I want to take a quick look at how material culture, that is, the things or objects we value and use, tools, technology, etc., affects the non- material culture, our customs, behavior, beliefs, attitudes, and so on. Now, of course, it works both ways: if you were, say, eighteen years old when mobile phones became widespread or when almost every home had a computer, you must have noticed a fairly significant change in people’s attitudes and behavior, including your own. These two technological innovations were readily accepted and considered very much a positive contribution to culture.
On the other hand, there is the way in which our attitudes and beliefs have an effect on the material culture. Take, for example, genetic science.
While many, if not most, people welcome the advances made in this field - from the discovery of DNA to the genome project and cracking the genetic code, with its promise of finding cures for diseases that have plagued mankind throughout history - many, too, object to the idea of cloning. This is not just because they fear, without reason, that it will mean creating a race of identical people if it gets into the wrong hands, but simply because it is, in their opinion, unnatural. It goes against everything they believe in. Similarly, there are many who object to genetically modified food, even when they are told it might be the only way to feed a rapidly growing global population.