According to Bookshelf Online (5), ethnocentrism refers to a biased understanding of other cultures based on preconceptions that originate from the norms that define the culture of the individual perceiving these other cultures. This creates a situation where a speaker can engage in activities or use words that his or her culture perceives as appropriate but are inappropriate in the culture of the members of the audience. In this regard, ethnocentrism serves to separate rather than commune a speaker to his or her audience since it validates or even increases the perceived gap in the speaker’s capacity to acknowledge and respect the views and norms that exist in other cultures. While I do not consider myself as ethnocentric, I do believe that there remains some work for me to do in understanding the cultural identities of people from other cultures.
The TED Talk by Rick Steves opened up my eyes to the importance of travel as a tool for improving one’s awareness of the realities of other cultures. Arguably, the sentiments relayed in the video reveal the extent to which a lack of travel can breed ethnocentrism; for instance, I came to understand that the term “death to America” should cause less fear in me and other Americans since it is an expression of frustration rather than the promise of terror that we perceive. The video introduced the issue of overgeneralization based on preconceptions of other cultures (Bookshelf Online 14), which led me to believe that the fear that we have as a nation depends on our lack of understanding of other cultures. This also changed my perceptions of the fact that we as a country are right about our approach to all issues and made me consider being more open to new ideas from other cultures.
Works Cited
Bookshelf Online. (2018). Bookshelf.vitalsource.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781506359878/cfi/6/30!/4/2/4/2@0:0
TEDx Talks. “The Value of Travel | Rick Steves | TEDxRainier.” (26 December 2011). YouTube,
