The information and communication capabilities of culture allow it to ensure that a person adapts to environment. But unlike animals, man simultaneously adapts the environment to himself, changes it in accordance with his needs. The biological unsuitability of a person turned into the ability to master any natural conditions, to create a variety of "protective" cultural layers (clothing, housing, weapons, etc.). At different peoples living in various conditions, in their culture, ways of adapting to natural environment. They constitute the rationale for many national traditions(for example, in methods of treatment, housing construction, etc.), a lot of things, means and ways are invented to ensure safety and comfort, to fill life with pleasure and entertainment. Life expectancy and population growth are increasing.
To survive, humanity must improve its own nature, their spiritual essence, reducing their dependence on the forces of nature.
function of socialization.
Socialization refers to the inclusion of individuals in public life, their assimilation of social experience, knowledge, values, norms of behavior corresponding to a given society, social group, social role.
The process of socialization allows the individual to become a full member of society. This process is also useful for society, for the preservation of the forms of life that have developed in it. Culture determines the content, means and methods of socialization. Socialization begins in childhood. The family also plays a huge role here, the example of parents, peers, teachers, etc. later life important role play: school, others educational establishments, facilities mass media, labor collectives, informal groups. Self-education is also important. .
Socialization has an originality in various historical and national cultural contexts (Russian, American, Indian, etc.). Not only forms of activity depend on this context, but also forms of recreation, entertainment, mental relaxation (recreative and compensatory functions of culture): holidays, games, sports, mass art, various “hobbies”. All of these forms are regulated cultural norms and have a ritual character.
In addition to those mentioned, other functions of culture of a more particular nature are noted in the literature: ensuring the integrity public system, ensuring the transition from one social system to another, resolving contradictions between society and nature, harmonizing relations between them, the continuity of generations, the function of self-expression, self-affirmation and self-development of the individual, etc.
cultural dysfunctions.
Dysfunctions of culture are its negative impacts on nature, society and man. The actual functioning of culture provides not only a solution to a particular problem, but also generates a set of side effects which were not foreseen, and quite often could not be foreseen, by the creators of culture. These effects can be detrimental.
The growth and dissemination of objective knowledge often results in the spread of delusions and the displacement of extra-scientific layers. public consciousness. In every culture there are not only values and ideals, but also anti-values and anti-ideals. "Normative insufficiency" can lead to an increase in crime, a decline in morality. However, “normative redundancy” in turn limits freedom, initiative and creative activity. As a result, the rate of development of society slows down and stagnation sets in. Communication in the media is one-sided, contributing to feelings of loneliness. One of the paradoxes modern culture is that the mass of contacts at the same time implies a lack of communication. The integrative function of culture also has a contradictory character: cultural differences sometimes make it difficult for people to communicate, interfere with their mutual understanding. “We” and “they”, “us” and “them” are the realities of life, they give rise to enmity and often military clashes. modern civilization makes great efforts to socialize the young, but often does this at the expense of older people, whose socialization is not given due attention. Failures of socialization, deviation from socially approved forms of life (deviant behavior), the existence of negative cultural patterns also have their roots in culture.
Quite often, what is functional in relation to the needs and goals of some social groups of people will be dysfunctional for others. For example, rock music is functional in relation to the needs of today's youth and dysfunctional in relation to the older generation brought up on other models. musical culture. Television advertising is functional in relation to the interests of commercial circles and dysfunctional in relation to the majority of viewers, whose consciousness it manipulates, etc.
Dysfunctions of culture cannot be avoided; J. J. Rousseau was wrong in his belief that the process of culture should be suspended. Cultural development irresistible and as impossible to avoid as it is to avoid the dysfunctions of culture.
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Saint Petersburg State University
service and economy
Abstract
in cultural studies
on the topic: "Functions of culture"
Performed:
1st year student group 121
Checked:
Senior Lecturer
Pastushenko Pavel Vladimirovich
Vyborg
PLAN:
The concept of "functions of culture".
Information function of culture.
adaptive function culture.
communicative function.
regulatory function.
integrative function.
function of socialization.
The concept of "functions of culture".
Culture is a multifunctional system.
Functions of culture- a set of roles that culture performs in relation to the community of people who generate and use (practice) it in their own interests.
If we define culture as an aggregate, constantly developing, constantly growing and accumulating information in the form of values, symbols, signs and sign systems, then on the basis of this definition we can point to its main functions. Function in the social sciences, it is usually called the purpose, the role of any element in the social system. Social cultural functions- these are the functions that culture as a whole performs in relation to society.
