Not Wrong, Just Different

A little child is naturally thinking only of himself or herself. The world of a child revolves around how he or she can be satisfied. As we grow, we learn to see other people and take them in to consideration. But the tendency to live life in an egocentric way is still there. It is something that we are born with and to some extent it is necessary in order to have a meaningful life. However, it shouldn’t dictate or control our lives. Rather it should be like a spice which we need a little, but not too much.

When we think about encountering different cultures, the situation is the same. According to Merriam-Webster (2016) dictionary ethnocentrism is “based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others”. A man named William Graham Sumner was one of the first researchers who introduced the term back in 1906. After that social scientists have developed many theories explaining the roots of ethnocentrism. It has been a largely studied subject also in the field of psychology. (Bizumic B. 2014)

But why is ethnocentrism is harmful? Barger K. (2014) puts it well when he explains that it leads to misunderstandings. Cross-cultural misunderstandings often arise from ethnocentrism. And where there are misunderstandings, there is division.

Last year Finland received more refugees than for a long time. New refugee centers in small villages are changing the street view. A friend of mine told a story how the whole village of his homestead in Laitila was gathered together last fall to wonder arriving buses bringing refugees in to a new refugee center. Many senior citizens had never seen people from foreign cultures in Laitila as they had used to see and meet only Finnish people. My friend described how the villagers felt confused and even a bit afraid.

I believe that there are two main reasons for ethnocentrism. The first one is simply that one hasn’t encountered different cultures. When you have been brought up in monocultural environment, like many people in the small village of Laitila, it might be hard to value other cultures. The Second reason is the lack of comprehension of different cultures. So often we tend to make assumptions based on outward behavior of a person from a different culture without considering the inward worldview he or she holds. Our behavior is always based on our values and our values are based on our worldview. Different cultures have different worldviews which are affecting behavior a great deal.

One good everyday example of ethnocentrism is connected to eating. Westerners generally think that it is proper to eat with knives, forks and spoons while a person from India for example thinks that it is proper to eat with fingers. When a person from a western country sees a person from India eating with their fingers, it is considered from a western point of view as a primitive way of eating. So in other words it is seen as an improper manner of eating. But one Indian guy put it well: “You see, we wash our hands carefully, and besides, they have never been in anyone else's mouth. But look at these spoons and forks and think about how many other people have already had them inside their mouths!” (Youth Kairos Reader 2015, 6-9).

So the question is: how to fight against the ethnocentrism? I believe there are at least three steps we can take. The first step is to realize your ethnocentrism. Understanding how it affects your attitudes and behavior is crucial, because our behavior has its roots much deeper in our worldview. This step usually takes time, because our values and worldview are deep inside of us. A good thing is to ask from yourself the question of why. “Why I think like I do” is not an easy question but it is a very important one.

Another good step toward a better understanding of cultures is to study culture and to learn new languages. Language Centre of LUT is offering courses in many languages which are helpful for studying the different cultures as well, because language is such a big part of a culture. I have learned to appreciate people from different cultures in the courses of Language Centre. They have offered me good insights and principles for encountering different cultures. The third step is rather practical and straightforward. It is meeting people from different cultures. At LUT we have a great opportunity to meet people from a variety of cultural backgrounds which is a great asset.

One of the keys to a more wide-open life is to have the learner’s mindset. A will to learn more helps you a lot in life. We are on the lifelong journey of learning and we can enjoy it. So let’s remember that diversity is a gift, not a curse. We can all learn from each other, from different cultures. Next time when you think that some habit of a person from another culture is odd or wrong, think again. It is not wrong, just different.

References

Bizumic B. 2014. Who Coined the Concept of Ethnocentrism? A Brief Report [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/264/html

Merriam-Webster 2016. Simple Definition of Ethnocentric [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnocentric

Barger K. 2014. Ethnocentrism [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm

Youth Kairos Reader. 2015. Chapter Six: Culture. 

Text by Timo Raassina, as student of Independent Study in English course

Programming will change the world

But it’s about more than just the code.

Our society has become increasingly dependent on information technology, and the need for skilled computer programmers and other IT professionals is going up at an ever increasing rate. The effects of this are finally reaching the schools around the world as more and more schools and/or whole countries are introducing programming into their curriculums. This is most exciting news indeed. As a programmer myself, I’m all for teaching coding in schools, but I’d also like to propose a little extra while we’re at it.

