Okayactivistreporter(OKAR): What's up okayactivists! Because of recent battle on Afrikan culture the last week, today we are talking to Solarus about his opinions on the whole matter. What's da deal yo?

Solarus: PEace

OKAR: MAD MAD Drama! You aiight! You've seemed sort of aggitated the past couple of days! OKP gettin to ya?

Solarus: Sometimes. But it has mostly been the whole schoolwork thing. Grad school's a mutha. Anyways what do you want to ask me?

OKAR: OK, First of all what IS Afrikan culture?

Solarus: In terms of ???

OKAR: Well how does it look, feel, smell, taste? Ya know something tangible?

(Solarus thinks for a minute)

Solarus: Hmmm...**grabs his trusty gallon of water and pours some in a cup** Here drink this.

(OKAR drinks water)

Solarus: So how does it look, feel, smell and taste?

OKAR: Ummm... Like water? **looking puzzled** I don't get it.

**Solarus takes the cup and drinks it**

Solarus: Well to me it tastes like the origins of all life. It looks like a carrier of life that you transferred to it and that will nourish each of the cells in my body. It feels like a personal bond that has been established between us as we have shared something together that will sustain and alleviate our bodies...

OKAR: WHat? That doesn't make any sense. See that is what alot of folks are talking about that esoteric ish. No disrespect but you aren't answering the question.

Solarus: That's just it. I ANSWERED the question. If you want to "look" at Afrikan culture, go to a museum. If you want to "feel" Afrikan culture, go on a date with a South Afrikan. If you want to "smell" and "taste" Afrikan culture go to a Ghanaian restaurant. These "tangibles" that you speak of are meaningless by themselves. It is the PURPOSE of a thing, that is of importance.

OKAR: Well, I mean stuff like: what is the legislative system like in an afrikan society?
who runs it?

Solarus: In modern society, either like a European fashioned government or Islamic government, depending on the country. Europeans and non-Afrikans usually run it or at least have the REAL power behind the Afrikan puppet governments.

OKAR: Come on man, you know what I mean. Back in the day. OR the Afrikan culture that YOU are talking about. Why are you running around the questions like that? If you don't know just say that but don't waste everyone's time. I mean I got plenty of questions but if this Afrikan culture is just some imaginary place that you made up then say that. for real.

Solarus: If you got more questions then asked and please be specific.

OKAR: Ok well what is the spiritual side of an afrikan like?
who/what is the divine being an afrikan give thanks to?
does this spirituality show itself in day-to-day practices?

Solarus: See "God is IMMANENT" http://www.okayplayer.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=3291&forum=DCForumID1&archive=yes
and then come talk to me

OKAR: Come on man, you know you sound like an ass. You paint this big monolithic picture of Afrikan culture with a "K" but when questioned about it, you can't answer. Afrika is so diverse but you create something you call Afrika with a "K" and you can't answer any questions about it.

SOlarus: Correction: YOU created this monolithic Afrika with a "K" and expect me to make gross generalizations about how each Afrikan lives, breathes and acts. i asked you to be specific but you didn't. I admit, that I may helped create this "mythical Afrika with a "K" by erroneously and irresponsibly using terms inappropriately and I apologize for that. When I first started posting on these boards I avoided using the phrase "Afrikan culture" because I was aware of how misleading that phrase can be. Normally I used the terms "Afrikan conceptual system" or "worldview" as those were more specific. However as time past, I became lazy and used that phrase for brevity and also because I did not want to explain myself anymore. I had planned to do an in-depth post on "culture" but I just kept pushing it back. However things happen when they should happen, therefore it's happening now>>>SEE "What is Culture?"

OKAR: So what do you mean you used the term erroneously?

Solarus: Well culture consists of many variables but the underlying assumptions of a culture form the conceptual system>>> SEE "Realms of Culture"

So basically if I say "culture" I am making a reference to the fundamental realm of culture. The core thoughts are the key as they inform the actions of a people.
That was the point of the water analogy.

OKAR: So now your are denying the existence of Afrikan culture?

Solarus: Which one?

OKAR: Come on dude, be real. You constantly label things as Afrikan or non-Afrikan but now you are saying that there is no such thing as Afrikan culture. Which is it?