If we ultimately define culture as an aggregate, constantly developing, constantly growing and accumulating information in the form of values, symbols, signs and sign systems, then on the basis of this definition we can point to its main functions (roles, meanings that culture has in society). ).
2. Information function.
It is possible to single out and describe the social functions of culture in different ways. One of them - information function(in other words, the function of broadcasting social experience).
Culture is a special type of information process that nature does not know. In animals, information is biologically encoded, its carrier is the animal's body itself. The transfer of information from one generation to another occurs genetically, and also to some extent through imitation of parents (in higher animals). The experience accumulated by an individual in the course of life is not inherited by its descendants; each new generation begins to accumulate experience "from scratch". Therefore, the amount of information available to the clan does not increase from generation to generation.
The presence of culture in humans means the existence of a "suprabiological" form of information. How is it formed? In the course of their activity, people create sound systems (languages), formulas, concepts that, when created (derived formulas, painted pictures, written and published books), are separated from the creator, acquiring an independent, impersonal existence. They become social information, belonging to public culture. Unlike biological information, social information expressed in sign systems does not disappear and does not perish with the death of its creator, but is transmitted to subsequent generations, being the basic material for creating new forms in the phenomenon of culture. Culture forms a specifically human, non-genetic "mechanism" of its inheritance - social heredity. Thanks to culture in society, it becomes possible that which is impossible in the animal world - the historical accumulation and multiplication of information that is at the disposal of man as a generic being. Continuity arises as the most important regularity in the development of culture, which ensures the continuity of the cultural process.
According to Yu.M. Lotman, culture is a "mechanism created by mankind, aimed at generating and storing information." It includes many signs and sign systems, with the help of which cultural "texts" are formed, in which this information is imprinted and stored.
It can be said that culture in human society is the same as information support in a computer. The latter includes machine language, memory, information processing programs. Similar systems, social memory that stores the spiritual achievements of mankind, programs of human behavior that reflect the experience of many generations. Thus, culture acts as the information support of society. True, information support is invested in the computer from the outside, and society creates it itself.
Any social cataclysms, especially revolutions, are detrimental to the development of culture. They are able to nullify the creative efforts of many people and entire generations, to destroy the information support provided by culture to society. Culture is rightly considered the social memory of mankind.
3. Adaptive function.
(Culture provides human adaptation to the environment)
IN Lately culturologists are increasingly writing about the adaptive function of culture. Adaptation translated from Latin means fitting, adaptation. Every kind of living beings in the process of biological evolution adapts to its environment. Due to variability, heredity and natural selection, features of body organs and behavioral mechanisms are formed and genetically transmitted from generation to generation, ensuring the survival and development of the species in given environmental conditions (its "ecological niche"). However, human adaptation is different. In nature, living organisms adapt to the environment, changing in accordance with the given conditions of their existence; a person adapts the environment to himself, changes it in accordance with his needs.
Man's adaptation to the environment is due to culture, since biological evolution has not created for him sufficient means for this. And this adaptation occurs as culture develops. Man like species Homo sapiens has no natural ecological niche. He is a "biologically deficient" animal, which is not able to lead a natural way of life, and is forced, in order to survive, to create an artificial, cultural environment around him. Throughout the history of mankind, people constantly have to protect themselves from something: from cold and heat, from rain and snow, from wind and dust, from many dangerous enemies. In order to survive, a person is forced to create objects necessary for survival, which nature did not produce, in a word, to create an artificial world, or "second nature". In the process of such work, a person sharpens his mind, improves and develops his hand, his most important organs, necessary in such a matter. The development of culture gives people protection: the ability to create and use clothes, housing, weapons, medicines, food. Biological incompleteness, the inability of the human race to a certain ecological poverty turned into the ability to master any natural conditions by forming a "protective layer" of artificial conditions of existence. Man as a biological species Homo Sapiens remains the same in different natural conditions, but there is a variety of his "protective layers" - forms of culture, certain natural conditions ethnic life. Already in ancient times among the peoples living in different conditions, different forms of economy and customs are formed, they build dwellings in different ways, dress and eat. In their cultures, historically developed ways of adapting to natural conditions are fixed.
The development of intellectual abilities ensured the diversity of forms of culture being created: depending on geographical and climatic conditions, a person mastered various forms of management, thereby learning to adapt to various natural conditions.
Speaking about the adaptive function of culture, culturologist A.S. Carmine gives examples of the validity of many cultural traditions, such as cuisine and medicine.
