Symbols

     Reality for human being is not action or feeling but meaning. Humans are symbolic creatures; a symbol is anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by the people who share culture. A whistle, a wall of graffiti, a flashing red light, a fist raised in the air-all serve as symbols. We see the human capacity to create and manipulate symbols in the various ways a simple wink of the eye can convey interest, understanding, or insult.

     We are so dependent on our culture’s symbols that we take them for granted. Often, however, we gain a heightened sense of the importance of a symbol when someone uses it in an unconventional way, say when a person in a political demonstration burns a U.S. flag. Entering an unfamiliar culture also reminds us of the power of symbols. Culture shock is nothing more than the inability to “read” meaning in one’s surroundings. We feel lost, unsure of how to act, and sometimes frightened-a consequence of slipping outside the symbolic web of culture.

     Culture shock is both what travelers experience and what they inflict on others by acting in ways that may offend them. For example, because North Americans consider dogs to be beloved household pets, travelers to the People’s Republic of China might well be appaled to discover people roasting dogs as a wintertime meal. On the other hand, a North American who orders a hamburgers in India causes offense to Hindus, who hold cows to be sacred and thus unfit for human consumption.