ALRICHCÒ BORNMAN

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ALRICHCÒ BORNMAN

Learning Activity 4: Two teachings within my ethnic group that shaped my worldview

17 May 2024, 23:53 Publicly Viewable

I learn from a worldview taught to me by the Afrikaner culture that I was raised in. Since the church plays a central role in my ethnic group's way of life, our teachings are largely based on the Bible. The way in which I learned to understand judgement was that more emphasis was placed on individual choice than environmental pressure in moral decision making and ultimately decision making in general, before my exposure to the social sciences I did tend see acts of stealing as more of a personal flaw to satisfy selfish wants than a last resort for a desperate person to get their basic needs met, I saw poverty as predominantly a lack of work ethic, oblivious to the fact that some resources may be inaccessible to some groups and through social means people could be excluded and exploited in the structure of society. I ultimately learned to find an equilibrium in these contrasting worldviews. Additionally, another custom that I learned was that aged individuals and professionals are so highly esteemed that it's taboo to converse with them as you would with your peers of equal social status, this was enforced by a norm that we may not address those significantly older than us or those with professional job roles by their name. When speaking in Afrikaans we must replace all the equivalents of "you" and "your" with the person's title. This has shaped my worldview in the sense that I might unconsciously assess social status when interacting with other people and while this norm as a culture may serve a functional purpose in taking care of our elderly and motivating some of our essential workers, it could be problematic considering that we are indirectly being taught to see some individuals as inferior as well, perhaps this norm can be modified to inspire more inclusivity to the vulnerable populations and expectations of generosity, especially from those with the means to be generous.