Many cultural traditions associated with some useful adaptive effect. The traditional abundance of hot spices in the food of the southerners, he writes, is a means to delay its rapid spoilage in a hot climate. Traditional medicine among the Slavs and other peoples in countries with diverse vegetation is characterized by the widespread use of herbal medicine. And in Central China, where the plant world is not rich, methods of treatment using cauterization and injections with pointed sticks or pebbles developed, which gave rise to modern acupuncture. Due to constant earthquakes, the inhabitants of the Japanese islands did not make sense to build large and labor-intensive structures. Therefore, from ancient times, they built small houses, with light sliding walls and small rooms: such houses more easily withstood earthquakes, and in case of destruction they were easier to restore.
The development of culture increasingly provides people with security and comfort. Increased labor efficiency; previously incurable diseases are defeated; life expectancy is growing. However, at the same time, cultural evolution gives rise to new threats to humanity. The higher the protection of people from natural dangers becomes, the more clearly it is revealed that the main enemy is ... himself. An example is a weapon of mass destruction, having created which, a person spends colossal efforts and funds to ban it in order to protect humanity from it. Wars, religious strife, atrocities and violence of criminals over innocent victims, reckless poisoning and destruction of nature - this is, as it were, back side cultural progress, and its dangers intensify with the growth of the technical equipment of society. And in order to survive, humanity must improve its own nature, its inner spiritual life.
Surrounded by the blessings of civilization, a person becomes their slave.
The study of nature, which from the very beginning was occupied by man, made it possible to discover in it such properties that, giving dubious and momentary pleasures, bring death to a person, destroying, first of all, his brain. Reduced physical activity and weakening of the body, synthetic food, growing drug use, the habit of using medicines, the accumulation of harmful changes in the human gene pool - all this threatens to become a disaster for future generations. By reducing their dependence on the forces of nature, people become dependent on the forces of culture. Therefore, the future of mankind is entirely determined by how and in what direction it will develop its culture.
4. COMMUNICATION FUNCTION.
(Culture shapes the conditions and means human communication)
A person lives in society, lives together and next to other people, and therefore, whether he wants it or not, he has to communicate with these people. Implemented communicative function of culture. Culture, developing the forms of such communication, acts as its means. The means of communication between people are languages, sound systems. The result is because it is only through communication that people can create, preserve and develop culture. Culture is the field of human communication. It connects people, unites them.
Human communication, connection, communication have developed historically. At the most early stages anthropogenesis, in a period when articulate speech did not exist, our distant ancestors communicated with each other using sign language and sounds to communicate with each other. The appearance of speech provided a person with the opportunity to transmit a variety of information, for which, with the advent of writing, there were no obstacles in space and time. Thanks to writing, it becomes possible for descendants to communicate with distant ancestors. A new stage of communication begins with the advent of special means of communication, of which radio and television are the most effective today. The invention of writing creates the basis for the widespread dissemination of communication in time and space. The modern era is characterized by the introduction of mass media (MSK) into everyday life, the development of computer networks covering the whole world and making it possible to instantly come into contact with any source of information.
As a result of the development of mass media, the number of contacts of an individual with other people is extremely increasing. So, on TV everyone sees and hears a lot of interlocutors - including many interesting ones. But these contacts are mediated and one-sided, the viewer is passive in them, and his ability to exchange his thoughts with his interlocutors is very limited. A huge mass of contacts and at the same time a lack of communication is a paradox of modern culture. One more point can be noted: with the development of culture, the inner side of communication is improved. In people high culture the importance of spiritual and psychological factors in communication increases, an increased ability for mutual understanding is developed.
5. REGULATORY FUNCTION.
(Culture determines various aspects of a person's social and personal activities)
Any culture develops norms of behavior and activities that indicate which means of achieving goals are acceptable and which are not, i.e. the regulatory function of culture is carried out.
Cultural norms regulate all human life: work, entertainment, relations between the sexes, etiquette and much more. In the conditions of normal, non-crisis development, society protects the norms developed by its culture and condemns the deviant (deviating from the norms accepted in this culture) behavior of its citizens. So, in a number of US states, despite allowing divorce, spouses are fined for adultery, and in some states they are even sentenced to various prison terms. In most modern societies, cruelty to animals is condemned. Different cultures have different degrees of normativity. For example, they are currently writing about the "normative insufficiency" of Russian culture in comparison with many others, and this is the path to an increase in crime and a decline in morality.
