Culture Shock

I went to college at one of the most liberal liberal arts schools in the nation, in Caldwell, ID - and afterwards moved back to Washington State. Two months ago, I returned to Caldwell, but not the college - I am now living in Idaho with conservative room-mates.

There is definitely paralyzing culture shock when moving from one of the most liberal areas in the country to one of the most conservative with the intention of being part of that society. Luckily, my life started out rather conservative, but I am so glad for the liberal experience I had from middle-school through college.

I think a lot of people don't realize that there are different ways of thinking out there, whole societies that exist on different levels, and if you are part of that society, it is fairly impossible to even comprehend what another society is like.

It often goes beyond the realm of facts and into the realm of societal structure - which has fairly little to do with facts, but more to do with how things like energy and resources flow through the system, what perceptions people have of different objects, people, events, etc, what roles people play, what is considered successful, and what is held as valuable.

Just like a Democratic government gets its power from the population (if our government stops working this way, it is technically not a Democracy) the values a culture holds important get their power from the shared (and probably coerced or otherwise manipulated) vision of the members in the society.

At the moment, liberals value science and ethics based on cause-and-effect principles, and basic human dignity. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to value the freedom to pursue a vision or goal while disregarding others who they are not on familiar terms with.

There are a lot of differences between the two societies, enough that when I first moved to Idaho, I was constantly making "social mistakes" just because I was used to being from Washington.

The main point of this post is to show how crazy it is - I think that everyone should experience living in a different culture than they are used to at some point, fully immersed, to understand just how screwed up it is that there are complete societies out there with different perspectives on the world -

I mean, when everyone around you believes certain things, it has a way of making you think that this is reality, this is how everyone thinks - to surpass the limitations put on you by whatever society you are in, a great way to start is by going through culture shock.

that is the benefit of being well traveled, you get to see that what goes on in your little corner of the world is not all that is out there.

It can even be the little things, having recently made a big move myself I was surprised by the little difference people can exhibit. I wouldn't have put it as black and white as conservative vs liberal but i suppose thats as good example as any.

reply to post by benrl


Well there are definitely regional differences and it is totally surprising! I put mine in black and white terms because I swear Washington State and Idaho are the most opposite neighboring states in the union as far as culture goes, so I pretty much have to flip a lot of things on their head, it is a lot more culture shock than I would experience in a move from say Portland, OR to Vancouver, B.C. - both of which sound like my kind of places to live.

Originally posted by darkbake
reply to post by benrl

 

Well there are definitely regional differences and it is totally surprising! I put mine in black and white terms because I swear Washington State and Idaho are the most opposite neighboring states in the union as far as culture goes, so I pretty much have to flip a lot of things on their head, it is a lot more culture shock than I would experience in a move from say Portland, OR to Vancouver, B.C. - both of which sound like my kind of places to live.

edit on 24-2-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

Myself I moved from So Ca to Portland, which frankly is probably as big a switch as any, lol I didn't know people could be friendly to strangers until I moved... Talk about shocking "Why are you smiling at me, what do you want!?!?" and dont even get me started on the driving...

reply to post by benrl


Yeah, being friendly to strangers is definitely one aspect of culture that can vary from place to place (regardless of political or religious affiliation, I imagine) - I like Portland because it is a liberal area where people understand that altruistic concept, and I like those two traits a lot - where they overlap, it is the best.

Originally posted by darkbake

At the moment, liberals value science and ethics based on cause-and-effect principles, and basic human dignity. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to value the freedom to pursue a vision or goal while disregarding others who they are not on familiar terms with.

You aren't a liberal by any chance?

The big thing that living in another country with a very different culture teaches you (I'm not sure that moving from a Democrat part of the USA to a Republican part counts), is that it is almost impossible to objectively judge your own culture.

You have arguably demonstrated that above by appearing incapable of objectively assessing liberals.

People of all political persuasions think that they value science and ethics based on cause-and-effect principles, and basic human dignity.

