Culture's Four Survival Basics

Survival is the most fundamental aspect of any human culture, regardless of geographic location, technological advancement, or historical era. At its core, survival hinges on four primary necessities: air, shelter, water, and food. Understanding these necessities and how various cultures fulfill them can enhance cross-cultural communication and create more meaningful connections with people from different backgrounds.

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Culture's Four Survival Basics: Air

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Air is the first and most critical necessity. On average, a human can survive for only three minutes without breathing. While access to air is typically a given, its quality and purity can differ radically across cultures and environments.
For example, the Inuit people, living in Arctic regions, have developed specific architectural designs for igloos that ensure minimal air exchange with the freezing outside environment, maintaining both warmth and breathable air inside.

In contrast, urban areas of developed countries have highly sophisticated HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems in buildings. These systems often filter and regulate air quality, creating a controlled environment that ensures residents are not as exposed to external pollutants.

In less developed regions, like rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, residents often rely on natural ventilation in clay and thatch houses. These structures are designed to maximize airflow and keep interiors cool and well-ventilated, despite the often harsh external climates.

Culture's Four Survival Basics: Shelter

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Next in the hierarchy of necessities is shelter. Humans can only survive for about three hours without shelter in extreme conditions, such as blistering heat or freezing cold. Shelter provides protection and a sense of security.

The Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania traditionally build enkangs (villages) using indigenous materials like mud, sticks, grass, and cow dung. These materials are excellent insulators, keeping interiors cool in hot weather and warmer during cold nights.

Conversely, modern skyscrapers in dense, urban centers like New York City or Tokyo rely on advanced engineering and materials like steel and glass. The technology ensures that these towering giants can withstand extreme weather, earthquakes, and other potential hazards.

In the Amazon rainforest, the Yanomami tribe constructs yanos, large communal homes made from wood and thatch. These structures are elevated above ground to avoid floodwaters and provide a secure living space amidst the rainforest's biodiversity.

Culture's Four Survival Basics:Water

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Water is the third vital necessity, crucial for survival beyond just three days. The ways in which different cultures access and utilize water vary widely.
Nomadic tribes like the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula rely on wells and oases scattered throughout the desert. They have also mastered the art of collecting and conserving water through traditional knowledge passed down through generations.

Developed nations, such as the United States, have intricate piped water systems that deliver clean and potable water to homes and businesses. These systems often include treatment plants that ensure the purification of water before it reaches consumers.

The rice terraces of the Philippines and other irrigated agriculture systems used by indigenous people worldwide demonstrate an advanced understanding of water management. These terraces efficiently utilize water from rains and springs to cultivate food.

In some South American countries, communities use fog nets to capture water from moist air. These simple yet effective installations can provide water to communities, even in areas without reliable water sources.

Culture's Four Survival Basics: Food

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Food is the fourth and last of the primary survival necessities. Humans can survive up to three weeks without food, making it a vital resource for long-term well-being.

Indigenous Australian Aboriginals are experts in foraging and hunting, utilizing a deep understanding of their environment to gather a diverse array of foods, from bush tucker to small game.

In contrast, Japan has a highly developed food culture revolving around rice, seafood, and vegetables, often resulting in complex, nutritionally balanced meals.

Nomadic Mongolian herders, known for their traditional pastoralist lifestyle, rely heavily on livestock such as sheep, goats, and yaks. Their diet features milk, meat, and cheese, staples that are well-suited to their mobile, low-tech existence.

Additionally, in modern urban settings across the globe, supermarkets and local markets ensure accessibility to a variety of foods. These foods often reflect a global palate, meeting dietary needs through an intersection of local produce and imported goods.

Culture's Four Survival Basics:
Cultural Differences

Crossing into another culture is more than being a tourist. Every country that can handle tourists attempt to meet the tourists’ needs, as much as possible, in a way that closely resembles the tourist’s own culture. And communication is usually limited to the tourist’s culture during their vacation.

Cross-cultural communication can be significantly enhanced by understanding these diverse ways cultures meet their basic necessities. Recognizing the uniqueness of each culture's approach fosters respect and eases the building of friendships.

For instance, understanding that the Inuit use igloos not just as shelters but as intricately designed systems for managing air quality can make help avoid attempting to foist on them more advanced systems that won’t work in their environment.

Appreciating the Maasai enkang as an architectural marvel in maximizing natural resources can demonstrate a desire to learn from them, which builds trust between cultures.

The appreciation of Japanese dietary practices can lead to enriched discussions about health and balanced nutrition, bridging gaps between seemingly different food cultures.

Similarly, understanding how Bedouins manage scarce water resources can highlight the brilliance of traditional knowledge in contemporary settings, blending ancient wisdom with modern challenges.

Culture's Four Survival Basics:
Cross-Cultural Communications

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More important, eagerness to communicate properly and build friendships is amplified by incorporating these insights into conversations that acknowledge and value cultural differences in survival strategies. Being teachable and ready to learn about these four basic necessities of every culture, especially in the language of the people, opens the door to learn better communication skills. Learning the basic vocabulary of these four survival basics is easy, but gives huge dividends in building friendships.

People interested in assisting others in obtaining these necessities must also realize that solutions should be sensitive to cultural contexts. Imposing solutions without understanding underlying cultural practices will lead to resistance and a breakdown of cross-cultural communication.

The local government in an area of India discovered that the death toll had risen significantly in their district. They asked a Western medical team to investigate. The team discovered a deadly bug had been biting people and decimated the local population. The local government called in a team of anthropologists to exterminate the bugs. The local villagers attempted to kill the anthropologists! Why?

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Because of Karma.

The Hindu villagers believed that those bugs had previously existed as a higher form of life, maybe even humans, and that they had done lots of bad deeds, which resulted in being reincarnated downwards into bugs. The only way those bugs could reincarnate upwards was to perform their duty as bugs: bite people.

If the villagers allowed the anthropologists to kill the bugs, then the bugs would not be able to climb back up the chain of life. The villagers would receive bad karma for allowing the anthropologists to kill the bugs, and the villagers would reincarnate downwards, possibly even becoming bugs. (The next photo was supposed to be a bug, but after scanning dozens of photos of bugs (yuk!), I choose a northern Italian lake instead.)

"Insects in the Religions of India"

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Advanced technology is not always appreciated in other cultures. For example, introducing modern HVAC systems to a community that has traditionally relied on natural ventilation should be consider whether the people even want a “better” system of ventilation. Bringing advanced water purification technologies to a Bedouin community requires not just technological acumen but also an understanding of how such changes could affect the hierarchy within their culture. And it can have a negative effect on the culture. Some cultures actually prefer to endure hardships than to have their living conditions improved. Such situations require an excellent grasp of the language and the culture being given such amenities.

And when it comes to food, and fighting food scarcity, modern agriculture might disturb the traditional diets and food practices that maintain cultural integrity, regardless of the nutritional value.

Damage has been done by well-meaning foreigners wanting to improve the living conditions of another culture without asking how those changes will affect the personal relationships within that culture. Comfort is not the reigning goal of every culture in the world. We will learn that in these blogs.

Ultimately, survival is a comprehensive effort of intersecting points where cultures display their unique approaches and wisdom. From the Arctic cold to the Sahara's heat, from lush rain forests to densely packed urban jungles, humanity's quest for survival showcases diverse methods that we need to understand in order to practice effective cross-cultural communication.

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What's Next? Culture: What is Cross-Cultural Communications?

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