Solarus: First let me say that I rarely make those distinctions of what is "non-Afrikan" or "Afrikan." And when I do, it is usually in reference to three concepts, which include CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM, and ISLAM. I make specific references to those three religions because when surveying the origins and fundamental ideals propagated by those religions, do not correspond to the fundamental culture, i.e. conceptual system, found within traditional Afrikan societies.

Furthermore I don't speak in absolute terms, so basically to say "Afrikan" or "non-Afrikan" should be understood in terms of "tendency." Let me reiterate again, CULTURE IS NOT STATIC. Culture is DYNAMIC. In the social sciences, predictions are based on significant tendencies rather that absolute behavior. It's interesting to note that within the evolution of psychology in the Western world, experimental methods were and still are for the most part, based on methods used in 19th century European chemistry/physics. This road was taken to make psychology a "science" vs. being "philosophy." Despite early Western psychologists hopes and dreams, psychology is far from being an "objective" and "absolute" science. The truth of the matter is that it is that people are dynamic and in constant flux therefore the "science" is too.

OKAR: Ok that makes sense but how can you justify a distinction of what's "afrikan" or not, if you say people and culture is dynamic.

Solarus: Well how do people and culture change? They are introduced to new ideas, experiences and situations through factors such as enviromental/climatic change, discovery/creation of new artifacts that can potentially change social order, introduction to foreign cultures, etc. Now with introduction to new knowledge about the world, the worldview may not necessarily make radical shifts but evolve by encompassing new concepts. Every group has its own unique scope of the world, which can change or evolve with time but radical deviations from core concepts are usually far and few between when analyzing cultures through history. The only time there are radical shifts are when group's ADOPT foreign cultural cores. This often occurs as a byproduct of adopting the aspects of another group's structural culture such as economical/politcal structures or religion. And then the other reason is through forced acculturation which is often caused by colonialism and forced servitude/enslavement.

Despite these changes one can see dominant themes within traditional cultural cores. When I say something is "non-Afrikan," this is in reference to motives and reasonings for a given behavior that is not endemic of traditional Afrikan dominant themes. You see, one's perspective on the world guides one's behavior. Therefore, one can see certain tendencies in behavior BASED on their cultural cores.

For instance, in the "God is IMMANENT" post, I argue traditional Afrikan conceptions of the divine are based on the immanency of the divine, meaning that the divine is within all things. This concept promotes inclusiveness in the structuring of spiritual themes. Despite whether the traditional Afrikan group possesses a highly-structured spiritual system or not, the promotion of inclusiveness of thought is usually evident. Thus I argue that the Big 3 are NOT endemic of a traditional Afrikan cultural core based on the fact that all three are very exclusive in nature, i.e. if you don't follow this system you are wrong. Are you following?

OKAR: Yes I think so.

Solarus: Well let me try to make this even more clear. When you look at a various martial arts, they each have specific methods in overcoming one's opponent. When you train, you learn specific methods. The idea is to make the art instinctual so you will respond in particular and guided ways when fighting. Now when you are in a actual fight there is no structure and no rules. You are left with your own knowledge and techniques to fend for yourself. You have learned the art but can you apply it? Depending on the art you learned you will have certain tendencies that will guide your movement and strategy but the point is that the particular situation you find yourself in is unpredictable. One has to be able to adapt (be dynamic) to the given situation in order to win. However, no matter what you your strategy, your tactics will largely be defined by the tenets of you martial knowledge as that is "all you know." If a person is primarily a follower of aikido then you won't see them doing flying kicks as this is not part of their core knowledge. Now one can study a number of styles but these styles will be evident in there fighting. Bruce Lee was against structuralized martial systems, saying that one should follow his own path. Although bruce created his "own" path, one could see that it was largely his own syncretism of wing chun, boxing, and Western fencing. I personally believed he realized this when he tried to teach "The way that is no way" to his students. He saw that he indeed created a system with its own assumptions like the ones that he was against, which is why he later closed all of his own schools.

OKAR: OK I think I got you now.

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"the real pyramids were built with such precision that you can't slide a piece of paper between two 4,000 lb stones, and have shafts perfectly aligned so that you can see a tiny aperture through dozens of these mammoth blocks