The cultural aspect is very important in the life of modern society because globalization reached a level when no one can stay aside from the problems of the whole of humankind. Different cultures presuppose different distinctive features that form particular attitudes towards the representatives of different cultures. Thus, “Cultural diversity, or multiculturalism, is based on the idea that cultural identities should not be discarded or ignored, but rather maintained and valued. The foundation of this belief is that every culture and race has made a substantial contribution to American history” (“What is Cultural Diversity?”, 2009). Thereby we are to learn how to avoid stereotyped thinking and to be aware of some peculiarities of different cultures from the point of view of diverse matters, aspects, and ideas.
Intercultural communication is a vague aspect as it is represented by intercultural relations. Today we are members of modern society; we are energetic, optimistic, and full of new ideas, though we cannot move forward with our goals without being aware of our culture. We have to learn not only the culture of our country, but also the cultures of other different countries, interrelations of these cultures, and diversity of aspects which have an influence on the recognition and perception of the country’s culture.
A great number of different cultures and people representing those cultures are the inhabitants of one planet; therefore, it is necessary to find the balance between the distinctive features of the cultures and stereotyped mode of thinking, as “Every culture distinguishes itself from others by the specific ways it prefers to solve certain problems, such as those that arise from relationships with other people, from the passage of time, and in dealing with the external environment” (Ngomsi, 2009). Thus there are similarities and diversities within different cultures.
The model of critical thinking presupposes that “that there are predictable stages through which every person who develops as a critical thinker passes, that passage from one stage to the next is dependent upon a necessary level of commitment on the part of an individual to develop as a critical thinker, is not automatic, and is unlikely to take place ‘subconsciously’, that success in instruction is deeply connected to the intellectual quality of student learning, and that regression is possible in development” (Elder, 2009).
Socio-centric thinking presupposes that the thinking is aimed at reaching the goals of the whole group instead of one person. The only difference between egocentrism and sociocentrism is that the latter is the feature of group thinking. Cultural diversity describes the structure of the society and interrelations between its members: “Diversity is the similarities, as well as the differences, among and between individuals at all levels of the organization, and in society at large” (Ngomsi, 2009).
The representatives of the socio-centric thinking maybe the member of one team at work. As the socio-centric way of thinking presupposes the achieving of some results for the whole group of individuals. The goals of the group are aimed at the results for the whole group. Thus, as I have already mentioned, the first example can be represented by the members of the team who work together. The next example can be described from the point of view of different meetings: a conference, a consortium, a religious meeting, an assembly, a session, a convention, and other kinds of the gathering of a great number of people in order to reach some results for the whole group. And, I believe, the last example can be represented by the group of students who came to the lecture; the common purpose for all of them is to get to know some new information from their professor. Thus every group of people can represent an example of socio-centric thinking.
Mass media sources are an integral part of every culture as they can be expressed in many ways. And the media is one of the aspects that influence our thinking. In what way, would you ask? The mass media make socio-centric thinking function in one way; it becomes the “vehicles of large-scale social communication” (Paul, 2002).
Here the only right way – that can be chosen in order not to become the victim of influence and the person with biased thinking – is to learn how to recognize the information without attitudinal coloring. The result of the media influence can be seen all over the world when the people of different countries are sure about the superiority of their country.
Thus some events and facts that take place in the history of the world can be interpreted from different points of view, whereas these opinions do not always tend to develop the information in an unbiased way without attitudinal coloring.
There are a great number of examples of socio-centric thinking in our world and in our society. Everyone has a right to choose their way of thinking. People do not always tend to get pure information. The members of every culture experience interrelations with members of other societies. The mass media influence socio-centric thinking. Thus every person has to decide whether to ‘eat’ the information which is served for dinner without any sauces, to make it clean of different spices, or to change the strong taste of spice into logical critical thinking in order to get to know only facts without bias and stereotypes.
Works Cited
Elder, Linda, and Richard Paul. (2009). Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory.
Ngomsi, Emmanuel. (2009). Culture and Diversity. Web.
Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. (2002). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life. New Jersey: FT Press.
What is Cultural Diversity? (2009). American Multicultural Publications. Web.