General culture is understood as the set of knowledge that a person possesses on a wide variety of topics, whether they are acquired through regulated study, self-taught research, or the experience of events that have occurred throughout their life.
From a practical point of view, more than for the application of this knowledge in a specific area, general culture serves to have a better criterion and a greater openness.
That is, having a broad general culture provides a broader perspective of the world, since it allows us to understand it not only from the parameters of our own culture, but also by understanding the motivations and reasons that lead others to behave differently.
Bases of general culture
Although general culture is cumulative and never stops being built, the foundations for it are usually provided at school through a series of subjects that are considered essential for the individual to subsequently function normally in any field.
Thus, Mathematics is an important part since it is present in actions of daily life such as the exchange of goods and money. Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing can be considered basic actions of general culture without which, endless activities would be problematic.
History and Geography are also considered as pillars of general culture, since on the one hand they give us a background on the events that occurred prior to our presence in the world, and on the other, they give us an orientation of where they are located. the different peoples, countries and cultures that inhabit the Earth.
Language, for its part, teaches us to express ourselves with precision and in this way facilitates us the ability to communicate and transmit ideas.
From here on, the field of subjects that general culture can cover is infinite, since knowledge knows no limits. However, it is important to point out that the objective of having a broad general culture is not to master these subjects but to have as many references as possible that allow us to structure our own ideas in a coherent way and supported by arguments.
The development of a broad general culture allows us to better understand our environment and the events that take place in it, since to assess each event we have a range of explanations and causes that we can contrast and that allow us to reach our own conclusions.
Photos: iStock - annebaek / urfinguss
