Cultural Complexity
In modern societies, cultural complexity is evident in a number of areas.
Firstly, we could think about the "Big Questions" of life and existence (our place in the "Great Scheme of Things", for example) as they are expressed through different belief systems. One of the defining characteristics of modern society is, as we have noted, the development of scientific belief systems (something we will develop in more detail when we look at cultural concepts in modern societies). Whether we see science as challenging or complimenting religious belief systems, the fact remains that, in modern societies, people have a choice of belief system that is not available in pre-modern societies.
Secondly, within different basic belief systems there develops a complex range of cultural views. "Social Science", for example, contains a massive range of views, interpretations and explanations (think, for example, about how different social sciences like Sociology, Economics and Psychology interpret the nature of social life. Similarly, within religious belief systems we see the development of competing ideas and explanations ("Christianity", for example, involves a basic belief in "God", but this belief is expressed through a multitude of different, sects, denominations and Churches...).
We could also note, in this
overall context, the development of something like psychiatry (and the
work of writers such as Freud and Jung) as a cultural
enterprise dealing in an exploration of the
complexities of the sub- conscious mind (and
its relationship to the conscious mind...