21 Definitions Of Culture

Cross-Cultural Twitter Interviews

Culture impacts the way we live. It shapes all aspects of our lives. And yet, we often forget we have a culture. It’s only when we are confronted with different cultures that we realize it exists. With all of the differences in our perceptions of what culture is, it’s not surprising there are many different definitions of culture.

What is culture exactly?  What is culture?

This is the first question I ask on the Cross-Cultural Twitter Interviews I regularly conduct with the people on my list: Cross-Culturall & International People On Twitter. The answers are short and limited to a tweet or two.

Here are some great definitions of culture taken from these Twitter interviews in answer to the question: “What is Culture?”

21 Definitions Of Culture

1. Culture is the sum of a given society’s common history and its ability to reflect on itself. - @matthewbennett
2. Culture is the HEARTWARE of the Soul and the SOFTWARE of the Mind - @deborahswallow
3. Culture is a country’s culture entails attitudes, beliefs & values. Those shape each generation & are influenced by a multitude of factor – @ohh_la_la
4. Culture is the lubricant of daily life. A set of shared values & attitudes in a social group. An inherent code of communication. – @HoeferleConsult
5. Culture is how we relate to each other with respect to our beliefs and values - @dkiernan
6. Culture is created when the soul is rooted in tradition, the heart is learning by paradigm & action is influenced by society - @transdomo
7. Culture is everything we don’t talk about that we “know” is right - @culturematters
8. Culture is the ground over which we build our individual and collective behaviors – @tdebaillon
9. Culture is a way of life. The shared beliefs, attitudes&values of a group that are passed on, often without thought – @DR4Ward
10. Culture is the tapestry of our world. It contains our main points of reference and ways of relating to other people. – @XCulture
11. Culture is the collective achievements and societal norms of humankind – @jackyan
12. Culture is the foundation of a society. Everything done, everything said is because of the culture…  Culture affects language and business, family… every level of a society. You must know the culture to succeed. – @CotterHUE
13. Culture is a collective of shared values, customs, and attitudes; beliefs expressed through action, artistic or otherwise – @DoreenatDMS
14. Culture is a lens which filters how we see the world – @pocketcultures
15. Culture is meaning making through shared values and patterns of behaviour – @psitutor
16. Culture is a set of human interactions & tangible creations, based on learned skills, knowledge, values and behaviors…shaped historically, geographically, economically, socially, and individually. – @culturalrealms
17. Culture is a belief, a practice within a community without which nation will cease to exist. – @mintblogger
18. Culture is “the sum of the intellectual achievements of individual men.” Ayn Rand – @lyceum
19. Culture is the cumulative set of learned values and behaviors humans acquire, both intentionally and unintentionally. – @SeanJamesOliver
20. Culture is a shared way of living defined by the arts, communication, values, beliefs and history – @DavidComp
21. Culture is shared, learned, invisible, dynamic, created, transmitted …I like the “software of the mind” idea when thinking about what culture is – @CateBrubaker

What Is Your Definition Of Culture?

What do you think about these definitions?

• Do you have a favorite?
• Do any stand out and resonate with you?
• Do you have another one to add?

There’s more space below that on Twitter, so let it rip.

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