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Every culture on the planet is unique. Are there, however, some characteristics shared by ALL cultures? Indeed! We refer to these as cultural universals. Why are there cultural universals if cultures are so dissimilar? This is due to the fact that every civilization on the planet has the same issues.
They must, for instance, be able to communicate, get food, and have some kind of environmental protection. Every culture figures out how to accomplish these tasks in a unique way.
Examples of cultural universals include the following:
A method of acquiring and allocating goods and services is known as an economic system. marriage and family structures (including mating and raising children) A system of education (a means of passing on cultural knowledge to the following generation) a system of laws and regulations that serves as social control.
A belief system based on supernatural concepts (such as religion, magic, witchcraft, sorcery, etc.) systems of communication (verbal and nonverbal communication methods) tool making (producing any type of tool) Kinship terminology (relatives’ names) foods that are prohibited (not consumed for whatever reason) arts (such as dance, music, and ornamental art) These examples illustrate the extent of cultural commonalities, albeit there are many more examples of cultural universals.