This is a very controversial topic. It might not seem like it. In fact, it might even seem like a run of the mill type of question. But packed within this question are answers that might lead to some very startling and, for many people, inconvenient or even downright uncomfortable realities.

A lot of people think that culture is regional. Some are convinced that it is a function of geography. They think that culture is ethnic. What is culture anyway?

Culture involves a specific way of doing this, despite the fact that people from all over the world have to do those things. For example, people need to wash their hands, but different people from different cultures and places on the planet do this differently.

This is definitely the case when it comes to food. Sure, everybody needs 1500 to 3000 calories every single day. There is no exception to this.

Unless you’re on some sort of weir long-term fast, you’re going to have to eat. After you eat, you’re probably going to have to drink. Again, nobody is exempted and excused from this.

The big difference however, is the way we choose to eat. We can choose to eat with chopsticks or with our hands.

We can choose to eat with a lot of people. We can choose to eat with pictures around. We can turn it into some sort of long, drawn-out, and elaborate custom or ritual. This is culture.

The same biological needs, but played out in many different ways as it is lived by different people from different cultural contexts. Now you may be thinking that as awesome as culture is, what does it have to do with space?

Also, you may be thinking how can space possibly be equated or somehow be thought of as the same as culture. Well, as you can tell by the title of this article, it’s a hypothesis.

All I’m saying is if the argument can be made. I’m not saying that there’s an argument there. All I’m doing is asking a question. Can the argument be made that space is culture?

Here’s the thing with this. The space that I’m talking about is not geographic space. OF we start thinking about geographic space, then we fall into geographic determinism.

People would say that Africa is going to be at a serious developmental disadvantage because of their types of rivers and the way the continent is oriented. Obviously, this is not true.

There were lots of historically great African empires that came and went. I’m not talking about space in geographic terms. I’m talking about space in psychoemotional terms.

How you interact with space, what your beliefs are, and what you think it means, as far as the rest of your life and your relationships are concerned, cannot help but impact your personal culture. Personal culture in turn, leads to a greater culture. Understand this link because it’s actually more powerful than you think.