Thread:Culture is understood by living it. (1)

Culture is central to human consciousness and hence it is necessary to become conscious of what it is from the centre of consciousness. In other words, culture is essential to experience culture. It means that no aspect of culture can be experienced as an outsider. Precisely for this reason it is better to get into the living atmosphere of the culture of a given nation and feel it at heart, touch it with receptivity, listen to its sounds with a child's curiosity, see its colours with joy and for all these life-activities no language is required.

It is like learning swimming for which entering the water is a must. So too culture demands elimination of the sense of insecurity, distance, unfamiliarity, judgment and complexes. Stepping out of "I" and stretching into "WE" is crucial to true experience of culture. This is achieved through the process of identification with every gesture, movement, manner, tone, look, emphasis, accent and all these are taken care of by receptivity and attitude. Nothing mechanical and/or intellectual about it. Hence it is rightly said that culture is not taught, it is caught. Academically literate need not be culturally literate as it is often evident among the most civilized human beings. Academic literacy does not assure cultural refinement. Enlightened self-conscience is the hall mark of cultural refinement. This comes by living amidst the enlightened ones in the school of life. To attempt creating an academic curriculum for culture is therefore as naive and stupid as making clay out of pot. How to go about, then?

Is there a wiki way out? I believe that there is. 

--GCresearcher 19:00, 7 May 2008 (UTC)