Mike et al No apologies for lack of political correctness ... openness is good. My tangent: I think it is an interesting challenge to compare the differences between cultures, esp. in light of evolutionary concerns. One the one hand, we look out and see differences between cultures, as you see between Western Europe and tribal music. On the other hand, evolution confines our cultures within certain parameters (recall E.O. Wilson's comment "culture is the final product of the genes".). This problem has intrigued me for years and here is one way to approach it .... evolution seems to have given people a tendency to divide in-groups from out-groups and to exaggerate the differences so as to discrimate. We are ALL tribal in that sense. There is also a perception issue. You look at people from a different race, or from a different family, and everyone looks alike. My two sons are so similar (I am told) that people in the market ask if they are MZ twins (they are 3 years apart!). WITHIN a family or culture, you notice differences (different range). The differences between my sons is what is noticeable to me. Sooooo, we notice differences within, and similarities without. One challenge in evolutionary thinking is to see the human species as an objective alien would - I propose that an alien would notice the similarities in our cultures in music, art, literature, language, much as we see the similarity in bee and ant cultures.
My contribution to political incorrectnes is to question the existence of meaningful cultural differences ... despite years of research, how many deeply rooted psychological processes have been discovered? Scratch the surface of most and you find similarities, from mating to hierarchial social structures, arts, etc. OK, tangent, sorry Mike I have to babble about music :~). It is true that some European music is refined (WESTERN europe? sorry sorry lol). But like language, the differences are tied mostly to social class. An alien to this planet would notice that harmonies are appreciated similarly in all peoples (I would love to see exceptions ...) .. such that a "third" interval and a "fifth" are perceived as correct and peaceful, a 7th creates a sense of tension, minor keys (C, Eflat, G) create melancholy, and the 3/4 and 4/4 tempos fit with human movement and the time it takes to, say, execute a small jump into the air and return, or, beat a drum. Try beating a drum outside the range of tempos used in classical music - hard to do. Look at all the classical music rooted in folk & tribal themes - Rimsky Korsakov's incorporating melodies from the Causasian Mts, Dvorak's inclusion of what he believed were American "indian" tribal music (they were African American actually ..), Copeland's & Piston's reliance on American folk, etc etc etc. These are not isolated intrusions into music imo, but variations on a basic musical form that make classical music "human." True, some people have tried to make musical forms more logical & mathematical (remember the 12 note scale?), but nobody ever serenaded their lover with such music. Not that I don't love classical music .. I do .. but it's not the only game in town imo. -------------------------- John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State University Plymouth NH 03264 -------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Smith" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 8:39:39 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [tips] Psychology irrelevant to African-Americans Well let us hope that we will all be 'exempt from survIval pressures'. I find nothing glamorous about "survival", and hope that we do have the free time to develop symphony orchestras, the arts, etc. When that goes, then I think we are in definate trouble. >"One can think of classical music as a good model for the prevalence of the >current Eurocentric and U.S centric models-boredom >and exemption from >survuval pressures can lead to wonderful creations reinforcing itself." In my opinion, there is just no comparison between 'tribal' "music" and symphony orchestras. Like it or not, Europeans and their descendents have given us the arts and music of such a quality that couldn't even be dreamed of in simpler "survival" based cultures which were found in Africa, Australia, etc. >"Psychology is the study of behavior of the universal and the diversity of >all human behavior" Probably in an ideal world. But we all know it's the study of undergraduates in psychology programs. Perhaps generalizeable, perhaps not so much. But anyway. Americans are humans too and so are Europeans (I think). I don't see that it's incumbent upon European and American (maybe even Canadian) psychologists to be constantly worried about and addressing cross-cultural issues in all that they do. I think it is perfectly fine to study the people of Western-European culture (which has given the world so much)--it is a viable, admirable, desirable, and important thing to do and I wouldn't be apologizing for a Euro-Western emphasis at all. Surely the psychology departments in Africa, Latin America, China, Japan, Korea etc., are studying the psychology of their own people and culture. And indeed, they are arguably the best people to be doing that. Then the psychologists of these different countries and cultures who are interested in cross-cultural issues as their main concern can all get together and compare. I am Western-European so perhaps that's why I value their advanced cultural contributions to the world and think that they are unparalelled in any other culture. I am unapologetically proud to be Western-European with such magnificent contributions to the world of culture, arts, music, health, science, technology, etc--they cannot be matched by any other culture. Perhaps this attitude is not politically correct. I mean Europeans, Americans, Canadians, and Western culture in general are supposed to abandon their world view in favor of being inclusive of everyone and every culture while other cultures such as African, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Latin, etc., are allowed to remain proud of their own culture and its acheivements. This is a mistake that I don't make. I'm personally not all that interested in cross-cultural or international issues in psychology and I am content in the Euro-Western culture which includes amazing diversity and richness--certainly enough to justify its study in psychology. --Mike On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:32 PM, michael sylvester < [email protected] > wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Smith To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 11:32 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Psychology irrelevant to African-Americans Well, what do you want? Psychology was invented by Europeans. --Mike And it is for this reason I use the term Eurocentric cognitive imperialism,Psychology is the study of behavior of the universal and the diversity of all human behavior,but the so called "scientific" approach was the work of some Europeans who were the quintessential domesticated cultures.So being removed from the constant struggle of human survival there were a number of factors that contributed to the the current psychological paradigm-domestication led to a pre-occupation with intellectual pursuits and obviously it was thought that human behavior can be described and understood within a physical science model.Actually most of modern day U.S psychology takes it roots in the functionalist tradition of William James,Dewey,Angell,Carr and a philosopher named William Pierce. But what should be noted is that psychology with its current models would probably not exist if it was not for the creation of the United States of America.Functionalism was a kind of a movement that validated the Americanization process and hence its strong environmental emphasis.Behaviorism launch the final blow by its emphasis and ignoring the context and import of the stimulus complex. Psychology as developped in the U.S is confined to its geographic boundaries.The Americanization process does not necessary imply adherence to a specific Eurocentric knowledge base.It is interesting to note that the conquest of the Amricas only led to the imposition of Catholicism,whereas other cultural aspects remained intact in some parts of the Americas.There was not a Latin Americanization process,One can think of classical music as a good model for the prevalence of the current Eurocentric and U.S centric models-boredom and exemption from survuval pressures can lead to wonderful creations reinforcing itself. Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ( [email protected] ) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