6. INTEGRATIVE FUNCTION.
(Culture unites peoples, social groups, states)
Any social community, in which its own culture is formed, is held together by this culture. Among the members of the community, a single set of beliefs, values, ideals, characteristic of a given culture and determining the consciousness and behavior of people, spreads. They develop a sense of belonging to the same cultural group.
Members of one's group - "ours" (compatriots, peers, representatives of their profession, their social stratum, etc.) - seem to us closer than people of the "other circle". We can hope that we will have more mutual understanding with them. The basis for this is our cultural commonality with the members of the group to which we ourselves belong.
The preservation of cultural heritage, national traditions, historical memory creates a connection between generations. This builds the historical unity of the nation and the self-consciousness of the people as a community of people that has existed for centuries. The common Orthodox faith, introduced by Prince Vladimir in Kievan Rus, formed a spiritual bond between the Slavic tribes who previously worshiped tribal gods, which contributed to the rallying of the Russian principalities and their unification around Moscow in the fight against the Mongol conquerors.
As history shows, cultural ties and commonality have always been stronger than any other, for example, consanguinity, and it is no coincidence that states, as a rule, developed on the basis of cultural communities and existed as long as these communities existed. An example would be the fate of a multinational Soviet state- The USSR, whose existence for eight decades was supported by Marxist ideology, and not by any other reasons, caused the collapse of the once united state.
The unity of culture ensures the unity and strength of the state. This was understood by the Soviet state leaders, who by all means did not allow dissent and dissent. The wisest modern Russian politicians who put forward a national idea understand this and speak about it.
However, in the history of mankind in each era there are different cultures. Cultural differences make it difficult for people to communicate, interfere with their mutual understanding, act as barriers that block social groups and communities. People who belong to the same cultural circle as us are perceived as "Us", and those from other cultural circles are perceived as "They". Solidarity between "ours" can be accompanied by wariness and even hostility towards "strangers", resulting in confrontation and enmity.
But the difference of cultures in itself does not necessarily give rise to tension and conflict in relations between them. Distrust and antipathy towards "foreign" cultures and their carriers - peoples, countries, social groups and individuals - had a certain justification in the past, when contacts between different cultures were weak, rare and fragile.
However, in the course of world history, the contacts of cultures are gradually increasing, their interaction and interpenetration is growing. Differences of cultures, of course, persist in our time, but the point is not to destroy these differences, but to combine the different.
Cultural unity can have varying degrees of commonality. Such an ultimate cultural community is a universal culture, but so far this is just a trend, a non-existent ideal. Existing broad cultural communities are communities created by world religions. This is the Christian world, the world of Islam, the world of Buddhism. But the integrative function of culture is also manifested by the existing tendency to unite such different worlds- through science. Christians and Muslims and Buddhists use computers, the same mathematical and chemical formulas, the same geographical maps. Today, a powerful integrating factor for people of different cultures is the Internet.
Cultural diversity colors the life of mankind, enriches the experience it accumulates. The integrating function of culture is manifested today not in erasing the differences between cultures, but in the unification of various cultures that complement each other with their best examples.
Various cultures, which in the past, and even today (Islamic fundamentalism) as a source of armed clashes, are increasingly becoming the subject of study and development of all more another culture: books, music, fashion, national cuisine overcome cultural barriers and increasingly become elements of an integrating factor.
7. FUNCTION OF SOCIALIZATION.
Socialization is understood as the assimilation by an individual of social experience, knowledge, values, norms of behavior corresponding to a given society, social group, social role.
The process of socialization allows the individual to become a full-fledged member of society, take a certain position in it and live as required by customs and traditions. At the same time, this process ensures the preservation of society, its structure and the forms of life that have developed in it. The "personal composition" of society is constantly being updated, people are born and die, but thanks to socialization, new members of society join the accumulated social experience and continue to follow the patterns of behavior recorded in this experience. Of course, society changes over time, but the introduction of innovations into social life is also, one way or another, determined by the forms of life and ideals inherited from the ancestors.
Culture is the most important factor of socialization, which determines its content, means and methods. In the course of socialization, people learn the programs stored in the culture and learn to live, think and act in accordance with them. The assimilation of social experience by a person begins with early childhood. The patterns of behavior that parents demonstrate to a large extent determine the life scenario in which the child will build his life. Children are also greatly influenced by the patterns of behavior they observe from peers, teachers, and other adults.
But socialization does not end in childhood. It is a continuous process that continues throughout life. Its conditions and means are the school and other educational institutions, the mass media, labor and the labor collective, the informal group, and, finally, self-education.
