Civilising Influence of Culture

Human nature being what it is, after the basic needs of food, clothing & shelter are satisfied, the mind wanders to the lowest common denominator of sensual pleasures like drinking, gambling or worse. To get out of these dehumanising influences, Culture is the only ennobling alternative.

The human mind has to be trained from a young age to appreciate the fine arts like literature, classical music & the graphic arts. Unfortunately, these are mostly acquired tastes, which have to be nurtured from a young age. One cannot wait to be prosperous & retired from active work to pick up these, as it will be too late & one will have lost the taste for them. These have to be life long preoccupations to have any meaningful effect. If they are pushed to the bottom of the list of priorities, they may drop out of it altogether, leaving one a dyed-in-the-wool philistine, no better than an animal.

Realising this, the developed west has made these mandatory in the curriculum. Even an aspiring doctor has to learn to play a musical instrument before he/she enters University. The Chinese, who in their foolish "Cultural Revolution" destroyed records of classical music (as shown in the film "The Red Violin") quickly realised their blunder & now many world class virtuosi are Chinese.