Your misunderstandings of culture and the process of socialization are breathtaking. Culture is self-perpetuating, and cannot be manufactured or changed (instantaneously) by a single person. There are marketing companies who attempt to do this, but predicting the success of such ventures is incredibly difficult. Not to mention, environment is not the only determining factor in how a person turns out. This is why all social sciences are constantly developing new theories on the mechanisms that drive society.
While you are correct in your statement that the current status of the US public education system is somewhere between "in total disarray" and "an absolute fucking disaster", your statement that we should simply "change our culture" defies the characteristics of culture itself. That is, culture is intangible, and it is difficult to know what will and will not affect it, and what the result of that effect will be.
Take language for example, one of the earliest institutions that lead to the development of larger communities and the development of early culture: It is beyond obvious that language varies, and even within particular languages the dialects of languages that are spoken vary from place to place. This is an excellent example of the unpredictability in regards to culture. That is, because it is the result of crowd-sourcing, the great amount of variation among people can lead to one thing going in many different directions (Just as French and Spanish are descendants of Latin).
This is where the line between Sociology and Psychology must be drawn, as the impacts had on such things must at some point come down to a personal level. People have different tendencies toward different things. I myself used to be a "Math Guy", but regardless of my ability to do math, I simply despise its seemingly tedious nature, and the kind of people it brings me in contact with. While we all may have the same potential to be "Math Guys" it is impossible for us all to be one simply due to personal preference.
I found myself wondering just today, "What kind of accident must have led to the development of the game Horseshoes?" Further, "How long did it take to actually work out the rules? Do today's rules reflect the original rules?" The bare bones of the game reflect the creators' ideas of fun, fairness, and competition; Rules which will vary depending on where you play the game, because (depending on region) the rules have all passed through different hands.
Perhaps this is a ramble, and perhaps I'm misinformed on what you mean by "change our culture", as I have only read your title, and the body of your text here on Reddit. I was so taken aback by the idea of simply "changing the culture", however, I figured I'd just lay out why it's more complicated than that.
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Your misunderstandings of culture and the process of socialization are breathtaking. Culture is self-perpetuating, and cannot be manufactured or changed (instantaneously) by a single person. There are marketing companies who attempt to do this, but predicting the success of such ventures is incredibly difficult. Not to mention, environment is not the only determining factor in how a person turns out. This is why all social sciences are constantly developing new theories on the mechanisms that drive society.
While you are correct in your statement that the current status of the US public education system is somewhere between "in total disarray" and "an absolute fucking disaster", your statement that we should simply "change our culture" defies the characteristics of culture itself. That is, culture is intangible, and it is difficult to know what will and will not affect it, and what the result of that effect will be.
Take language for example, one of the earliest institutions that lead to the development of larger communities and the development of early culture: It is beyond obvious that language varies, and even within particular languages the dialects of languages that are spoken vary from place to place. This is an excellent example of the unpredictability in regards to culture. That is, because it is the result of crowd-sourcing, the great amount of variation among people can lead to one thing going in many different directions (Just as French and Spanish are descendants of Latin).
This is where the line between Sociology and Psychology must be drawn, as the impacts had on such things must at some point come down to a personal level. People have different tendencies toward different things. I myself used to be a "Math Guy", but regardless of my ability to do math, I simply despise its seemingly tedious nature, and the kind of people it brings me in contact with. While we all may have the same potential to be "Math Guys" it is impossible for us all to be one simply due to personal preference.
I found myself wondering just today, "What kind of accident must have led to the development of the game Horseshoes?" Further, "How long did it take to actually work out the rules? Do today's rules reflect the original rules?" The bare bones of the game reflect the creators' ideas of fun, fairness, and competition; Rules which will vary depending on where you play the game, because (depending on region) the rules have all passed through different hands.
Perhaps this is a ramble, and perhaps I'm misinformed on what you mean by "change our culture", as I have only read your title, and the body of your text here on Reddit. I was so taken aback by the idea of simply "changing the culture", however, I figured I'd just lay out why it's more complicated than that.
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