Adumbration

on cultural mores and global differences...   Habits and manners and politeness are so much established by our respective cultures, it makes me think about the common features that allow us to live and work together, and what motivates that commonality.

Cultural Norms (8/31/2009) - Michael Munger of Duke University talks about cultural norms--the subtle signals we send to each other in our daily interactions. Mike, having returned from a four-month stint as a visiting professor in Germany, talks about the challenges of being an American in a different culture with very different expectations on how people will interact. Our speech patterns, how we wait in line, how we treat each other at the grocery, the interaction between a teacher and a student, how we drive, how we tip for services rendered, even how we listen to music all emerge from our culture and are often different in different countries. The listener will learn what Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio have to do with the Book of Judges along with the relative merits of Williams and Dimaggio performances in 1941.