Each person, by the will of circumstances, is immersed in a certain cultural context from which he draws his ideas, ideals, rules of life, methods of action. In the context of American culture, personality traits such as self-confidence, energy, and sociability are encouraged. Indian culture, on the contrary, traditionally supports contemplation, passivity, introspection. Culture regulates the gender (sex) social roles of adult men and women in different ways. In almost all cultures, it is the responsibility of the men to provide for the welfare of the family, while the care of the children and housekeeping fall on the shoulders of the women; men traditionally enjoy more freedom of sexual behavior than women. Young people, middle-aged people, old people find themselves in different cultural contexts. Age-related differences in life attitudes are largely due not just to biological changes in the body, but to culturally enshrined ideas about the age-appropriate lifestyle.
Socialist culture cultivated such values as free labor, leveling, indifference to money. Relapses of such "values" have a detrimental effect to this day.
The cultural context determines both the forms of activity associated with the position occupied by the individual, and the forms of recreation and mental relaxation accepted in a given social environment (recreative or compensatory function of culture). Each culture has its own traditions and customs that regulate ways to relieve accumulated tension. The most important role is played by holidays, the culture of which involves the creation of a special joyful mood. Ways of mental relaxation usually allow you to violate the standards of everyday life, allow looseness and freedom of behavior, which sometimes goes beyond the bounds of decency. However, even these sometimes seemingly erratic forms of behavior are regulated by cultural norms.
The values and norms contained in the culture, however, do not always ensure successful socialization. In patriarchal times, the younger members of the family often remained almost all their lives in the subordination of the elders, feeling like inferior members of society. In the modern Western world, there are difficulties in the socialization of the elderly. Western civilization pushes older people to the margins of public life, and death is considered almost a taboo topic that one should neither speak nor think about.
In addition, the cultural context can create the ground for antisocial forms of behavior - drunkenness, drug addiction, prostitution, crime. These phenomena become widespread when society finds itself in a state of crisis, the prestige of culture falls, the traditions and ideals of life depreciate, and, as a result, socialization (especially of young people) is not effective enough.
Culture is multifaceted. The failures of socialization, associated both with deviations from socially approved forms of life (deviant, deviant behavior), and with the existence of negative cultural patterns, also have their roots in culture.
USED BOOKS:
Culturology. History of world culture. Ed. A.N. Markova. - M., 1995.
Culturology. History of world culture. Expanded edition. Ed. A.N. Markova. - M., 2003. Ed. "UNITI".
Nikitich L.A. Culturology. Theory. Philosophy. History of culture. - M., 2005 LLC "UNITI-DANA Publishing House".
Karmin A.S., Novikova E.S. Culturology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006.
UDK 81’1+81’23 + 130.2(045)
YARTSEVA Ksenia Viktorovna, post-graduate student, teacher of the department in English Pomeranian state university named after M.V. Lomonosov. Author of 5 scientific publications
THE CONCEPT OF "PICTURE OF THE WORLD". ADAPTIVE WORLDVIEW FUNCTION
The article is devoted to the consideration of the term picture of the world, which has become widespread in recent studies and in various branches of knowledge, is interpreted a little differently in force of that that this concept is a speculative construction. From the point of view of cognitive science and the biological approach, in particular, the main function of the picture of the world is the psychological protection of an individual or ethnic group during its adaptation to environmental conditions.
Worldview, mental representations, adaptation, cognition, psychological defense, value dominants
The term picture of the world in last years has become widespread in various branches of knowledge, but up to the present time there is no generally accepted definition of it, and researchers often interpret it in different ways. Everyone intuitively understands the essence of this scientific metaphor, but the essence of the phenomenon expressed by it still remains the subject of numerous reflections. Researchers note that the definition of the picture of the world cannot claim to be absolute unambiguous, “since it is not an objectively existing reality, but a speculative construction used by its creators to solve any theoretical or practical problems”1.
For the first time, the term picture of the world (as "a set of internal images external objects, from which one can logically obtain information about the behavior of these objects "2) began to be used in works on physics at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, which seems natural, because. names-
but discoveries related to natural sciences explaining the nature and functioning of the environment around us material world, can radically change the picture of a person’s world, point out the fallacy of his previous worldviews.
