Culture:  is a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behavior -- an abstract "mental blueprint" or "mental code."

Must be studied "indirectly" by studying behavior, customs, material culture (artifacts, tools, technology), language, etc.

1)  Learned.   Process of learning one's culture is called  enculturation.

2)  Shared by the members of a society.  No "culture of  one."

3)  Patterned.  People in a society live and think in ways  that form definite patterns.
 
4)  Mutually constructed through a constant process of social interaction.

5)  Symbolic.   Culture, language and thought are based on symbols and symbolic meanings.

6)  Arbitrary.   Not based on "natural laws" external to humans, but created by humans according to the "whims" of the society.  Example: standards of beauty.

7)  Internalized.   Habitual.   Taken-for-granted.    Perceived as "natural."