Since we’re all human, we share certain things in common. We have a common understanding of right and wrong, and of which personal qualities are virtues vs. vices. Right?
Actually, no.
How a person determines right and wrong, what qualities should be upheld as virtues, and many other underlying assumptions about life change dramatically from one society and age to another.
That is the basic premise of a fascinating book I just finished reading. The full title is: Misreading Scripture Through Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better understand the Bible, by Richards and O’Brien.
I highly recommend the book for any serious student of the Bible, but in this post I’m going to talk about concepts from the book that apply life in general. These concepts can help all of us move toward better cross-cultural understanding.
We naturally assume that others think the way we do, make the same assumptions we do, and share the same values we do. This is especially true with those who share an affinity group such as a religion or social cause.
But that assumptions is incorrect.
I hope this post helps you to become aware of how our Western / U. S. / Twenty-First Century lens affects our understanding of people from other societies, cultures, or eras.
5 insights about cross-cultural understanding and the danger of assumptions
1. Everyone sees life through the lens of experience and culture.
Our brains require a framework through which to interpret everything we experience in life. As children, we absorb a million unwritten rules about right and wrong, how to win approval, how to behave in certain situations, etc. All of this happens on the subconscious level, so we’re not aware of what makes up these unwritten rules, even though they affect every choice we make and color every thought we have.
2. The “stuff that goes without being said” affects how we understand every conversation.
Every sentence we speak carries with it a whole set of assumptions—all the stuff we assume the hearer already knows. We don’t waste their time and insult their intelligence by telling them all that stuff. So it goes without being said.
An Example: If someone from the U. S. hears, “It’s third down and eight with twelve seconds left in the half.” they probably know enough to interpret that sentence correctly (without hearing all the stuff that doesn’t need to be said about football rules, downs, yardage, etc). But to the rest of the world, that sentence is gibberish.
We once took some German relatives to a football game, and my husband spent the entire game attempting (only somewhat successfully) to explain what was happening on the field. When it comes to a game like football, there is a ton of underlying stuff that needs to be properly understood before things make sense. But in our shared U. S. culture, it all goes without being said.
3. When cultural choices make no sense, assume there are things that went without being said.
Concept #2 applies to more important things than football rules. Every time we bridge cultures we will come up against holes in our understanding because things went without being said that we aren’t aware of.
So, when you see a cultural tradition that seems really strange, or when you run into a decision-making paradigm or reaction to a situation that makes no sense, assume there are things that went without being said.
In other words, assume you aren’t seeing the whole picture and try to learn what you’re missing. Hopefully, once you understand what went without being said about that situation in that culture, things will start to make sense.
4. Many societies aren’t built on the American ideals of rugged individualism and self-sufficiency.
Some cultures value the good of the community over the good of the individual. Many non-Western cultures are built on this model. In those cultures, self-sufficiency and individualism are viewed as vices rather than virtues. In a collectivist culture, people who insist on individual rights are seen as self-important, seeking their own glory, or someone who doesn’t get along with others.
According to the authors, in a collectivist culture: “A person’s identity comes not from distinguishing himself from the community, but in knowing and faithfully fulfilling his place. … The highest goal and virtue in this sort of culture is supporting the community. This makes people happy.”
The authors add, “It is difficult to present the values of a collectivist culture in a positive light to Western hearers.”
I think that last comment shows how deeply entrenched values like protecting individual choice are to our culture. We can’t even fathom how someone could see life any other way. It seems so obvious to us that we are right, so therefore they must be wrong. Which brings me to my last point…
5. Our way is not the only right way.
Humans are naturally threatened by anything different. When we run across cultural differences like collectivism vs. individualism, we naturally think our cultural preferences are “right” or better than others.
But if we consider current world cultures and the societies of ages past, we will find that the majority opinion does not match up with our modern, western way of looking at life. In other words, most people in most of history would not consider our way the norm, or our values as the best values. Keep that in mind whenever you bump into cultural differences.
Every culture and every generation do some things well and some things not so well. This quote from C. S. Lewis says it well:
“Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes. … People were no cleverer then they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes.”
C. S. Lewis
Final Thought
I hope this post has opened your eyes to the many ways we may be misunderstanding others because we don’t realize we’re looking at the same situation through two very different set of assumptions, that may include vastly different concepts of what behavior is right or wrong.
Becoming aware of our particular lens is the first step in our journey to avoid misunderstandings and foster better cross-cultural communication.
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Wonderful insights! Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m always happy to pass on what I’m learning. There’s always more to learn in this life!
The sentence you wrote with football jargon did sound like gobbledygook to me. I am Ugandan so… Yes. In our country, the society forms the individual. Who are you without your father’s brother and your mother’s cousins? Family means everyone with whom you share blood. An entire lineage of people who share a common ancestor cannot intermarry. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never met. That’s our clan system. Your article makes sense to me. Thanks for Sharing.
Thank you for explaining it from your perspective.