A. Einstein offers a broader interpretation this concept: “A person strives in some adequate way to create for himself a simple and clear picture world in order to try to some extent to replace this world with a picture thus created.< . >A person transfers the center of gravity of his spiritual life to this picture of the world and its design in order to find peace and confidence in it, which he cannot find in the too close dizzying cycle of his own life. This definition traces the author's idea of the relativity of any knowledge about the world. This relative knowledge is mediated human nature or (to use the terminology of Maturana and F. Varela) the structure
the nature of a person as a living organism, his internal dynamics and the nature of his interactions with the outside world, which allows him to successfully exist, adapt to the conditions of this world, is the conceptual picture of the world. In the context of the foregoing, it is appropriate to mention the idea of Maturana and F. Varela that a person's world is “necessarily” a world that he creates himself together with others4. Thus, the conceptual picture of the world is an image or a global representation of the world created by a person in the process of his interaction with the environment and other people and which is real for him.
Considering the picture of the world in a culturological aspect, researchers define it as all knowledge about the world, presented in the form of a certain image of the world, that exists in the mind of an individual belonging to a certain national culture; as a mental representation of culture. Therefore, it is characterized by the same properties as culture: integrity, historicity, multidimensionality, complexity, the ability to externalize, multi-interpretability, etc.
From the point of view of psychology, a picture (or image) of the world is “a reflection in the human psyche of an objective surrounding reality, mediated by objective meanings, corresponding cognitive schemes and amenable to conscious reflection”5. The picture of the world of a person, including himself, his actions and states, is “consciousness in its immediacy”6. Thus, psychology considers the picture of the world as a product of higher nervous activity.
From the point of view of the biological approach, the picture of the world can be defined as the totality of concepts or complex representations that are present in the mind of an individual and reflect the generalized experience of direct and indirect (in the process of upbringing and education) interaction with
environment. This conceptual system is itself an object of interaction.
In the context of ethnopsychology, the picture of the world is “some coherent idea of being inherent in the members of a given ethnos”7. The national picture of the world is the result of the collective experience of the nation. It finds expression in the philosophy, literature, mythology of the people, in the actions of people, being a kind of basis for explaining these actions.
V.P. Zavalnikov suggests the term ethnic picture of the world, which, from the author’s point of view, is “a special structured representation of the universe, characteristic of a particular ethnic group, which, on the one hand, has an adaptive function, and on the other hand, embodies the value dominants inherent in culture particular people." In the national (ethnic) picture of the world (as in any other) there are always values, the attitude of the people to various facts of reality. Any picture of the world is the result cognitive activity people, and knowledge is inseparable from evaluation.
The national picture of the world is realized by the members of the ethnos mainly when interacting with the carriers of a picture of the world alien to them. Wherein own picture world is always presented as orderly and harmonious, is perceived by representatives of the ethnic group as the only true one, because it justified itself in the adaptation of this ethnic group in its previous interactions.
The main function of the picture of the world, according to researchers, is the psychological protection of the ethnic group. How defense mechanism the picture of the world helps to determine the sources of evil and good (those objects or subjects, interactions with which threaten or contribute to the maintenance of the life of an individual or society) and forms a “we-image”, which is opposed to the “image of the enemy” (the source of evil).
Availability national paintings world does not interfere with the logical mutual understanding of representatives of different peoples due to the fact that
that types of thinking, ways of connecting concepts and logical laws of thinking are the same for all mankind. Differences in the vision of the world appear not at all because of the difference in thinking, but due to the variety of conditions in which thought processes take place.
Human thinking changes throughout development human society from predominantly figurative, right hemisphere thinking to predominantly sign-symbolic (logical-verbal), left hemisphere thinking.
A certain cognitive type of thinking forms certain picture world, with its own set life values. So, the modern, so-called "Western", scientific and technical culture, focused on analysis and synthesis, rational understanding of the environment, on building clear cause-and-effect relationships between facts and phenomena physical world, formed due to the prevalence logical thinking over figurative. Modern man behaves like the master of the planet, exploiting its resources, transforming its appearance. While the features of the agrarian culture, characteristic of ancient civilizations and some civilizations of the modern East, are explained by the possibilities of the cognitive information processing strategy, which is predominantly inherent in figurative thinking. Representatives of this culture are in awe of the greatness and secrets of the universe; they are contemplative, and holistic perception the world and myself in it. They don't need scientific explanations but value inner, intuitive knowledge.
An interesting fact is that representatives of cultures that are distant from each other both chronologically and geographically, at a certain stage of development, may have similar pictures of the world. So, any civilization at the beginning of its historical path goes through the stage of mythical thinking, and many plots and images different cultures often overlap.
Scientists are looking for an explanation for this state of affairs in the unconscious. In connection with this problem, we should recall the archetypes of Carl Jung, which he defined as tendencies to education. mythological images or motives in the subconscious of people, ethnic groups and all mankind in general. A certain set of archetypes serves to ensure the viability of a particular culture, so the loss of archetypal sources leads to the death of a civilization.
