Lesson 145

We earlier mentioned culture as a key part of our worldview. Those who study perception theory know that CULTURE emphasizes what’s important within its community. This tends to influence what people within that community NOTICE. The culture will emphasize some things as being more important than others. For instance, when a community’s culture values the SETTING in which communication happens between people, then they would tend to notice WHERE someone meets with them and what they are WEARING. We call this a high context culture. On the other hand, if it were in a low context culture, people would tend to pay more attention to the CONTENT of the MESSAGE, or what was actually being said by the other person—regardless of the surroundings.

If someone looks at their watch while we are talking with them, in a low context culture someone may simply see the other person checking what time it is. In a high context culture the other person may see someone who is bored with the conversation.

If our culture values the short term more than the long term, we might pay more attention to what relates to the moment, and vice versa, when our culture places more value on the long term.

So, we’re talking about three steps, which are: Perceive, Interpret and Select. In the above examples, we have seen how culture tends to affect both what we perceive, and how we interpret that. Culture can also affect the ACTION we choose to take in a situation. This would be the “select step” and we will think through this more later.

Another key part of worldview we identified earlier is personality. Remember your personality is your tendency to behave in certain ways based on your core needs. Your needs play a significant role in the information you notice in situations. You are uniquely and wonderfully made. Although there are many influences on your behavior, your soul is most satisfied as you behave in ways that meet these needs. So, your personality is an important part of your worldview that orients you to see situations differently than others see them. While your personality is more complex than this, I would like to share with you some of the highlights from the personality survey you took back in session 2.

.	Key Thought for this session: “Without the context of a bigger stage, BEING TRUE TO SELF is a flattering allegiance to bias and voices of deception.”

	We earlier mentioned culture as a key part of our worldview. Those who study perception theory know that CULTURE emphasizes what’s important within its community. This tends to influence what people within that community NOTICE. The culture will emphasize some things as being more important than others. For instance, when a community’s culture values the SETTING in which communication happens between people, then they would tend to notice WHERE someone meets with them and what they are WEARING. We call this a high context culture. On the other hand, if it were in a low context culture, people would tend to pay more attention to the CONTENT of the MESSAGE, or what was actually being said by the other person—regardless of the surroundings. If someone looks at their watch while we are talking with them, in a low context culture someone may simply see the other person checking what time it is. In a high context culture the other person may see someone who is bored with the conversation. If our culture values the short term more than the long term, we might pay more attention to what relates to the moment, and vice versa, when our culture places more value on the long term. So, we’re talking about three steps, which are: Perceive, Interpret and Select. In the above examples, we have seen how culture tends to affect both what we perceive, and how we interpret that. Culture can also affect the ACTION we choose to take in a situation. This would be the “select step” and we will think through this more later. Another key part of worldview we identified earlier is personality. Remember your personality is your tendency to behave in certain ways based on your core needs. Your needs play a significant role in the information you notice in situations. You are uniquely and wonderfully made. Although there are many influences on your behavior, your soul is most satisfied as you behave in ways that meet these needs. So, your personality is an important part of your worldview that orients you to see situations differently than others see them. While your personality is more complex than this, I would like to share with you some of the highlights from the personality survey you took back in session 2.
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