But why even bother teaching programming to every single student, one might ask; not everyone is going to pursue a career in IT. And not everyone will be so successful or interested in programming, no matter how practical it is. Just like crafts; knitting or making furniture might be fun and marginally useful, but it’s not for everyone. So why bother?

Well, the answer is deceptively simple: even basic knowledge in programming allows one to see the everyday devices we use in a totally new way. These devices will transform from being just ‘things’ with pretty lights to actually having a deeper meaning and logic behind them. And by knowing how the devices work it is easier to invent new ways to use them, or simply improve the old way.  And this new insight isn’t limited just to those devices, rather it goes on and on...

...and on. There’s even potential for a cultural revolution! One of the very fundamental facets of programming is logical thinking, a thing that - at times - feels almost forgotten in today’s society. A high percentage of the overall population settles on doing things along the well-established ways. Maybe they are powerless, or just don’t ever question whether there are improvements to be made. Hopefully this will change as children are taught at an early age that it is ok, even expected of them, to reason with the world.

Programming has traditionally been a niche for very small groups of people; one of the main points of the current pro-programming movement is to get the masses involved. For example in Finland the master plan is to teach every single student to write simple pieces of code, or at least be able to interpret what some other piece of code does. It takes just a single person to invent and implement something great with the power of code. Just think of the impact any one of the persons like John Carmack, Linus Torvalds or Tim Berners-Lee has made. Now imagine how many more inventors like them there are yet to come.

But while it’s awesome to teach everyone to code, it might also be worthwhile to spend some of that time on other aspects of computing. I already mentioned how knowing programming gives one the key insight in how computers work. How about we complement the programming classes by teaching the students about information systems on a general level. The leap from instructing a turtle to draw pretty lines to building actual real-world applications and web-scale services is HUGE, so let’s just stick to the basics.

In the case I’m sounding overly negative, I’ll have to repeat that I am very happy that programming has got a slot in the curriculum. I just rather think that it would be in the best interest of the general population to shift the focus a bit from pure-ish programming to more concrete things. Currently - as far as I know - schools have no lessons on how the internet, computers or information systems work, even on a basic level. I think that this kind of general knowledge is also important, just like knowing how the electrical network or a modern democracy works. It gives insight.

But then again, especially first and second year students might have no chance at grasping such concepts. So, ok, maybe starting with pure programming and only later introducing those practical things is the way to go. For the students that really open up for programming, there is always the possibility to host extra-curricular activities to get them going further. But then again, this might push programming back to being a niche.

Oh well; the funny thing is, these things are hard. Good thing that there are good people working on these things, like the folks at Koodi2016. Go and check out the good work they are doing.

Text by Valtteri Mehtonen, a student in Independent Study in English course

Finnish culture from a point of view of Erasmus student – Michal Micor

 [At first I would like to introduce a small disclaimer that my observations are based mostly on an academic society and represent private opinion. ]

I came to Finland because I was quite interested in Finnish culture and way of living. I started to read various blogs and watched lots of videos related to Finland and Finns. Also two of my best friends have been in Finland and have told me a lot of stories. I learned a lot about various facts as well as stereotypes about Finnish people. One of the most common stereotypes is that Finns are shy and closed . Another one is that they need to be drunk to get social. And yet another one is that they never talk or smile to strangers and run away if strangers talk to them. Many of these stereotypes are not true or at least not entirely true and might be very harmful if misunderstood. I have talked to many Finnish people who were completely strangers to me and I don't remember a situation when somebody was running away from me. Some particular people were a little nervous about me bothering them, but well... everybody can have a bad day .The truth is, even though the first minutes might be awkward, later it isn't that hard to keep up conversation and soon you can notice that Finns are nice, kind people. They also don't need to be under the influence of alcohol to have a conversation (of course it helps in some cases J). There are many student organizations which organize events, unlike the club parties (at those events there is no alcohol or only a little of it). For example LUT Chaplains or hiking club “Ulvova Susi”. The thing about Finns and their relationships is that they seem to be much more focused on the quality of relationships than on their amount. In many cases they don't even practice small talk. Long silences during  tea with a friend is normal for them, unlike for me (In my country we even have a sentence relating to "awkward silence" used just to break a silence if the silence during conversation is longer than 10 or 15 seconds). For foreigners it likely sounds weird or even impossible, but once my Finnish friend got a little annoyed with my talkativeness and asked to say nothing until she says something. As a result we spent around 5 minutes saying nothing, just drinking tea. After that she was laughing that she could literally hear my thoughts "Don't say anything, Don't say anything ,....".

