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Unit 2 Culture and Social Structures
Section 4
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Beliefs and Material Culture
Key Terms
• nonmaterial culture • ideal culture
• beliefs • real culture
• material culture
Beliefs and Physical Objects
he nonmaterial culture involves beliefs, ideas, and knowledge.
The material culture is about how we relate to physical objects. Values, norms, knowledge, ideas (nonmaterial), and physical objects (mate- rial) make up a culture.
Whydobeliefsmatter? Beliefsareideasaboutthenatureofreality. Beliefs can be true or false. The Romans believed Caesar Augustus to be a god; the Tanala, a hill tribe of Madagascar, believed that the souls of their kings passed into snakes; and many Germans believed that pictures of Hitler on their walls would prevent the walls from crumbling during bombing raids. We would certainly consider these beliefs to be false. In contrast, other beliefs—such as the belief that the human eye can distinguish over seven million colors and the belief that no intelligent life exists on Mars—are sup- ported by factual evidence. We consider these to be true. Beliefs are impor- tant because people base their behavior on what they believe, regardless of how true or false the beliefs are.
What is material culture? Material culture consists of the concrete, tangible objects within a culture—automobiles, basketballs, chairs, high- ways, art. These physical objects have no meaning or use apart from the meanings people give them.
Section
Section
esides norms and val-
ues, beliefs and physical objects make up culture. Ideal culture includes the guidelines we claim to accept, while real culture describes how we actually behave.
nonmaterial culture
ideas, knowledge and beliefs that influence people’s behavior
beliefs
ideas about the nature of reality
material culture
the concrete, tangible objects of a culture
T
Acres of discarded cars in a junkyard plainly show that the automobile is one of the most common objects of America’s material culture.