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The Dynamic Nature of Culture

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 Not so long ago, just about a hundred or so years ago, walking around bare-chested even for women in interior Africa was considered normal. It would be much frowned upon today. The culture of female genital mutilation was pretty much very okay, even among people who would consider themselves very morally upright if they lived today. Now, such a practice would be considered barbaric, perhaps even among some of the worst evils in a society. In medieval Europe during the dark ages, suspected witches and wizards were hunted down like wild animals and lynched, probably hanged after a show trial if the authorities wanted to make it seem like the rule of law had been observed. Today in Europe, sorcerers are as considered mythical just as mythical as Loch Ness or vampires.
Those few cases perhaps illustrate the dynamic nature of culture, and the fact that change is inevitable in the long term no matter how hard it’s resisted, or how right or “true”  the things in question might have been . Culture is highly dependent on the scientific knowledge of the day, and the less a society has in terms of scientific knowledge the more superstitious and barbarous they become. Take the case of the bubonic plague that devastated the Europe and the World beginning the 14th Century. With little science involved people invented all kinds of crazy explanations of what this thing was, bordering on spells, to Gods curse etc.. Some crazy propositions included letting leeches suck you dry, or live in a sewer to get cured. Today, treating the plague is maybe one of the most straightforward procedures in medicine.




It’s therefore very okay that things we do today and call normal will be outrageous to even think of in the near future. As such therefore, attitudes of superiority of some cultures against others are not welcome, in the highly subjective and ever changing world we live in today.  With the current knowledge, we must try to look at the world’s diversity very open-minded. And realize that what is considered fact today, might be false tomorrow.
In the same way, people should stop clinging on old and retrogressive habits that are clearly not in the best interest of anybody claiming it’s their culture or that’s what the forefathers said should be done. Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s right. Just because a guy fought for the independence of your country doesn’t mean he should be president for life.No it doesn’t. Maybe I derive from mainstream philosophy bit on the issue. It’s obviously wrong to worship people or ideas or things solely because they are old. It doesn’t make sense.
Today, right and wrong should be judged on the basis of empirical evidence, not mere belief, or tradition, oral or written regardless. In the same way, the rule of law should morph with the same dynamism of culture. Laws should be current and definitely changing with the changing world.

That is why I think that attitude change and knowledge is key to transforming the societies we live in for the better. Culture and tradition can make or break a people. It is usually for them to choose.

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