Written by I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: what we value is who we are.
We’ve talked extensively about values in this blog. That’s because they are the roots of every cultural baobab.
They define our culture, and they direct our social norms.
This grouping of the 10 Cultural Universals also includes beliefs and rituals, which tie in with values in ways we’ll discuss in upcoming posts.
You Are What You Eat
What we are fed as children – in the forms of both formal and informal education – is, more often than not, what we accept and value as adults.
As Kilroy J. Oldster wrote in Dead Toad Scrolls:
“A great deal of the global stimuli that we view comes to us without major effort. Daily a person scans and screens a wide barrage of solicited and unsolicited material. What information a society pays attention to creates the standards and principles governing citizens’ life. A nation’s discourse translates its economic, social, and cultural values to impressionable children.”
Our national discourse, what we project and adulate as a society, the meaning and importance we place on certain beliefs, ideals, and attitudes – these are the things our children consume.
We are what we eat. Our children will become what we feed them.
Education vs. Ignorance
“The right to a quality education is, I believe, the perfect path to bridge the gap between different cultures and to reconcile various civilizations…Ignorance is by far the biggest danger and threat to humankind.” – Moza bint Nasser
If we feed children quality food, in the form of education, they will value knowledge, critical thinking, and the ethics and moral teachings therein.
If we feed them garbage, in the form of false narratives, baseless “facts”, and unwarranted prejudice, they will value conspiracies, groupthink, and stereotypes.
A culture creates its own values and also consumes them.
So, remember, whatever values you cultivate within your culture should be cultivated with care. Values are meant to keep society healthy. They’re meant to show what integrity means to you as a people and to show others what you stand for.
What We Eat
Like social norms, the beliefs and rituals of your culture are what actualize our underlying values.
Beliefs are what we eat; rituals are how we eat.
Rituals, especially, are values in action.
We’ll talk about both in the coming weeks.
Success Across Cultures 