Nature is often seen as the opposite of culture - nature cannot be the result of human interference, and cultural development is achieved against nature.
There is also another take on the relationship between nature and culture. Studies suggest that culture is part of the ecological niche.

Nature vs Culture

Problem Solving

Modern authors such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau saw education as an effort against the tendencies of human nature. 
Humans start out with wild dispositions using violence to achieve their desires, be disorganized, and act egotistically. Education uses culture to interfere with our natural tendencies and accomplish the opposite.

Education: An Effort Against Nature

Studies in the history of human development show that culture in an anthropological sense is part of adapting to the environmental conditions we live in.
For example, hunting allowed hominoids to move from the forest into the savannah, changing their diet and living habits. The invention of weapons developed into a series of skill sets charaterizing our cultural profile, from butchering tools to ethical rules about the proper use of weapons.

Adapting To The Environments We Live In

Over the past decades, the view that came to be most plausible is that culture is part of the ecological niche within which humans live. Through the ages, we bring our culture along with us.
Our imparting of culture does not seem to be directly related to genetic information. It is also horizontal among individuals within the same generation. You can learn to make lasagna or speak another language even if you have not been exposed to it from the start.

Culture as an Ecological Niche

<figure><img src="https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/SFik6Nja04Ocl8pw7G3eBi8E7vs=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-56258477-5916a76a5f9b58647075019d.jpg" srcset="https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/CZDppF1NlUMbhqzdmo8hN_H8Z-E=/300x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-56258477-5916a76a5f9b58647075019d.jpg 300w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/xndIlpfp-dKzMANLf1J3iC-6Nkc=/417x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-56258477-5916a76a5f9b58647075019d.jpg 417w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/w_UA9rNMFQ2ZC6-nmS2TVvW8jB0=/534x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-56258477-5916a76a5f9b58647075019d.jpg 534w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/SFik6Nja04Ocl8pw7G3eBi8E7vs=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-56258477-5916a76a5f9b58647075019d.jpg 768w" alt="Prehistoric Man Hunting Bears Painting" width="721" height="518"><figcaption dir="auto">Emmanuel Benner / Getty Images</figcaption></figure><div>
Updated February 23, 2019
</div>Nature and culture are often seen as opposite ideas—what belongs to nature cannot be the result of human intervention and, on the other hand, cultural development is achieved against nature. However, this is by far not the only take on the relationship between <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-idea-of-nature-2670631" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1" dir="ltr">nature</a> and culture. Studies in the evolutionary development of humans suggest that culture is part and parcel of the ecological niche within which our species thrived, thus rendering culture a chapter in the biological development of a <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-species-concept-1224709" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2" dir="ltr">species</a>.<h2 dir="ltr"> An Effort Against Nature </h2>Several modern authors—such as Rousseau—saw the process of education as a struggle against the most eradicated tendencies of human nature. Humans are born with wild dispositions, such as the one of using violence to achieve one’s own goals, to eat and behave in a disorganized fashion, and/or to act egotistically. Education is that process which uses culture as an antidote against our wildest natural tendencies; it is thanks to culture that the human species could progress and elevate itself above and beyond other species.<h2 dir="ltr"> A Natural Effort </h2>Over the past century and a half, however, studies in the history of human development have clarified how the formation of what we refer to as "<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/philosophy-of-culture-2670610" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1" dir="ltr">culture</a>" in an anthropological sense is part of the biological adaptation of our ancestors to the environmental conditions in which they came to live. Consider, for example, hunting. Such an activity seems an adaptation, which allowed hominids to move from the forest into the savannah some millions of year ago, opening up the opportunity to change diet and living habits. At the same time, the invention of weapons is directly related to that adaptation—but from weapons descend also a whole series of skill sets characterizing our cultural profile, from butchering tools to ethical rules relating to the proper use of weapons (e.g., should they be turned against other human beings or against uncooperative species?). Hunting also seems responsible for a whole set of bodily abilities, such as balancing on one foot as humans are the only primates that can do that. Now, think of how this very simple thing is crucially connected to dance, a key expression of human culture. It is then clear that our biological development is closely tied to our cultural development.<h2 dir="ltr"> Culture as an Ecological Niche </h2>The view that came to be most plausible over the past decades seems to be that culture is part of the ecological niche within which humans live. Just as snails carry their shell, so do we bring along our culture.Now, the transmission of culture seems not to be directly related to the transmission of genetic information. Certainly the significant overlap between the genetic makeup of humans is a premise for the development of a common culture that can be passed along from one generation to the next. However, cultural transmission is also horizontal among individuals within the same generation or among individuals belonging to different populations. You can learn how to make lasagna even if you were born from Korean parents in Kentucky just as you can learn how to speak Tagalog even if none of your immediate family or friends speak that language.<h2 dir="ltr"> Further Readings on Nature and Culture </h2>The online sources on the nature-culture divide are scarce. Luckily, there are a number of good <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-bibliography-1689169" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1" dir="ltr">bibliographical</a> resources that can help out. Here is a list of few of the more recent ones, from which older takes on the topic can be recovered:<UL><LI>Peter Watson, The Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New, Harper, 2012.</LI><LI>Alan H. Goodman, Deborah Heat, and Susan M. Lindee, Genetic Nature/Culture: Anthropology and Science Beyond the Two-Culture Divide, University of California Press, 2003.</LI><LI>Rodney James Giblett, The Body of Nature and Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.</LI></UL>

