Culture As Operating System

Photo by Roma Kaiuk on Unsplash

Culture, in all its forms, plays such a strong role in our lives that, for the most part, we don’t really even pay attention to it or realize it. 

It’s formed through years of experience, understanding and shared experiences. This is the case at home, in our communities, with our friends and with our colleagues at work. 

In fact, Trevor Noah once referred to culture as “an operating system that you have, that you didn’t even realize you had”. That captures it perfectly for me.

Our “culture(s)” provide us with the foundation of ideas and beliefs that we then use to define, filter and evaluate our experiences. It provides us with the criteria with which we make judgements about those we engage with. They can, in so many ways, make us. 

That’s broadly good and helpful, but culture can also be a limiting mechanism. That is, in so many ways, it can also break us. The ideas that our culture teaches us to accept or reject can hinder us in the long term. 

How we dress. How we behave. How serious we are. Who we love. Who we engage with. The words we use. How open we should be. Who we can trust. The list is endless. 

In fact, when culture acts as a negative filter, it presents problems, many that we don’t even see in the moment. 

When we’re constrained by our ideas about what makes someone “relevant” or “appropriate” or “special”, then we risk not seeing them for who they really are. 

When we characterize a situation based on culturally defined norms, and without an objective lens, we deceive ourselves, perhaps thinking less of our own achievements or of those we interact with. 

Of course, the point isn’t to avoid or displace our ‘culture’ altogether - that isn’t really even possible. 

But I do think there’s a need to be as objective as possible in our evaluation, in our judgments, in giving the benefit of the doubt where it needs to be given. It’s worth the struggle to determine whether our preconceived notions help or hinder us.