"We live in a culture that barely acknowledges and rarely celebrates the arts or artists."

Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts U.S..

How many writers, artists, scientists can the average American name? In a speech to the graduating class of Stanford University, Dana Gioia criticized the lack of interest in cultural figures (other than pop culture) in the United States today. He argues that the cultural entities of today are all for good entertainment. And so ultimately, it appears that nowadays everything has a price tag. When celebrities appear on radio talk shows or television, their first and often the only, the objective is to promote his book, movie, television show or a new vote.

What has happened to American culture?

Fifty years ago, Gioia said, Americans could rattle off a long list of names, prominent names in the country. Carl Sandburg, Rachel Carson, Georgia O'Keeffe, these names are familiar to Americans outside the university or literary circles. "I think the Americans were smarter then, but American culture was, "he says." Even the media put more emphasis on presenting a wide range of human achievement. "

According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the average American knows less about current events today they did in 1989. That is, unless in writing about people or appearing on Entertainment Tonight. An exception, one can say is those who watch The Daily Show, observers can identify the figures in the news a lot more skilled than those who watch Fox News, which claims to be "fair and balanced".

Our culture America today is a world of popular icons that are spread throughout the world, scattered wide entertainment brand and cheap to others who want the culture West. For other countries may be part of pop culture, many countries end with a double culture, its own indigenous people, in addition to our pop culture shoes courts and jerseys; Mickey Mouse and Britney Spears.

With the advent of instant information at our disposal, through Google, Wikipedia and other sources Internet is no longer necessary to study the data access and / or ideas. The need to know quickly rewarded by a mouse click. Without access to other resources for research (the "old fashioned" kind, such as libraries, encyclopedias, dictionaries), the applicant is actually rewarded with only a fact they were seeking. No chance of running out of information not sought, the additional facts obtained from research in depth on a subject, such as experience on the shelves of the library or while reading a reference book. No. Only a fact, then ….. click Next.

Malcolm Gladwell, Blink, in his book about intuition and knowledge, a story about a group of experts to study a piece of art of Greek sculpture. Due to decades of training bone and the deep knowledge, rapid assessment of the sculpture and pronounce it a forgery. This knowledge does not come by writing "Greek sculpture" in the Yahoo search box or spend five minutes scanning a page from Wikipedia on the subject. It came from years of training, research and learning, not indeed sources of the Internet today – Google, Wikipedia, etc. – the need to know that information less critical than the ability to know where to find good information and reliable and that the site to look for "creative" ideas.

But ultimately, a broader understanding of a culture is valuable. Facts alone alone are not sufficient. Ideas alone are not sufficient. They need to connect. Where the facts and ideas on the Internet come from anyway? No doubt in the minds who have studied and learned and well have a broad understanding of culture, either on Greek sculpture, theater or the problems that businesses face.

In business, communication is key. And would not it be great if you threw a worthwhile name or a cultural figure (not pop culture) or a valuable book and the public knew what they were talking about. A shared cultural experience held a great value if you could increase beyond Entertainment Tonight. If we consider only this fact, that fact, and the name of the new slasher film, how will we be able to communicate with each other in a deeper sense?

About the Author:

The Henderson Group trains and coaches business professionals in the art of communication and presentation through our experiential methodology. Since 1990, The Henderson Group has helped Fortune 500 companies worldwide improve employee productivity and business results through the development of communication skills. You can find us online at SpeakFearlessly.net and HendersonGroup.com or Attend A Workshop

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Is our Culture Failing Us?

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