Here is how studies in the evolutionary development of humans suggests that culture had a role in the biological development of our species.

Nature and culture are often seen as opposite ideas—what belongs to nature cannot be the result of human intervention and, on the other hand, cultural development is achieved against nature. However, this is by far not the only take on the relationship between <a data-component="link" data-ordinal="1" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" dir="ltr" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-idea-of-nature-2670631">nature </a>and culture. Studies in the evolutionary development of humans suggest that culture is part and parcel of the ecological niche within which our species thrived, thus rendering culture a chapter in the biological development of a <a data-component="link" data-ordinal="2" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" dir="ltr" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-species-concept-1224709">species </a>.

Several modern authors—such as Rousseau—saw the process of education as a struggle against the most eradicated tendencies of human nature. Humans are born with wild dispositions, such as the one of using violence to achieve one’s own goals, to eat and behave in a disorganized fashion, and/or to act egotistically. Education is that process which uses culture as an antidote against our wildest natural tendencies; it is thanks to culture that the human species could progress and elevate itself above and beyond other species.

Over the past century and a half, however, studies in the history of human development have clarified how the formation of what we refer to as "<a data-component="link" data-ordinal="1" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" dir="ltr" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/philosophy-of-culture-2670610">culture </a>" in an anthropological sense is part of the biological adaptation of our ancestors to the environmental conditions in which they came to live. Consider, for example, hunting. Such an activity seems an adaptation, which allowed hominids to move from the forest into the savannah some millions of year ago, opening up the opportunity to change diet and living habits. At the same time, the invention of weapons is directly related to that adaptation—but from weapons descend also a whole series of skill sets characterizing our cultural profile, from butchering tools to ethical rules relating to the proper use of weapons (e.g., should they be turned against other human beings or against uncooperative species?). Hunting also seems responsible for a whole set of bodily abilities, such as balancing on one foot as humans are the only primates that can do that. Now, think of how this very simple thing is crucially connected to dance, a key expression of human culture. It is then clear that our biological development is closely tied to our cultural development.

The view that came to be most plausible over the past decades seems to be that culture is part of the ecological niche within which humans live. Just as snails carry their shell, so do we bring along our culture. Now, the transmission of culture seems not to be directly related to the transmission of genetic information. Certainly the significant overlap between the genetic makeup of humans is a premise for the development of a common culture that can be passed along from one generation to the next. However, cultural transmission is also horizontal among individuals within the same generation or among individuals belonging to different populations. You can learn how to make lasagna even if you were born from Korean parents in Kentucky just as you can learn how to speak Tagalog even if none of your immediate family or friends speak that language.

The online sources on the nature-culture divide are scarce. Luckily, there are a number of good <a data-component="link" data-ordinal="1" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" dir="ltr" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-bibliography-1689169">bibliographical </a>resources that can help out. Here is a list of few of the more recent ones, from which older takes on the topic can be recovered: <ul><li>Peter Watson, The Great Divide: Nature and Human Nature in the Old World and the New , Harper, 2012. </li><li>Alan H. Goodman, Deborah Heat, and Susan M. Lindee, Genetic Nature/Culture: Anthropology and Science Beyond the Two-Culture Divide , University of California Press, 2003. </li><li>Rodney James Giblett, The Body of Nature and Culture , Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. </li> </ul>

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

The Relationship Between Nature and Culture

Nature vs Culture

Education: An Effort Against Nature

Adapting To The Environments We Live In

Culture as an Ecological Niche

Explorations on the Idea of Nature

Smart technology (probably) isn’t making you dumber

What if Competition Isn't As "Natural" As We Think?

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

The Relationship Between Nature and Culture

Nature vs Culture

Education: An Effort Against Nature

Adapting To The Environments We Live In

Culture as an Ecological Niche

Explorations on the Idea of Nature

Smart technology (probably) isn’t making you dumber

What if Competition Isn't As "Natural" As We Think?

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career