What countries' cultures does western culture refer to?

Western culture refers to modern culture in Western Europe and North America, including different standards, values and customs in the Western world. The word west corresponds to the Orthodox Church, Asian or Islamic countries, or developing countries in the third world. It has always been corresponding to the capitalist countries of the former Soviet Union. The concept of western culture is usually associated with the traditional definition of the western world. According to this definition, western culture is a collection of literary, scientific, musical and philosophical principles, which is different from other major civilizations. It is applicable to countries strongly influenced by western European immigration or colonization, not limited to western Europe. Most of these traditions are listed in western classics. Western culture is used in many ways, whether it is used correctly or not, including American culture, materialism, industrialism, capitalism, commercialism, hedonism, imperialism, modernism and even explaining western civilization. Western culture is generally considered to have originated from ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Catholicism and Protestantism, collectively known as Judaism-Christianity culture. But western culture is also rooted in Germanic, Slavic and Celtic popular culture, which is an important driving force for the formation of European medieval culture. Western culture has made great progress in literature, music, philosophy and religion. Important traditions include scholasticism, Catholicism, Protestantism, humanism and the secularization of scientific methods in the Renaissance. After the Roman Empire captured Greece in 1 century BC, it absorbed the science, philosophy, democracy, architecture, literature and art of ancient Greece, and further developed on this basis. In the next 500 years, although the Roman Empire rejected the avant-garde democratic thought of ancient Athens, it spread Greek and Latin to the whole of Europe by Roman law. Roman culture combines Germanic, Slavic and Celtic cultures, but with the decline of Rome, many arts, literature and sciences in Greece and Rome have disappeared or been replaced. With the improvement of the status of Roman Christianity, the Bible has become the core of western literature and art, affecting almost all fields of western culture, including art, law, philosophy, education and politics. Roman Christianity established many theological seminaries, and now many universities and colleges originated here. Generally speaking, these colleges promoted the spread of early western culture. Arab culture has preserved some knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome. With the Crusades, the Arabian culture owned by the Moors in Spain and the Levant had an impact on Western Europe. Finally, in the14th century, the Greek cultural heritage was rediscovered by Western Europe, and the Renaissance was born. /kloc-after the 0/6th century, the western culture of the Renaissance was spread to the New World by explorers, colonists, businessmen and missionaries. The subsequent Enlightenment reached its peak during the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The concepts of civil rights, equality before the law, judicial justice and democracy were put into practice for the first time. Nowadays, these norms have become the cornerstone of modern western culture. /kloc-In the 20th century, the United States began to develop its own western culture. After 1950, it occupied a dominant position, and together with American fashion, entertainment, science and technology, and politics, it was full of other western worlds. All over the world, the elements in western culture have a strong influence on other cultures. Many people with cultural background, whether western or non-western, equate "modernization" with "westernization". Of course, there are also many non-Westerners who oppose adopting western ideas and values as a necessity for all societies. Some members of the non-western world associate scientific and technological progress with different western values, which are quite different from those of their local society, and take this as a reason to oppose most "modernization". It is indisputable that most of the technical and social models that constitute the so-called "modernization" concept have developed from the western world. But whether these technologies and social models are essential parts of western culture is even more difficult to answer. According to empirical science, many people think that this question cannot be answered. Instead, we must find a "value" problem in its value system (such as philosophy, religion and political theory). Of course, many parts of anthropology now show the relationship between physical environment and daily activities, as well as the formation of culture (discovered from cultural ecology). Therefore, "modernization" and "modern" technology not only refer to "science" (that is, physics), but also may be closely related to a certain culture, such as western culture. Without these technologies, today's western culture will be very different from the well-known situation throughout the ages. Western culture occupies a dominant position in the curriculum of European and American schools because of its cornerstone role in culture, art, literature and history. From the 1960s to the 1970s, a new cultural awakening called multicultural policy began to encourage western research on African and Asian culture, history and art, and the progress of this policy accelerated after the 1960s. Except for food, literature, art, music, religion and politics, western culture is different from other cultures in the world in many ways. Freedom, as the most important value, has triggered many other sub-cultures; Strong scientific and technological innovation ability, firmly believe in progress; Have a strong sense of privacy and civil rights; Attitudes towards sex and monogamy are somewhat casual; Personal honor and disgrace rarely leads to job suicide or suicide in name; People agree that political corruption will lead to low economic efficiency; Focus on the nuclear family, not the extended family. A major feature of the western world is that it is devoted to science and technology, and is good at creating new processes and materials, and then forming new products. The steam engine was developed in the west and applied to power generation in factories. The invention and early development of four-stroke cycle and internal combustion engine also occurred in the west. The nuclear power plant was invented in Chicago. Generators, transformers, motors and electric lights, it can be said that almost all familiar electrical appliances originated in the west. New communication equipment and systems, such as telegraph, telephone, fax, submarine cable, radio, television, communication and navigation satellites, Internet and World Wide Web, can all be attributed to the West. Some common materials, such as concrete, aluminum, bright glass, synthetic rubber, polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, are all western inventions. Ships, bridges and skyscrapers made of steel first appeared in the west. Vaccine, anesthesia, nuclear magnetic resonance, oral contraceptives, all pure antibiotics come from the west. Transistors, integrated circuits, memory chips, computers, mice and hard disks are all from the west, as well as pencils, ballpoint pens, CRT, LCD, LED, photography, xerography, laser printers, plasma displays and so on. The ship's longitude meter, engine-driven propeller, locomotive, bicycle, car and plane were all invented in the west. Glasses, binoculars, microscopes, electron microscopes, various chromatographies, protein, DNA sequencing, CT, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-rays, and spectral studies of white light, ultraviolet rays and infrared rays were first developed and applied in western laboratories, hospitals and factories. The theories of biochemical diseases, diabetes and bacterial pathogens were also discovered by westerners. The eradication of smallpox, known as the scourge in ancient times, was carried out under the leadership of Donald Henderson, a westerner. In mathematics, calculus, statistics, logic, vectors, tensors, complex analysis, group theory and topology all developed from the west. In biology, the methods used in evolution, chromosome, DNA, genetics and molecular biology are all initiated in the West. Mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in physics are all created by westerners. Atoms, nuclei, electrons, neutrons and protons are all revealed by westerners. Most chemical elements, including their components, are found in the west. Nitrogen fixation and petrochemical products are also the credit of westerners. Chemistry developed into a member of science in the west. West Renye Fang is famous for its exploration of the earth and space. It was westerners who sailed around the world for the first time. It was westerners who first set foot on the South Pole and landed on the moon.