Culture is air, until you move through it

Introduction

“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” is what a famous politician once said.

The word ‘culture’ has a certain weight and mystique around it, it seems like one of those fever dreams in which all objects are “here” yet at the same time an infinite distance away. Perhaps it’s the reason the word is thrown around this much by politicians and CEOs. To simplify my own life I’ve defined culture as: a set of visible mannerisms and behaviours within a group of people. Like air, culture surrounds us constantly.

This definition has made it easier for me to better understand and see culture more clearly around me whether it’s in a business setting, while traveling or in groups of friends.

Culture is like air…most of the time

Air certainly exists, since I am engulfed in it, I breathe it constantly. Yet I cannot see it, it’s transparent when sitting still. Only after I start moving, does it become visible, due to its effects.

In other words, that what shapes our behaviours, thinking, and mannerisms is invisible to ourselves, which is why it’s very difficult to answer a simple question like “What is the Iranian culture?” for most Iranians - you can replace Iran with any country. At most people come up with a couple of blanket phrases and some food aspects. Try it for yourself, answer the question about the country you were raised in.

The reason why this is the case is because it’s our norm, we are brought up surrounded by people who were brought up in the same culture, back to their great-great-great grandfathers. In short, it’s our baseline and the baseline of people around us.

What happens if we move away from this baseline?

Culture clashes and becomes visible

Once you start moving through air, you start feeling it, while still transparent it becomes apparent that there is something there. Like air, once you start moving into other cultures and environments, very quickly culture becomes visible. Cultures become visible when they clash.

A “clash” is the smallest form of friction, something as simple as watching someone doing the dishes could trigger “Why would they do it like that?”. I believe this question to be actually a reversed projection, you are actually saying “This is the way I would do it”. Depending on your curiosity, these fleeting moments could register as ‘aha’ moments or like most of us do we just shrug and continue our day.

When traveling this air suddenly becomes thick with pollen, very visible.

Why traveling intensifies cultural clashes

From the smallest thought processes and reasoning, culture drips down in everything surrounding you, from transportation to the food that is being prepared, to the way food is eaten.

One of the things I like about traveling is that cultural clashes are everywhere around you. Unless you lock yourself up in an all-inclusive resort, you cannot escape cultural clashes in foreign countries.

Understanding the zeitgeist of what’s alive in the region I am travelling through, is one of the most fascinating things for me. By watching the culture and talking to people, you can reverse engineer their belief systems and reasoning.

Through travel, careful observation and genuine curiosity, we gain the power to intentionally shape our own culture and thus the environment around us. The air around us might be invisible most of the time, however as soon as it becomes wind we can set sail and start moving through it with purpose and direction.

June 29 2025