Culture shifts

We have already established that culture is a result of persistent cultivation of the soul i.e. mind will, emotions and intellect. But how does one go about this cultivation of the soul? Again I do not have all the answers but here are a few tools that human civilization have used i.e. the use of hard and soft power. But lets slow down a bit.

In every farming activity, there is the need for three basic ingredients:

1. soil,

2. farming implements and

3. seeds to be sown

We have already established that the soul (i.e. the mind, will, emotions and intellect) is the soil to be cultivated.

The seeds to be sown is knowledge. It could be ideas, facts, thoughts or simply values.

That leaves us with the second component—the farming implements to begin the cultura anima. There are many farming implements for the cultivation of the soul but this post will focus on two.

the media
codes of ethics & conduct

MEDIA

The MEDIA includes both print and electronic media. Souls can be farmed or cultivated through what is shown and patronized on television, what is heard on radio, what is read via print or electronic media or what we keep hearing authority figures saying to us repeatedly. This is more soft power-ish. It is not necessarily a forceful regulatory tool for forming behavior.

CODES OF ETHICS & CONDUCT

Another tool that has been used to shape behavior in organizations is is the CODE OF ETHICS or the CODE OF CONDUCT. A national constitution of basic law of the land falls loosely under this category. This is more hard-power-ish because refusing to adhere to the CODE has punitive repercussions. Inbuilt in such a system are usually mechanisms to punish departure from compliance.

These tools aim to cultivate new mindsets that will hopefully lead to the formation of new cultural paradigms in the work place, family or nation.