Adaptive function. Give an example of the adaptive function of culture, historical continuity, the value function of culture, the normative function of culture, the communicative function of culture

The information and communication capabilities of culture allow it to ensure a person’s adaptation to environment. But unlike animals, man simultaneously adapts the environment to himself and changes it in accordance with his needs. Human biological inability turned into the ability to master any natural conditions, create a variety of “protective” cultural layers (clothing, housing, weapons, etc.). U different nations living in different conditions, methods of adaptation to natural environment. They form the rational basis for many national traditions(for example, in methods of treatment, housing construction, etc.), a lot of things, means and ways are invented to ensure safety and comfort, to fill life with pleasures and entertainment. Life expectancy and population growth are increasing.

To survive, humanity must improve its own nature, its spiritual essence, reducing its dependence on the forces of nature.

Socialization function.

Socialization refers to the inclusion of individuals in social life, their assimilation of social experience, knowledge, values, norms of behavior appropriate to a given society, social group, social role.

The process of socialization allows an individual to become a full-fledged member of society. This process is also useful for society and the preservation of the forms of life that have developed in it. Culture determines the content, means and methods of socialization. Socialization begins in childhood. Family also plays a huge role here, the example of parents, peers, teachers, etc. later life important role played by: school, others educational establishments, facilities mass media, labor collectives, informal groups. Self-education is also important .

Socialization has its own uniqueness in various historical and national cultural contexts (Russian, American, Indian, etc.). Not only forms of activity depend on this context, but also forms of recreation, entertainment, mental relaxation (recreational and compensatory functions of culture): holidays, games, sports, mass art, various “hobbies”. All these forms are regulated by cultural norms and have a ritual character.

In addition to those mentioned, the literature also notes other functions of culture of a more private nature: ensuring the integrity of the social system, ensuring the transition from one social system to another, resolving contradictions between society and nature, harmonizing relations between them, continuity of generations, the function of self-expression, self-affirmation and self-development of the individual and etc.

Dysfunctions of culture.

The dysfunctions of culture are its negative impacts on nature, society and people. The actual functioning of culture not only provides a solution to a particular problem, but also generates many side effects that were not foreseen, and often could not be foreseen, by the creators of culture. These effects can be harmful.

The growth and dissemination of objective knowledge often results in the spread of misconceptions and the displacement of extra-scientific layers public consciousness. Every culture has not only values ​​and ideals, but also anti-values ​​and anti-ideals. “Normative insufficiency” can lead to an increase in crime and a decline in morality. However, “normative redundancy” in turn limits freedom, initiative and creative activity. As a result, the pace of development of society slows down and stagnation sets in. Communication in the media is one-sided, contributing to feelings of loneliness. One of the paradoxes modern culture is that the mass of contacts at the same time implies a lack of communication. The integrative function of culture also has controversial nature: cultural differences sometimes they make it difficult for people to communicate and interfere with their mutual understanding. “We” and “them,” “us” and “strangers” are the realities of life; they give rise to hostility and often military clashes. Modern civilization is undertaking great effort for the socialization of young people, but often does this at the expense of older people, whose socialization is not given due attention. Failures of socialization, deviation from socially approved forms of life (deviant behavior), and the existence of negative cultural patterns also have their roots in culture.

Quite often, what is functional in relation to the needs and goals of some social groups people will be dysfunctional for others. For example, rock music is functional in relation to the needs of modern youth and dysfunctional in relation to the older generation, brought up on other models musical culture. Television advertising is functional in relation to the interests of commercial circles and dysfunctional in relation to the majority of television viewers, whose consciousness it manipulates, etc.

Dysfunctions of culture cannot be avoided; J. J. Rousseau was wrong in believing that the process of culture should be suspended. Cultural development is irresistible and it is just as impossible to avoid it as it is to avoid cultural dysfunctions.

Each person, like each generation, comes into the world at a certain level of cultural development. To live in this world, a person needs all the cultural gains achieved by society. They adapt a person to the world, adapt him to reality, helping him to carry out his life activities. Culture offers everyone a system of actions that connects with the surrounding reality, ways and means of solving the problems that confront them. Society as a whole, in the face of any cataclysms (ecological crisis, destructive war, epidemic, etc.) draws strength, methods and forms of its revival and further development from culture. For example, at the beginning of the Middle Ages - in the V-VI centuries, which are called “dark” - the destructive power of barbarian tribes destroyed almost all the achievements of the ancient world, cities lay in ruins, many crafts were lost, and what the barbarians did not have time to do was completed epidemics. Europe returned to the wooden plow and others primitive tools labor, wooden construction resumed again. But the cultural memory of humanity has made it possible to restore, develop and improve life European peoples. Already during the reign Charlemagne(742-814), who did not disdain to learn to read and write at the age of 40 and gathered many Eastern scientists and artists at his court, managed to revive many of the achievements of European culture.

