Product Description

Edward T. Hall opens up new dimensions of  understanding and perception of human experience by  helping us rethink our values in constructive ways.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162668 in Books
• Published on: 1977-01-07
• Released on: 1976-12-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
"A fascinating book." -- Ashley Montag,  Chicago Daily News

Review
"A fascinating book." -- Ashley Montag,  Chicago Daily News

From the Publisher
Edward T. Hall opens up new dimensions of understanding and perception of human experience by helping us rethink our values in constructive ways.

"A fascinating book." -- Ashley Montag, Chicago Daily News

Customer Reviews

Helps you see what you have not seen.
I have read it at least 6 times since it was originally published.

It speaks to the current world scene each time and probably will for the next 50 years.

Hall is one of the 20th century's great geniuses.

but within our understanding
This is not Hall's best known book but it incorporates many of the ideas that were originally presented in the Silent Language and applies them to culture. The idea of monochronic (M-Time) and polychronic time (P-Time) are briefly summarised as well. The underlying concept of Beyond Culture is that man is an evolutionary being and although we cannot evolve to adapt to our environment at the rate of insects we can continue to evolve through extensions. These extensions are the things we create such as fire and tools at the basic level and cars, computers, and mobile phones at the more complex level. In this way we have continued to evolve beyond the limits of our biology.

In a similar sense, culture is an extension of our personal being and is used to prevent us from having to explain every little detail. Regardless of whether a culture is "high" or "low" it contains a body of knowledge that provides for ease of communication among members. He develops this idea in the concept of action chains which is a sequence in which several people participate. Culture is by its nature participatory and understanding action chains within a culture can help us to understand how to prevent ourselves from running aground in a culture different from our own.

He also looks at culture and education and lampoons the current state of higher education in the western context. I find this somewhat unwarranted. He concludes with chapters on the irrationality of culture and our identification with culture. However irrational a culture may be to those who identify with it it makes perfect sense.

I do not always agree with the interpretation of cultural examples that he cites but his ideas are interesting and can be helpful in understanding cross/intercultural experiences. I would recommend this book to those who are, at least in passing, with his overall concepts of culture.

A must-read for "Diversity in the Workplace"
Since other reviewers have summarized this book, my suggestion is to read it with present-day work environments in mind. There is an increasing emphasis of Diversity and Globalization in the workplace. This book can be difficult to wade through, but the concepts stick with you. It was very easy to take the concepts and compare them to the daily situations of working in a multi-cultural corporate environment. Sometimes the best information, is from an original source or work. I would suggest reading this, just because Hall's premises still bear the brunt of time and provide that "ah-ha" awareness to an experience.