Hello

I had about the same experience moving from up-state NY to Eugene Oregon. I call it Fake nice/Real mean.

People on the East coast are what I call "real mean." That's why NY'kers have a bad rep. They tell you how they feel whether you want to hear it or not. While the west coast has a lot of "Fake nice" people. I don't mean that all west coasters are fakes, I'm saying that they can be "Fake nice" like a Hollywood type. Smiling in your face, but then talking much smack when your not there.

I also noticed a difference in how people buy stuff. In NY it was quantity over quality. if we had $20 we got as
many cases of cheap beer we could, as one example. But in Oregon, If the party raises $20 they go buy 12
Guinnesses. (sp? plural of Guinness...) It's quality over quantity.

I know these are vague generalizations, people are people, and I really don't mean to offend anybody, this is just what I noticed after I made the move.

reply to post by darkbake


Unfortunately I have not been able to travel much to experience different mindsets (referring to broader terms here) yet websites like ATS gives me allot of perspective when it comes to forms of thinking. In fact I think it is values and morals that form the basis of collective thought but thinking in itself will always be unique. Plus minus seven billion realities floating about on planet earth and just as location can be a variable so can variables in itself be reasons for mindsets. Rationalization and reasoning are just as unique as the people whom project their identities to the outside world. Have you ever wondered if people in a group all act the same way but may think differently yet all share the fear of true expression of thought. I have also in many cases observed people bringing out certain attributes towards certain social groups and refrain those attributes in others. What boggles me even more is our ability to reflect on our thinking on a personal scale. Thinking about thinking if you will. Like a good friend always use to say " Without your consciousness the universe does not exist"

Good things

Cultural differences are more deep than people realise. For example many optical illusions work very differently between cultures. It is literaly true that people see the world in different ways. As much as some want to pretend that we are all the same with superficial differences, it does not hold up to scrutiny.

darkbake
I went to college at one of the most liberal liberal arts schools in the nation, in Caldwell, ID - and afterwards moved back to Washington State. Two months ago, I returned to Caldwell, but not the college - I am now living in Idaho with conservative room-mates.

There is definitely paralyzing culture shock when moving from one of the most liberal areas in the country to one of the most conservative with the intention of being part of that society. Luckily, my life started out rather conservative, but I am so glad for the liberal experience I had from middle-school through college.

I think a lot of people don't realize that there are different ways of thinking out there, whole societies that exist on different levels, and if you are part of that society, it is fairly impossible to even comprehend what another society is like.

It often goes beyond the realm of facts and into the realm of societal structure - which has fairly little to do with facts, but more to do with how things like energy and resources flow through the system, what perceptions people have of different objects, people, events, etc, what roles people play, what is considered successful, and what is held as valuable.

Just like a Democratic government gets its power from the population (if our government stops working this way, it is technically not a Democracy) the values a culture holds important get their power from the shared (and probably coerced or otherwise manipulated) vision of the members in the society.

At the moment, liberals value science and ethics based on cause-and-effect principles, and basic human dignity. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to value the freedom to pursue a vision or goal while disregarding others who they are not on familiar terms with.

There are a lot of differences between the two societies, enough that when I first moved to Idaho, I was constantly making "social mistakes" just because I was used to being from Washington.

The main point of this post is to show how crazy it is - I think that everyone should experience living in a different culture than they are used to at some point, fully immersed, to understand just how screwed up it is that there are complete societies out there with different perspectives on the world -

I mean, when everyone around you believes certain things, it has a way of making you think that this is reality, this is how everyone thinks - to surpass the limitations put on you by whatever society you are in, a great way to start is by going through culture shock.

edit on 24-2-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

I think you're confusing mormons with conservatives. I can say a few bad things about mormonism, I will in fact completely disprove mormonism using its own scriptures right now in the religious forum...one of those forums anyway. Peace.

Having just recently made the move from California to Montana myself, I can completely understand.
I have to say though, that I like the differences here better, but I certainly feel awkward at times.