Cultural Lens

"Cultural Lens" is the way that a certain person or even the majority of a culture views another culture based on their own ideas and misconceptions. Most people in the United States look upon the rest of the world as lesser because they do not follow the same values that the United States does. They do not value time and money, which seems to be the main driving force of Americans. I would like to think that I do not fit into this narrow view of most Americans. I enjoy just sitting outside admiring the weather rather than rushing off to do the next thing in my schedule. I believe that it is better to take time to enjoy the small things in life rather than let it rush by. One time I was talking to a friend from Panama, when I said, "Americans are arrogant." She looked utterly surprised that I had said this, not because it was not what she believe, but because an American was admitting that we are arrogant. She joked that all the other countries knew this but she never heard of an American knowing this. This example shows distinctly just how other countries usually view Americans and how sadly Americans sometimes act towards other countries. Different people all have misconceptions about other cultures and the only way to really solve this problem is to visit other countries and have personal interactions between people of different cultures.