Discussion 1

Cultural universals indicate that there are commonly shared traits between various forms of human culture even though these cultures have been developed under differing circumstances. The presence of universals is proof that there are biological similarities in human minds that force different human cultures to behave similar to each other when faced with a common issue. For example, the fear of snakes is pervasive throughout human cultures around the world. The basic similarities shared by human beings across cultures form simple cultural functions such as totemism or disregard for incest. However, the higher order cultural functions are differentiated in most instances between various human cultures. This indicates that basic human cultural behavior is similar across cultures but more complex human behavior across cultures is differentiated. Consequently, as human beings tend to live together in different societies around the world, there higher order behaviors tend to vary significantly from each other. The large difference between human cultures across the globe lends credence to the argument that human behavior is more impacted by culture than biology.
There are several examples from within our own cultures to support this contention. For example, my culture is similar to other cultures when it comes to obeying the law. People who do not obey the law are subject to punishment in order to enforce collective good. However, when the composition of these laws is considered along with what constitutes a crime, it becomes clear that these are differentiated from other cultures. This again serves to prove that lower order cultural functions are similar to each other while cultural complexes are differentiated from each other.