CHANGING CULTURE

Jul 25, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Culture is not static, it is constantly evolving, but recently, Guyana has experienced a titanic evolution of changes in our culture due largely to technological advances. Indeed, the advent of smart phones, IPads, computers and other electronic devices has taken us by storm
Culture is universal in the sense that it is found in all human societies. It can be defined in a number of ways, but most simply as the characteristics of knowledge of a group of people who share a common language, religion, food, social habits, music and arts. Culture can also be understood to be shared patterns of behaviours and interactions, cognitive constructs and the understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.
However, the essence of culture is not just about artifacts, music, theatre, social habits or other cultural elements, but how members of one group interpret, use and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations and perspectives that distinguish one group of people from another in society. Culture is learned and shared and may be inherited, that is, it is passed on from one generation to another.
In Guyana, our culture is seeped into all the activities and expressions that extend below the surface and unite us under a common sense of self, respect and love for one another. On a continuous basis, it gives meaning and currency to our lives, our society and our body politic. Historically, it is possible to highlight periods when our culture has led to social and political upheavals that have caused us to focus more on our cultural identity. The 1960s and 1970s are perhaps the starkest periods of representations of this in modern history. In these periods, divided opinions on politics and parties collided with deep-seated racism between the two major races.
In the last 30 years, technology has changed the way we live and how we perceive the world. Many, including the elderly believe that technology has changed our culture,our lives and society for the worse. Others, especially youths, have credited technology for modernizing our society and making it easier for us to travel, communicate with one another, work, and to do common tasks in less time. For them, it is the key to the future. It has connected us and has isolated us.
Technology has changed the way we raise our children. Computers and smart phones have not only isolated children from their parents, but have also allowed them to be in their own world. Many are more distracted than they used to be, with their eyes invariably glued to their cell phone screens, not knowing or even caring what goes on in the real world or in their community. Communicating with family members is, for the most part, at a minimum, and family time is valued much less by children. Many of our youths no longer considered the family structure as the prominent unit in our culture. This has had a profound effect on their social and civic life, personal relationships and the community.
Many including educators are trying to figure out the new generation of young people sometimes called Millennials. It is interesting how technology has changed our culture, our lives, our society, our relations and the way we see the world. We are also left to ponder the effects of technology on the elderly and how it has changed our behaviour, in some cases for the worse, in others, for the better, which suggests that our culture is on a continuum of change.

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