1. What is culture? How does it affect the way we think?
In the text, the word "Culture" has two different meanings as given by Kluckhohn. First, he defines it from an anthropologist's point of view. Culture means customs - how things are done. Culture is the total life way of people, the social legacy the individual acquires from his group. Culture can be regarded as that part of the environment that is the creation of man.
Second, culture means knowledge, particularly about literature, philosophy, history and fine arts (music, drama). A person who knows about these things is considered to be a "cultured" person. Some small section of people even regard culture as the knowledge about James Joyce, Scarlatti and Picasso.
2. How are human beings alike at bottom?
Culture plays an important role in almost every event. Each specific culture constitutes a kind of blue print for all of life's activities. Kluckhohn says that people are different not by instincts not by god, not by fate, not by weather but by culture. According to anthropologist, culture is the man made part of the environment. It is the total life way of the people. It is the social legacy which the individual acquires forms his group.
At Yale University, the files of the cross cultural survey are organized according to categories such as "marriage ceremonies", "life crisis rites", "incest taboos". At least seventy-five of these categories are represented in every single one of the hundreds of cultures analyzed. In spite of differences in behaviour that are the result of culture, there are also many similarities. Some similarities shared in common by people are: biological features, marriage taboos, some personal experiences-like illness, helplessness, or old age. The fact that certain stage or event in life are recognized as importance by all societies and are accompanied by rituals e.g. marriage, death. However, there are certain things that are impossible for any human to do. In this way, human beings alike at the bottom.