The Classification of Cultures

Culture is a hot topic. Scholars (Fukoyama, Huntington, to mention
but two) disagree about whether this is the end of history or the
beginning of a particularly nasty chapter of it.

What makes cultures tick and why some of them tick discernibly
better than others - is the main bone of contention.

We can view cultures through the prism of their attitude towards
their constituents: the individuals they are comprised of. More so,
we can classify them in accordance with their approach
towards "humanness", the experience of being human.

Some cultures are evidently anthropocentric - others are anthropo-
transcendental. These two lingual coins need elaboration to be fully
comprehended.

A culture which cherishes the human potential and strives to create
the conditions needed for its fullest materialization and
manifestation is an anthropocentric culture. Such striving is the
top priority, the crowning achievement, the measuring rod of such a
culture, its attainment - its criterion of success or failure.

On the other pole of the dichotomy we find cultures which look
beyond humanity. This "transcendental" look has multiple purposes.

Some cultures want to transcend human limitations, others to derive
meaning, yet others to maintain social equilibrium. But what is
common to all of them - regardless of purpose - is the subjugation
of human endeavour, of human experience, human potential, all things
human to this transcendence.

Granted: cultures resemble living organisms. They evolve, they
develop, they procreate. None of them was "created" the way it is
today. Cultures go through Differential Phases - wherein they re-
define and re-invent themselves using varied parameters. Once these
phases are over - the results are enshrined during the Inertial
Phases. The Differential Phases are period of social dislocation and
upheaval, of critical, even revolutionary thinking, of new
technologies, new methods of achieving set social goals, identity
crises, imitation and differentiation.

They are followed by phases of a diametrically opposed character:

Preservation, even stagnation, ritualism, repetition, rigidity,
emphasis on structures rather than contents.

Anthropocentric cultures have differential phases which are longer
than the inertial ones.

Anthropotranscendental ones tend to display a reverse pattern.

This still does not solve two basic enigmas:

What causes the transition between differential and inertial phases?

Why is it that anthropocentricity coincides with differentiation and
progress / evolution - while other types of cultures with an
inertial framework?

A culture can be described by using a few axes:

Distinguishing versus Consuming Cultures

Some cultures give weight and presence (though not necessarily
equal) to each of their constituent elements (the individual and
social structures). Each such element is idiosyncratic and unique.
Such cultures would accentuate attention to details, private
enterprise, initiative, innovation, entrepreneurship, inventiveness,
youth, status symbols, consumption, money, creativity, art, science
and technology.