Nearly 20% of the cultural differences between societies boil down to ecological factors – new research

<https://theconversation.com/nearly-20-of-the-cultural-differences-between-societies-boil-down-to-ecological-factors-new-research-206981>

"In some parts of the world, the rules are strict; in others they are far more
lax. In some places, people are likely to plan for the future, while in others
people are more likely to live in the moment. In some societies people prefer
more personal space; in others they are comfortable being in close quarters
with strangers.

Why do these kinds of differences exist?

There are a number of theories about where cultural differences come from. Some
social scientists point to the role of specific institutions, like the Catholic
Church. Others focus on historical differences in philosophical traditions
across societies, or on the kinds of crops that were historically grown in
different regions.

But there’s another possible answer. In a growing number of cases, researchers
have found that human culture can be shaped by key features of the environments
in which people live.

Just how strong is this ecology-culture connection overall? In a new study, our
lab, the Culture and Ecology Lab at Arizona State University, set out to answer
this question."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics