Of what use culture?

I see lots of people with little speakers inside of their ears now, enhancing their walk where before they would just have a walk to take.

Or, let's look at it another way.

My Mom gave me an occasional gift recently, of a few bucks to go towards this gaming book I've been hankering after.

I love gaming; I always have and I always will. (In fact, if you take a wide view of gaming, it is a tradition in my family for at least three generations now.)

But at this recent juncture, before I went and bought my book, which was my glad and conscious choice to do, I pondered for a moment why I might not put that money towards something like food, or saving to buy a home.

This is the difference between culture and humanity. The human says, "Hey, I made a thing that you sit in, then you can float across this lake." A cultural human takes that thing and puts a cool dragon head at the bow.

The human says, "Hey, I made a thing with covers and leaves, so I can make these little marks, so we can plant the right stuff at the right times." A cultural human takes that book and paints it with curlicues and gold leaf.

We all love culture. Of what use culture? You don't have to answer my question, or even give it much weight. Just remember from time to time that I asked it. (That some human asked it.)