Culture

Culture is a word for the 'way of life' of groups of people, meaning the way they do things. Different groups may have different cultures. A culture is passed on to the next generation by learning, whereas genetics are passed on by heredity. Culture is seen in people's writing, religion, music, clothes, cooking and in what they do.

The concept of culture is very complicated, and the word has some meanings.^[1] The word 'culture' is most commonly used in three ways.

• Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture.
• An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior.
• The outlook, attitudes, values, morals, goals, and customs shared by a society.

Most broadly, 'culture' includes all human phenomena which are not purely results of human genetics. The discipline which investigates cultures is called anthropology, though many other disciplines play a part.

1. ↑ Kroeber A.L. and C. Kluckhohn 1952. Culture: a critical review of concepts and definitions.