CULTUROCENTRISM
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 781 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
The mental attitude and worldview that tends to interprete facts or issues from the sole- and generally narrow- viewpoint of the values and norms of one's own culture .
Culturocentrism restricts very seriously (and at times, blocks) our understanding of “aliens”(the “barbaroi ” of the old Greeks, a word whose present meaning reflects our obvious own culturocentrism)
Such attitude derives easily into deep misunderstandings, mistrust, hostility, intolerance, fanaticism and even criminal behavior . As we receive kind of an imprinting from our own culture, it is very difficult, however, to escape from culturocentrism.
This kind of bias seems also to exist in our understanding of historical cultures: a contemporary man or woman has probably a quite fanciful view of Middle Age life for instance.
One of the most useful goals of science in general and systemics in particular could be the construction of a world-widely accepted consensual understanding of some general concepts and models, to which cybernetics and systemics could make a valuable contribution.
See also
Anthropocentrism