Beyond the Iceberg

Is It Still 10%?

Hall's Iceberg Theory (1976) was developed a long time ago and presented the idea that only 10% of any culture is easily observed and identified. Back then, people only had access to some general, stereotypical information about other cultures. When I look at Hall's model, I can definitely see why only the tip of the iceberg was assumed to be on the surface – that is roughly what I was exposed to about any other culture when I was growing up as a kid in the '90s.

However, with the development of the internet and its rapid growth, I now doubt that the visible level of the iceberg stays at 10% nowadays. We are exposed to so much information about other cultures that it is impossible to think only a small portion of it is visible. Of course, we need to stay critical when we get information from the internet – whatever we find online is someone's perspective, not necessarily the whole reality. But if we want to dig deeper and find something we are interested in, we can easily access that information.

With that said, I think the boundary between what is "visible" and "invisible" has fundamentally shifted. Also, looking at the iceberg itself, it seems like our view of culture is supposed to stay static, but in my opinion that is not the case. Culture is a dynamic construct and a lived experience. What we see as its "surface" depends on our perspective and our experience with that culture. A person who only reads articles or books about a culture will see one version; a person who travels and lives in that country will see much more. I believe the visible part of culture is not the same for everyone – it changes with our experiences and exposure to the culture.

With all my critique of the iceberg theory, I still think it is quite good at showing and explaining that the things we see on the surface are intertwined with and sometimes dictated by the things beneath the surface – the invisible level. In order to understand why some cultures are so different from one another, and why the things we are exposed to from another culture differ from our own, we need to go deeper into the beliefs and values of that culture that we cannot usually see so easily.

What Surprised Me

Just to give a few examples. When I first came to China, I was quite shocked by some aspects of local behavior that I found very impolite – like burping or farting in public without even acknowledging it. For them, it was just normal. Also sneezing and coughing without covering their mouths, or just spitting on the street. In my culture, and I think in all the European cultures I was exposed to, those things were considered very rude and signs of an uneducated person. But apparently, from what I learned later, Chinese people believe that whatever comes out of your body, your body needs to get rid of it. Holding it inside means keeping that unhealthy stuff inside instead of letting it out. So that is why they do not cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough. It still shocks me, and I still find it a bit inappropriate, but I came to understand why it happens. It brings me to the point that we do not always need to accept something in order to understand why it happens.

Another thing I was quite surprised by is punctuality. Once I wanted to have a friend gathering at my place, so I told everyone what time they were expected to come. Bringing experience from my own culture: we tend to be late. Almost no one shows up on time – it is quite normal to be 15, 30 minutes, or even an hour late. To my surprise, my Chinese friends decided to come two hours earlier. I was confused and even a bit angry about it because at that time my apartment was not clean yet, nothing was ready. I was in the middle of preparing for the gathering. "Why did you come?" I asked. They said, "We came to help." But I did not ask for their help. For me, preparation for any gathering or party is the duty of the person who organizes it. But in Chinese culture, when someone organizes an activity or event, people tend to help each other. They always come early to help clean the house or prepare food. It is driven by their deeply inherited sense of community.

These are just two examples. Of course, there were many more, and there are still things that sometimes surprise and amuse me even after almost ten years of living in China.

When In Rome...

It brings up a question I do not have an answer to. There is a saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." It is a way of showing respect to another culture. But at the same time, I wonder – should not we also think about how to respect each other's cultures? How do we find a compromise when two people from different cultures have contradicting expectations? Should we try to "do as the Romans do" even if it goes against our own system of beliefs – just to show respect and appreciation for another culture? Or should "the Romans" also acknowledge the differences and be more accommodating? That could probably be a topic for a big debate.

References:

Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond Culture. Anchor Press