This is because as far as I noticed Finns don't practice talking for talking. They are talking when they have something to say. Therefore they do talk to each other, smile to each other and in many cases, they are absolutely not shy. In fact some of them are quite talkative and open, but you need to know them better, than "Hi, how are you?", to notice that. It is not enough, because greeting people, when you are passing them by, as warmly as you would do in many European non-Scandinavian countries, is not so much practiced in Finland. As a result you simply need to talk to those people and have actual conversations.

Finns have developed many other interesting ways of socializing with each other.

One of the most amazing examples of creating possibilities to spend time with other people are “guilds”. Students in Finland in many cases can choose subjects they study. That means that every student has a little "individual" study program. This also means they are meeting many new people in new classes. In order to bind particular groups of students like Electrical Engineering, "guilds" have been created. It is something like a micro association of the particular profession.

They have their common guild room in which students can rest and relax with a cup of coffee between classes. The guild also has a board to supervise it and therefore guild members can organize various events for university’s students.

Another way are sitz parties. They are a pleasant combination of alcohol and singing. So you can both drink something, sing a lot and meet many new people. Basically the whole point of sitz is singing, but between songs you drink. This might sound easy... but after a couple of songs, a couple of shots and a couple of beers it might turn out that you brought your inner singer to a completely new level.... Aside from sitz parties, Finnish people enjoy also simple joys like board games or computer games for example in the student union basement (the area in the basement of the university for parties). Imagine an average club room filled with people sitting in front of tables with board games or computers and enjoying their time. That's exactly how it looks. During many events like this, parties or barbecues there is a sauna available for participants. It is very popular. After all, sauna is an important part of Finnish culture. Finns are very close to nature, so in the typical Finnish sauna, people are sitting naked, one next to another. This is rather exceptional, because normally Finns are keeping a huge personal space for themselves. This is best observable at the bus stop. If you see row of people standing in one meter distances from each other, it means they are probably Finns.

A particularly interesting example of culture in Finland are the Saami people, which I had a pleasure to meet during my trip to  Lapland.  I visited  a reindeer farm owned by them, located near a village called Inari. Aside from the mentioned farm, in Inari there is also a Saami council and a museum.
Saami are native tribes living in the northern part of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Their main way of survival in the past was focused on breeding reindeers. Nowadays they preserve their way of living and they continue their craft in modern ways. They breed reindeers, sell their meat, organize many tourist activities like reindeer sleigh rides or presentations of their traditional dresses and huts and manufacture handmade crafts which are sold to tourists.  They have developed an interesting way of breeding reindeers. Due to the fact that there are not so many natural threats for reindeers in Lapland, they breed relatively fast. Saami took advantage of that and they limited their role to mark ear of a reindeer with a very special and sophisticated set of cuts (so they know to whom reindeer belongs) and count them once a year. Overpopulation of reindeers is solved by selling them for meat production purposes. In the meantime, Saami are making handmade medallions, toys and knives from reindeer’s horns.

What really impressed me in those people is their will to adapt. Aside from selling their handicrafts to tourist they also adapted to make guided activities like feeding reindeers and riding reindeer sledges or making exhibitions  of their original style of life. In fact, activities including reindeers have become so popular that some reindeers have even their photos on services like Instagram. In order to be able to do so Saami speak at least 4 languages (Saami, Finnish, Swedish, English and also often German and/or Russian). Between periods of counting the reindeers, Saami people travel around Scandinavia and give concerts of their native music. As I mentioned above, they have even their own council, where they decide how to better adapt to the modern world and also a museum of their own history open for tourists visiting Lapland.

So if you would like to visit Finland, but you are afraid of cold, closed, shy Finns... just fear not, come and see for yourself, what is a reality (and in case of desperation just talk to students :) )

Text by Michal Micor, a student in Independent Study in English course