Eyes only see. What we see is nothing without the meanings we put behind them.
Our thoughts might even matter more than what we see. From the moment we open our eyes the world, we start analyzing our surroundings. We learn what means what. We learn what will happen after what. We unconsciously learn the good and the bad, the right and the wrong by watching others. We put meanings on every thing we see. Blinks are flirtatious, swastika is evil, sun is hot.
At this point what we se around us becomes important. We get used to to some things, and become strangers to many. Russian can be used to the snow, but A Colombian might not. Big cities can be used to many unique styles but small cities are much less likely. Asians people can be used to straight hair but Arabicas are most likely not.Examples can go on and on. There are many different cultures out there with different norms and traditions. Our culture spoused to shape how we see the world. It is like a guide book from our ancestors telling the things that they have already learned, the art that they have already improved, foods the know know how to make deliciously. Cultures are like complicated survival guides.
What happens when something is not in this guide? What happens when we don’t know how to handle something, what to think about it? We get surprised when we see something that we are not used to and we have to figure out how to act towards it. For example; people from different classes, sexes, races.; are not different at all when they grow up with each other, but if they have never been with each other it becomes possible to name one another. Emphasizing becomes complicated. To put each other in the subject position becomes an easier than learning all over again. Airports are great on this topic. There people all over the world from different cultures judging each other. When I was about 5 years old, I saw a African man for the first time in the airport. I had no idea, so I asked my dad why is that man covered with chocolate?… Later on when I was in airports with my bearded brother with dark skin. I figured how people were acting towards him, like if he was a terrorist however for a Turkish person beard and dark skin was totally normal while a african man was as strange as someone covered in chocolate.
To conclude, Culture shapes the way we see things and how we are seen. In fact it is the biggest factor!
