Final answer:
Culture profoundly influences human behavior by shaping societal norms and expectations. While some behaviors are innate, cultural factors often determine how they are expressed, leading to diverse practices across societies. Culture can encourage or discourage certain behaviors, and cultural practices can have both rational and irrational impacts on society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept that culture derives behaviours highlights how the cultural environment influences the actions and reactions of individuals within a society. Humans possess innate behavioral tendencies, but cultural nuances and values profoundly shape how these behaviors are expressed. For example, certain societies might encourage competition and creativity, while others might suppress these tendencies.
Cultural pressures and environmental factors largely determine the criteria for societal approval and disapproval. This results in diverse manifestations of basic human behaviors, from cooperation or generosity to aggression and conflict. Cultural relativism further supports the idea that each culture has its own set of norms and practices that are taught and learned across generations.
Moreover, culture can be a force for both rational and irrational actions, as seen in the adoption of cultural practices that may lead to maladaptation or societal harms. The development and proliferation of nuclear weapons, despite being rational within a narrow cultural context, illustrate such potentially irrational outcomes on a broader scale. Conversely, culture can also facilitate positive behaviors, such as termite-fishing in chimpanzees, showcasing how culture perpetuates practical and beneficial knowledge.