Conceptual picture peace finds expression in various forms, through a variety of means, but language is undoubtedly the most effective guide to the human mind. It helps to understand how an individual or society perceives, classifies and interprets the phenomena and objects of the surrounding world.
Language is not so much a tool for transmitting a message as an organizing principle. Language picture of the world, or all knowledge about the world, fixed in the units of the language different levels, does not create any individual image world, which does not correspond to reality, but simply specifically colors the perceived by native speakers the world. The language consolidates the universal and national socio-historical experience.
Being a kind of space of meanings (the term of A.N. Leontiev), the linguistic picture of the world represents the entire experience of the interactions of an individual or a community of people with elements of the environment in connection with their value in adapting to the conditions of this environment.
The environment in which a language community exists is reflected in its language. Yes, the nations Far North there are about twenty lexemes to express the idea of snow. Wet snow, loose snow, falling snow, etc. are designated different words. The reason for such an abundance of snow names in this case is obvious: snow is one of the main (often unfavorable) factors of the habitat of representatives of the northern
relatives, therefore, the distinction between the state and properties of snow helps them to effectively adapt to the conditions of their existence.
Studying the linguistic picture of the world, researchers point to its naive nature due to the fact that the units of the language often retain representations, values of our ancestors, which differ significantly from modern ones. These meanings and values were formed in certain physical, mental and
social conditions and effectively guided a person in adapting to these specific conditions, determining his behavior. But external environment is constantly changing, new factors appear that determine the formation of new ideas, and the former orientations gradually go to the periphery of the picture of the world, but do not disappear completely. They can again become value dominants in an appropriate situation that repeats the conditions for their formation.
Notes
1 Kornilov O.A. Linguistic pictures of the world as derivatives national mentalities. M., 1999. S. 41.
2 Hertz D The principles of mechanics set forth in new connection// Life of science. An anology of introductions to classical natural science. M., 1973. S. 208.
3 Einstein A. Sobr. op. T. 8. M., 1968. S. 124.
4 Maturana W.R., Varela F.H. Tree of knowledge / trans. from English. Yu.A. Danilova. M., 2001. S. 216.
5 Leontiev A.A. Linguistic consciousness and the image of the world // Language and consciousness: a paradoxical reality. M., 1993.
6 Leontiev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality: textbook. allowance for universities. M., 2004. S. 96.
7 Lurie S.V. Metamorphoses of traditional consciousness. Development experience theoretical foundations ethnopsychology and their application to the analysis of historical and ethnographic material. SPb., 1994. S. 52.
8 Zavalnikov V.P. To the question of extralinguistic determinants language picture world: a generalization of the known // Language. Human. Picture of the world: materials of Vseros. scientific conf. Part 1. Omsk, 2000. P. 4.
THE NOTION OF THE WORLD IMAGE.
ADAPTIVE FUNCTION OF THE WORLD IMAGE
The article is devoted to considering the term world image that has been widely used in different spheres of recent research. Within different branches of science it is interpreted in a slightly different way due to the fact that the given notion is purely speculative. In the context of cognitive science and biological approach in particular the main function of the world image is psychological protection of a person or a nation in the process of their adaptation to the surroundings.
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Reviewer - Shabanova M.V., doctor pedagogical sciences, Professor, Department of Methods of Teaching Mathematics, Pomor State University named after M.V. Lomonosov
Complex and layered structure culture determines the diversity of its functions in the life of society and man. But there is no complete unanimity among culturologists on the question of the number of functions of culture. Nevertheless, they all agree with the idea of multifunctionality of culture, with the fact that each of its components can perform different functions. Comparison of different points of view on this issue allows us to conclude that among the main functions of culture are adaptive, sign (significative), cognitive, informational, communicative, integrative, regulatory, axiological and etc.
The adaptive function of culture
The most important function of culture is adaptive, allowing a person to adapt to the environment, which acts necessary condition survival of all living organisms in the process of evolution. But a person does not adapt to changes in the environment, as other living organisms do, but changes the environment in accordance with his needs, adapting it to himself. This creates a new, artificial world - culture. In other words, a person cannot lead a natural way of life, like animals, and in order to survive, he creates around himself built environment a habitat.
Of course, a person cannot achieve complete independence from the environment, since each specific form of culture is largely due to natural conditions. The type of economy, dwellings, traditions and customs, beliefs, rites and rituals of peoples will depend on natural and climatic conditions.
