Following the reading and today's discussion in class I think an important take away is the clarity of a common misconception. Typically (as I did myself) it makes sense to assume that when cultures are developing and the environment or physical needs prompt action, there would be a single impulsive response or solution to address that prompt. On the contrary, as we saw with the different extremes of addressing puberty (in both girls and boys) the way these new situations are handled by different groups of people are hardly ever alike. These hints given by the environment or physical necessity, as Benedict says, "are, in reality, mere rough sketches, a list of bare facts. They are pinpoint potentialities, and the elaboration that takes place around them is dictated by many alien considerations." (35) This is the explanation for variety of culture we see today. Despite each group of peoples beginning with the same starting material (ourselves and the environment), our inability to ever see the world with 'pristine eyes' causes us to make vastly different decisions and keep our cultures often times entirely different.
Following the reading and today's discussion in class I think an important take away is the clarity of a common misconception. Typically (as I did myself) it makes sense to assume that when cultures are developing and the environment or physical needs prompt action, there would be a single impulsive response or solution to address that prompt. On the contrary, as we saw with the different extremes of addressing puberty (in both girls and boys) the way these new situations are handled by different groups of people are hardly ever alike. These hints given by the environment or physical necessity, as Benedict says, "are, in reality, mere rough sketches, a list of bare facts. They are pinpoint potentialities, and the elaboration that takes place around them is dictated by many alien considerations." (35) This is the explanation for variety of culture we see today. Despite each group of peoples beginning with the same starting material (ourselves and the environment), our inability to ever see the world with 'pristine eyes' causes us to make vastly different decisions and keep our cultures often times entirely different.