extreme, but I don't think I would survive in that kind of environment..

Even though I don't like the content of the book, I really think the author is a talented writer, since she is able to portray the main character so well that the book gives me a wonderful sense of realism. Now I am going to answer some of the questions raised in the discussion.

I think there are always changes in culture over time which are caused by constant changes in both environment and individuals. Individuals play a very important role in changing culture, since ultimately culture is created by us human beings. Hence, the change in individuals will definitely cause the change in the shared conventions, ideas and concepts and, thus, the changes in culture. I think the change in the environment could not directly contribute to the cultural change, since it would only affect the certain behavioral patterns of human beings.

I think that it is really difficult to predict the future since we do not really know what would happen in the future. As global warming has become a serious problem, there are always unpredictable climate changes happening nowadays. I think the constant climate changes and natural disasters would change our behaviors and beliefs gradually. Hence, I think that culture would definitely change in the future, but we would never know how it changes and what it changes to.