2. Cognitive function

Every thing created by people represents objectified knowledge. In order to correctly use a thing, you must first disseminate this knowledge and make it your own (master). Thus, any human activity becomes a source of knowledge. In addition, in society there are forms of preserving knowledge; morality preserves knowledge about human relations; art and religion attempt - each in its own form - to provide systematic knowledge about the world; and, finally, science examines the essential aspects and connections of the world. Culture allows one to successfully master these forms of knowledge in any field of activity.

3. Communication function

Usually the term communication(lat. communicatio<communico“I make it common, I connect, I communicate”) is understood as communication. The fact is that communication “involves direct contact of one person with another,” “an element of personal relationships, a live exchange of something (for example, information, activities).” This form of relations in society is a special case of communication. But there are other levels of such relationships - communication between generations, peoples, eras in time and space. It is culture that makes such communication possible and productive. Culture retains forms and methods of communication and transmission of information, offers certain traditions, accumulated experience, standards, ideals, and more. We can say that culture is communicative in contrast to lack of culture, for which interaction with the world is expressed in a destructive or hostile form, in one conflict or another, and is therefore impossible or difficult.

Each person, like each generation, comes into the world at a certain level of cultural development. To live in this world, a person needs all the cultural gains achieved by society. They adapt a person to the world, adapt him to reality, helping him to carry out his life activities. Culture offers everyone a system of actions that connects them with the surrounding reality, ways and means of solving the problems they face. Society as a whole, in the face of any cataclysms (ecological crisis, destructive war, epidemic, etc.) draws strength, methods and forms of its revival and further development from culture. For example, at the beginning of the Middle Ages - in the V-VI centuries, which are called “dark” - the destructive power of barbarian tribes destroyed almost all the achievements of the ancient world, cities lay in ruins, many crafts were lost, and what the barbarians did not have time to do was completed epidemics. Europe returned to the wooden plow and other primitive tools, and wooden construction resumed again. But the cultural memory of humanity has made it possible to restore, develop and improve the lives of European peoples. Already during the reign Charlemagne(742-814), who did not disdain to learn to read and write at the age of 40 and gathered many Eastern scientists and artists at his court, managed to revive many of the achievements of European culture.

2. Cognitive function

Every thing created by people represents objectified knowledge. In order to use a thing correctly, you must first disseminate this knowledge and make it your own (master it). Thus, any human activity becomes a source of knowledge. In addition, in society there are forms of preserving knowledge: morality preserves knowledge about human relations; art and religion attempt - each in its own form - to provide systematic knowledge about the world; and, finally, science examines the essential aspects and connections of the world. Culture allows one to successfully master these forms of knowledge in any field of activity.

3. Communication function

Usually the term communication(lat. communicatio<communico“I make it common, I connect, I communicate”) is understood as communication. The fact is that communication “involves direct contact of one person with another,” “an element of personal relationships, a live exchange of something (for example, information, activities).” This form of relations in society is a special case of communication. But there are other levels of such relationships - communication between generations, peoples, eras in time and space. It is culture that makes such communication possible and productive. Culture retains forms and methods of communication and transmission of information, offers certain traditions, accumulated experience, standards, ideals, and more. We can say that culture is communicative in contrast to lack of culture, for which interaction with the world is expressed in a destructive or hostile form, in one conflict or another, and is therefore impossible or difficult.

4. Regulatory function

Culture carries within itself standards developed by humanity and relating to all spheres of human existence in the world. The implementation of the communicative function involves the development of existing standards before the creation of new ones begins. There are traditional cultures in which the inertia of the norms of past generations prevails over modernity. This is the culture of China, which has preserved and practically legitimized the traditions of antiquity. There are cultures in which there is an exchange of standards and traditions of the past between generations, cultures in which there is no pressure of the past on the present. And, finally, those in which the latest standards and traditions sweep away past values, such as American culture. But whatever the type of culture, all aspects of society’s life are regulated by its norms.

5. Humanistic function

The main object and subject of any culture is man. Culture does not exist outside of man, just as man does not exist outside of culture. Being torn out from the cultural environment, a person degrades. Genuine culture elevates a person, makes him a highly moral being, a personality. We can say that the true goal of real culture is man himself.

