just two points on Gareth's anthro-psychological question
> From: Gareth Barkin <gsbarkin@artsci.wustl.edu>
> How are traditions incompatible with
> consumerism undermined? I guess part of the question would be: Is
> the consumerist 'instinct' for more and more goods and services
> innate, requiring only the opportunity to be released, or must it be
> cultivated? In other words -- is there any hope?
1.
when i studied psychology in 1970s it was one of most popular
question with detalaised experimantal examination (Vygotsky, Piaget,
Luria, Leontiev, Galperin etc)
the main conclusion from these debates is BOTH: innate and experience
factors work but in different way. The innate factor gives smth like
amorphous basis and culture-education-media-communication-experience
(in hand with some degree of self-determination) gives a definite
form for this basis
2.
according to the posed problem i think one should take into account
at least three kinds of human needs:
a) needs for ethnocultural identification (are basic for
preserving native traditions)
b) establishing own social status (mainly in comparison
with neighbours, relatives, various referent groups) - can be based
both on native or imported value systems and identification
c) needs for comfort ( reaching new levels but much more
strong for preserving the current one)
my hypothesis is that 'cultural-imperialistic mass-media' mainly
works with b, suggesting new levels in c , but at the same time
not-purposefully destroys a (the last is a major disaster for
humanistically and PC-oriented anthropologists)
best
Nikolai
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