Culture can be defined as the way of life of a society. Beliefs, values, and materials that form a person's life is culture. There is a symbolic or non tangible culture and material culture. In modern society people care more about the material than symbolic culture. Culture is no longer comprised of what individuals think. Culture is defined by the institutions that run the world. There are two sides to every institution that shapes the society we live in. One side is a clear example of Plato's Cave. The masses are lead to believe that all is well. The other side is for the people who decide to venture out and find the truth. The truth is the ugly side that the institutions don't want to masses to see.
Culture is made up of contents of the consciousness. The contents being ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge. Everything that culture embodies can be influenced by large institutions especially mass media.
Knowledge is a way to break free from the hold that is placed on your consciousness. It is important to study our culture and develop your own opinion about culture. Without an opinion of your own you just follow along with what is told to everyone. When studying you see what is wrong with the way your culture operates, and you see ways on how it could be changed.
The socialization process according to mead runs in different stages. The first stage is from birth to three years old. This stage is the imitation stage. The toddlers will imitate what they see through gestures, words, and body language. They will pretend to be someone else such as animals or people they know. The second would be the play stage. During the play stage the develop roles of others. Playing games like...