Each society can offer only two types of organization of relations between people: individualization and socialization. In conditions individualization there is a high interest in each individual person, society has a need to have as many unique, original people as possible who actively contribute to social progress. Therefore: every person is a goal, society is a means. An example of individualization can be the Renaissance, when society simply needed a person who initiated all sorts of undertakings and had a creative attitude towards any matter. The history of this time shows that it was precisely such people who ensured rapid technical, scientific and artistic progress. However, individualization, for all its positive aspects, carries with it social egoism, confrontation between different individuals and social groups, which is why the Renaissance, in addition to the rise of talent in society, was also fraught with the most irreconcilable conflicts. (Remember that the Renaissance is rich not only in artists and scientists, but also in equally powerful villains. These are the real Medici and Macbeth created by the genius of Shakespeare).

Socialization presupposes the orderliness of human relations, normativity. Here the main place and main role is given to society. The individual always occupies a subordinate position. Here she is only a means, and society is the goal. Therefore, socialization creates a kingdom of standard, individuality falls into the clutches of obligatory forms of activity, initiative is not very approved, and is often punished. The presence of any dominant idea requires unconditional submission, dissent is expelled. But no matter how reactionary such principles of society may seem, they can also lead a society to prosperity, especially at the initial stage of its existence. An example of such a social organization in the past of mankind is the Roman Empire.

Adaptive function of consciousness

"There are many meanings of the concept of "adaptation", most widely it is used in the sense of the adaptive consequences of evolutionary processes. But the consequences of evolutionary processes are not necessarily adaptive, just as the adaptive functions of an organism are not necessarily the consequences of selective evolutionary processes. Benefit and universality, taken separately , do not prove evolutionary selection. Moreover, the evolution of complex functions is typically the result of the evolution of a large set of functions and structures. Consciousness is probably one of these complex functions. Our further presentation does not affect the evolution of behavior, it concerns only those aspects of consciousness that are likely better adapt us to the world in which we live,” write psychologists J. Mandler and U. Kessen.

The most general function of consciousness is its role in the selection and selection of a system of actions. This function allows the body to adequately respond to actions that change the likelihood of a particular series of actions occurring. This function also allows you to comprehend possible actions that the body has never performed before, preventing the actual implementation of actions that may be harmful to the body. Consciousness provides the ability to change long-term plans and immediate alternative actions. In the hierarchy of plans and actions, this makes it possible to organize systems of actions oriented to a higher plan.

Consciousness communicates with long-term memory, although the mechanisms of communication remain unconscious. The impetus for retrieving information from long-term memory is often quite simple commands: “What’s his name? ", "Where did I read about this? ". The commands can be more complex: "What is the connection between this situation and the previous one that I encountered? ". Quick access to stored information is an example of the adaptive use of consciousness.

The consciousness represents the current state of the world, as well as thoughts and actions, and all this is recorded in memory for later use. Many researchers have assumed that such encoding of current experience always takes place in the mind. Memorizing experience for its future actualization obviously requires the work of the structures of consciousness. In social processes, problem solving practices are stored in memory, together with an adequate group. All this requires the selection and comparison of alternatives stored in long-term memory. Cultural communication systems such as natural language benefit cooperative social efforts. members of society learn about problem-solving practices, avoid unsuccessful actions and, in the most general sense, benefit from cultural heritage. The transmission from the structures of consciousness to verbal communication is in fact extremely productive. Cultural knowledge is conveyed by shared instructions and inferences, making it socially accessible. The interactions described here demonstrate the complex relationship between language and consciousness.

Only the products of cognitive and mental activity are available to consciousness. But many systems generated by conscious processes cease to be conscious over time and become automatic. Such systems, obviously, can again be comprehended by consciousness, especially when defects are discovered in them. Each of us has happened to be mechanically driving a car or having a conversation at a party and suddenly consciously plunging into the situation, faced with a brake malfunction or hearing addressed to us: “You are not listening to me.” The adaptive advantage to act automatically when things are going as usual, and the ability to act deliberately otherwise, are also conditioned by consciousness.

These are the adaptive functions of consciousness. The ethnopsychologist should take them into account, but his main task is to explore the adaptive functions of the unconscious as they operate in a collective, eliminating the idea of ​​a collective unconscious, and trying to find unconscious patterns of interaction.

Problems of psychological adaptation -

Mandler, G., Kessen, W. The Appearance of Free Will. In S. C. Brown (Ed.). Philosophy of Psychology. London: Macmillan, 1974, p. 35.

D.V. Olshansky. Adaptive sociology. In the book: Modern Western Sociology. Compiled by Yu.A. Davydov, M.S. Kovalev, A.F. Fillipov. M.: izshvo poliyu liters, 1990, pp. 70 73.

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