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INVESTIGATION 1
ANA RAQUEL AGUILAR 12-4
CULTURE-EPOCH THEORY
Culture
O        shared system of beliefs, values, and behaviors
O        a dynamic system always in flux
O        founded upon whatever conception of reality is held by the great majority of its people over a considerable period of time.
O        concept of culture 1871 E.B. Tyler “that complex whole which includes knowledge,belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” (culture always entails learned behavior)
O        shaped by nationality, geography, language, race, religion, tribe, kinship, social class, gender, age, sexuality, occupation, media, etc.
O        tool-making represents the beginning of culture—problem solving, control over natureO        language allows us to acquire this control by transmitting ideas and techniques from one generation to the next. 
      Creations of culture reveal the visions, hopes, & dreams of those who created them; the study of these human creations is the heart of the humanities.
      Interdisciplinary approach attempts to understand the interpenetration of ideas and the interrelationship of thevisual arts, philosophy, literature, religion, politics, technology, architecture as well as other institutions such as marriage.
      Not only goods and services were exchanged along expanding TRADE ROUTES; ideas were carried back and forth as well.
      Values such as TRUTH, BEAUTY, LOVE, JUSTICE, & FAITH shape cultural development.
 Based on concepts of REALITY and accepted truth, webuild the thought structures that underlie institutions.
o        justice               law & government
o        education         form & curriculum in schools
o        religion             temples & creeds
o        economy           production & distribution of goods & services
      All dynamic relationships go through periods of CHAOS, ADJUSTMENT, & BALANCE.O        CHAOS
1)  1st step toward new epoch
2)  New critics chisel away @ bedrock of established culture by pointing out inconsistencies & challenging the boundary limits of “reality.”
3)  this collapse (of “old” patterns of belief, values, and behavior) sweeps away old institutions,  theology, science, etc. + causes turmoil & confusion.
4)  Note that in the 1st stage of creationstories, deity brings order to chaos.
O        ADJUSTMENT
1)  Innovative artists & thinkers (painters, scientists, writers, composers, philosophers) respond to chaos by suggesting/creating innovative new patterns for culture that seem more in keeping with the emerging spirit of the times.
2)  Intellectuals (academics, government officials, business executives, media, etc.) seek to distill& resolve the tensions by designing new modes of thought and new models that will provide a framework for society.
3)  Innovators posit a new design; intellectuals institute workable models of these new expressions.
O        BALANCE
         Order is reestablished when the new ideas of reality, the philosophies underlying the basic institutions, and the institutions themselves are all inharmony.
         Everything seems to be orderly and tidy & people have a fundamental security that comes from certainty.
         Even in periods of balance, there is always an undercurrent of new ideas brewing that will eventually upend this sense of surety.
o        Dialectic (Plato/Socrates, Hegel, Marx)
o        Deciphering which phase of an epoch a culture is in can only legitimately beaccomplished in retrospect.
o        Remember that all 3 (chaos, adjustment, balance) transpire concurrently and that their impact is a matter of degree and not an absolute; in other words, during periods of chaos, there will also be some semblance of adjustment and balance going on beneath the surface, and in turn, during periods that are marked by a predominant sense of security, there...