Boomer News

Is the World list of Cultures Complete?

So, here we are in the 21st century with no new cultures left to be discovered. It’s estimated there are 1,500 cultures in the world. Just what is a culture Kids? A simple definition  would be: “a particular society that came from a particular place”. Since we have not been able to discover any new groups of people on earth that have not already been discovered … we have to work with the cultures that now exist.

One would assume that each culture would be defined by it’s different behaviors and beliefs. In this century, where world cooperation will be needed to head off the consequences of the unsustainable issues, how will we get all the different behaviors and beliefs to work together? How do we get rid of the angst  & anger between cultures?

Is there any culture that stands out above the rest? I just started to think about this blog subject several days ago, when David Brooks  of the NY Times in Tel Aviv news pops up with a column about a culture that sets benchmarks for all the rest of us to achieve. Jews make up 0.2 % of world population; Yet 54% are world chess champs, 27% noble physics laureates & 31% medicine laureates. In the US 21% Ivy league student bodies, 26% Kennedy Center honors, 37%  Academy Award directors, 38% of leading philanthrolists, 51% of the Pulitzer Prize winners.

This is going to take more than one blog kids, so give some thought to how one small culture could have accomplished so many achievements that is not in proportion to their size. Grandpa’s initial thought is that since the genesis of the written word, they have been continually living through hard times and being forced to assimilate into other cultures. All these challenges stimulate the creative juices that require education as the fuel.    

 So here we are. So where do we go from here? Next blog.