2/4/20; Week 5:Cultural Paradigms

Different Paradigms

Brother Ivers said in his lecture about cultural paradigms, "Two different people from two different cultures can witness the very same event and their supercomputers that are their brains... are going to run those actions by and they are going to match them up with different paradigms with different interpretations."   

By that statement, a paradigm can be defined as the lens through which we see the world, or define aspects of our living. Everyone has various paradigms according to their culture and the values and norms they were raised on.  

I visit a sunny beach in California, and I see men and women laying out exposed on the sand. From head to toe they're as bare as they can legally be, bikinis and swim trunks, to have the sun kiss every inch of their skin. I visit a sunny beach in Korea, and I see umbrella's up every which way, women clad in long sleeves, sunglasses, and hats, squirting thick bursts of sunscreen onto the few patches of skin they'll let the sun glimpse. Why are they so different? California girls want to have (in the words of Katy Perry) 'sun kissed skin so hot they melt your popsicle.' Korean's want to be 'paler than the moon.' Their ideas (or paradigms) of what perfect, beautiful skin looks like has a stark contrast.
In the picture above, both women have very different paradigms of what freedom and equality looks like.  And in the Ted talk from Delali Bright, her country also has a very different paradigm than America does of the 'perfect' size of a women. American women always want to be lighter, while in West Africa where Delali is from, they want to be heavier. How can it be they're so different? 

All those examples really put things into perspective. They show us plainly how, "Culture creates false needs and false problems," as Brother Ivers said. To a Korean, it's a problem to be too browned, but a success to the average American, therefore it's a false problem because it's not permanent.  

The knowledge of cultural paradigms can be incredibly useful in the classroom. By acknowledging the differences between the way our diverse students may view things based on where they're from can be immensely valuable. One student might see their speaking out in class as rude and inappropriate, and we get frustrated because we want them to speak out. This is why it's important to get to know our student individually and their cultures so we can teach in the best way for them.  

I've also found that the knowledge of cultural paradigms in my own life can be useful as well. Delali Bright in her talk mentioned how we shouldn't let our cultures, or others around us define our self-image. Why? Because they're temporary and meaningless definitions of who we are. Who knows when the next culture change will come along and our ideas of beauty, success, equality, freedom will change? We don't. This is why it hits me how much I'm grateful for the gospel and the permanence it gives to our self- identity. The scriptures and latter day Prophets give us laws and principles that are eternal and unchanging that guide us to real success and freedom. 

References: 
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Cultural clashes in defining beauty" by Delali Bright:  https://www.ted.com/talks/delali_bright_cultural_clashes_in_defining_beauty#t-241090 

Culture Paradigms Brother Ivers video: https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/html5/html5lib/v2.80/mwEmbedFrame.php/p/1157612/uiconf_id/43228871/entry_id/0_9w0czg1f?wid=_1157612&iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1539879321&entry_id=0_9w0czg1f