As culture develops, humanity provides itself with ever greater security and comfort. But, having got rid of the old fears and dangers, a person stands face to face with new threats that he creates for himself. So, today you can not be afraid of such formidable diseases of the past as plague or smallpox, but new diseases have appeared, such as AIDS, for which no cure has yet been found, and other deadly diseases created by man themselves are waiting in the military laboratories. Thus, a person needs to protect himself not only from the natural environment, but also from the world of culture.
The adaptive function has a dual nature. On the one hand, it manifests itself in the creation of the means of protection necessary for a person from the outside world. Such are all the products of culture that help the primitive, and later civilized man survive and feel confident in the world: using fire, creating a productive Agriculture, medicine, etc. This is the so-called specific means of protection person. These include not only items material culture, but also those specific means that a person develops to adapt to life in society, keeping him from mutual extermination and death. These are state structures, laws, customs, traditions, moral standards, etc.
There are also non-specific means of protection of a person is a culture as a whole, existing as a picture of the world. Understanding culture as a "second nature", the world created by man, we emphasize the most important property human activity and culture - the ability to "doubling" the world, highlighting in it the sensory-objective and ideal-figurative layers. Culture as a picture of the world makes it possible to see the world not as a continuous flow of information, but to receive this information in an orderly and structured form.
Culture not only accumulates and stores information (this is primarily the prerogative of the cultural heritage). Due to culture, up-to-date information constantly circulates in society, transferring experience and knowledge. Culture forms the conditions and means of human communication. In principle, any artifact conveys information. But in culture there are special means of communication - sign systems and, first of all, language. Culture is a field of human communication; it connects and unites people. The development of forms and methods of communication is the most important factor in the cultural history of mankind. In the course of history, the power and range of means of communication is growing: from primitive signal drums to satellite television. Writing was replaced by the mass media (MSK), radio and television. In the short term - the development of computer networks covering the whole world and making it possible to instantly contact any source of information. The development of a culture of communication promotes mutual understanding and empathy.
integrative function.
Thanks to communication and the presence of universal values, culture unites individuals, social groups, peoples and states. People develop a sense of belonging to the cultural community to which they belong. Preservation of cultural heritage, national traditions, historical memory creates a bond between generations. The unity of culture important condition fortresses of the state. The unifying role of technology, science and art is high.
With the course of history contacts of cultures grow, their interaction and interpenetration grows. The World Wide Web of the Internet weaves different cultures into one. The integrative function of culture is aimed not at erasing cultural differences, but at uniting people both within the same culture and beyond it, at realizing the unity of all mankind.
The adaptive function of culture.
The information and communication capabilities of culture allow it to ensure the adaptation of a person to the environment. But unlike animals, man simultaneously adapts the environment to himself, changes it in accordance with his needs. The biological unsuitability of a person turned into the ability to master any natural conditions, to create a variety of "protective" cultural layers (clothing, housing, weapons, etc.). Different peoples living in different conditions have historically fixed ways of adapting to the natural environment in their culture. They constitute a rational justification for many national traditions (for example, in methods of treatment, housing construction, etc.), a lot of things, means and ways are invented to ensure safety and comfort, to fill life with pleasure and entertainment. Life expectancy and population growth are increasing.
To survive, humanity must improve its own nature, its spiritual essence, reducing its dependence on the forces of nature.
function of socialization.
Socialization is understood as the inclusion of individuals in public life, their assimilation of social experience, knowledge, values, norms of behavior corresponding to a given society, social group, social role.
The process of socialization allows the individual to become a full member of society. This process is also useful for society, for the preservation of the forms of life that have developed in it. Culture determines the content, means and methods of socialization. Socialization begins in childhood. A huge role is played by the family, the example of parents, peers, teachers, etc. In later life, an important role is played by: school, other educational institutions, the media, labor collectives, informal groups. Self-education is also important. .
Socialization has an originality in various historical and national cultural contexts (Russian, American, Indian, etc.). Not only forms of activity depend on this context, but also forms of recreation, entertainment, mental relaxation (recreative and compensatory functions of culture): holidays, games, sports, mass art, various "hobbies". All these forms are regulated by cultural norms and have a ritual character.
In addition to those mentioned, other functions of culture of a more particular nature are noted in the literature: ensuring the integrity of the social system, ensuring the transition from one social system to another, resolving contradictions between society and nature, harmonizing relations between them, continuity of generations, the function of self-expression, self-affirmation and self-development of the individual and etc.
