THE NATURE OF CULTURE An analogy with electronic computers is one way to introduce the concept of culture. In order to make computer do what they should do we must program them first. Likewise,we are programmed by our culture to do what we do and to be what we are. In other words,culture is the software of the human mind that provides an operating environment for human behaviors.Although individual behavior may be varied,all members within the same operating environment share important characteristics of the culture.Unlike computers,of courses,persons may reach idiosyncratic conclusions and carry out irrational and unexpected actions.In not every action is cultural "programming"evident.In this section we discuss the definition of culture,functions of culture,and characteristics of culture. Culture Defined The word culture has numerous meanings.An early definition was provided by E.B. Tylor(1967),who treated culture as a complex whole of our social traditions and as prerequisite for us to be a member of the society.Culture can be a set of fundamental ideas,practices,and experiences of a group of people that are symbolically transmitted generation to generation through a learning procession.Culture may as well refer to beliefs,norms,and attitudes that are used to guide our behaviors and to solve human problems.Moreover,we can look at culture from an interpretative and performance perspective by viewing it as a system of expressive practices and mutual meanings associated with our behaviors.Our concern in this chapter is to present a particular definition of culture to explain the close relationship between culture and communications.Thus,we define culture as "a negotiated set of share symbolic systems that guide individuals'behaviors and incline them to function as a group." Function of Culture As the software of human mind,culture,in addition to allowing our participation in a special group,serves two functions.First,culture provides a context in which three aspects of human society are embedded:linguistic,physical,and psychological (Borden,1991).Language allows us to communicate with people who have similar value and belief systems.Physical aspects supply an environment of activities and permit what we do within the culture.Finally,the psychological aspect is related to our mental activation,including what we believe and what we have learned. Second,culture functions to provide structure,stability,and security that are used by the group and members to maintain themselves as a healthy system.For some persons,"structure and stability"may indicate subordinate status.For others,such stability is welcome.For example,according to traditional Chinese customs,the marriage of young people had to be arranged by their parents.A matchmaker was used to introduce the two parties.If the parents of the male were interested in seeing the lady,the matchmaker would plan an arranged meeting for both sides to meet and observe each other.If the male family was pleased with the lady,the matchmaker would be sent to the female family to formally propose a marriage.A payment madeTHE NATURE OF CULTURE An analogy with electronic computers is one way to introduce the concept of culture. In order to make computer do what they should do we must program them first. Likewise, we are programmed by our culture to do what we do and to be what we are. In other words, culture is the software of the human mind that provides an operating environment for human behaviors. Although individual behavior may be varied, all members within the same operating environment share important characteristics of the culture. Unlike computers, of courses, persons may reach idiosyncratic conclusions and carry out irrational and unexpected actions. In not every action is cultural “programming” evident. In this section we discuss the definition of culture, functions of culture, and characteristics of culture. Culture Defined The word culture has numerous meanings. An early definition was provided by E.B. Tylor (1967), who treated culture as a complex whole of our social traditions and as prerequisite for us to be a member of the society. Culture can be a set of fundamental ideas, practices, and experiences of a group of people that are symbolically transmitted generation to generation through a learning procession. Culture may as well refer to beliefs, norms, and attitudes that are used to guide our behaviors and to solve human problems. Moreover, we can look at culture from an interpretative and performance perspective by viewing it as a system of expressive practices and mutual meanings associated with our behaviors. Our concern in this chapter is to present a particular definition of culture to explain the close relationship between culture and communications. Thus, we define culture as “a negotiated set of share symbolic systems that guide individuals’ behaviors and incline them to function as a group.” Function of Culture As the software of human mind, culture, in addition to allowing our participation in a special group, serves two functions. First, culture provides a context in which three aspects of human society are embedded: linguistic, physical, and psychological (Borden, 1991). Language allows us to communicate with people who have similar value and belief systems. Physical aspects supply an environment of activities and permit what we do within the culture. Finally, the psychological aspect is related to our mental activation, including what we believe and what we have learned. Second, culture functions to provide structure, stability, and security that are used by the group and members to maintain themselves as a healthy system. For some persons, “structure and stability” may indicate subordinate status. For others, such stability is welcome. For example, according to traditional Chinese customs, the marriage of young people had to be arranged by their parents. A matchmaker was used to introduce the two parties. If the parents of the male were interested in seeing the lady, the matchmaker would plan an arranged meeting for both sides to meet and observe each other. If the male family was pleased with the lady, the matchmaker would be sent to the female family to formally propose a marriage. A payment made