Custom has not commonly been regarded as a subject of any great moment. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behaviour at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behaviour more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions, no matter how aberrant. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first - rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief, and the very great varieties it may manifest.
No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probings he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behaviour of the individual, as against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mother tongue against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the vernacular of his family. When one seriously studies the social orders that have had the opportunity to develop autonomously, the figure becomes no more than an exact and matter - of - fact observation. The life - history of the individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns of his culture. From his very birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behaviour. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.
Every culture has its own distinctive set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. These are the building blocks of the culture, and they determine the pattern of the culture. The culture pattern is the overall design of the culture, the way in which the various building blocks are put together. It is the result of the long - term evolution of the culture, and it is relatively stable. Once a culture pattern is established, it is very difficult to change. It is like a mould into which the members of the culture are poured, and they are shaped by it. The culture pattern is not only a set of rules and regulations, but also a set of values and attitudes. It is the way in which the members of the culture see the world and themselves. It is the way in which they evaluate things and people. It is the way in which they make decisions and take actions.
The study of culture patterns is an important part of anthropology. Anthropologists study the different culture patterns of different peoples, and they try to understand how these patterns are formed, how they function, and how they change. They study the relationships between the culture patterns and the social, economic, political, and religious systems of the peoples. They study the impact of the culture patterns on the individual members of the culture, and they study the impact of the individual members on the culture patterns. They try to understand the dynamics of the culture, the way in which it moves and changes. They try to understand the unity and diversity of the culture, the way in which it is both one and many. The study of culture patterns is also an important part of sociology. Sociologists study the culture patterns of different social groups, and they try to understand how these patterns are formed, how they function, and how they change. They study the relationships between the culture patterns and the social structure, the social relations, and the social processes of the social groups. They study the impact of the culture patterns on the individual members of the social groups, and they study the impact of the individual members on the culture patterns. They try to understand the dynamics of the social group, the way in which it moves and changes. They try to understand the unity and diversity of the social group, the way in which it is both one and many.
The study of culture patterns is also an important part of psychology. Psychologists study the culture patterns of different peoples, and they try to understand how these patterns are formed, how they function, and how they change. They study the relationships between the culture patterns and the mental processes, the mental states, and the mental characteristics of the peoples. They study the impact of the culture patterns on the individual members of the peoples, and they study the impact of the individual members on the culture patterns. They try to understand the dynamics of the mental processes, the way in which they move and changes. They try to understand the unity and diversity of the mental processes, the way in which it is both one and many.
The study of culture patterns is also an important part of history. Historians study the culture patterns of different peoples in different historical periods, and they try to understand how these patterns are formed, how they function, and how they change. They study the relationships between the culture patterns and the historical events, the historical processes, and the historical trends of the peoples. They study the impact of the culture patterns on the individual members of the peoples, and they study the impact of the individual members on the culture patterns. They try to understand the dynamics of the historical processes, the way in which they move and changes. They try to understand the unity and diversity of the historical processes, the way in which it is both one and many.