American Culture
Throughout the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, enlightenment and romanticism ideologies developed, trying to backlash each other to create a conducive environment for the development of the world and the human personality (Maxwell, 2019). Even though the ideologies surrounding romanticism and enlightenment are in the past, the general ideas surrounding these still exist even in the present day. However, the enlightenment mindset seems to be taking root in the current American society as compared to the romantic mindset.
One of the features that characterized the enlightenment is scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning involves coming up with scientific inventions and using scientific methods to understand the world we live in (Pinker, 2018). The present American culture is characterized by a focused study in scientifically understanding the current world. From professionals such as geologists and seismologists who study the earth to astronomers who study the space, modern-day human beings have a renewed zeal to study and explore the environment in which we live. Another feature of the enlightenment is skepticism and the interest in challenging the traditional religious views and beliefs.
In present-day America, the relationship between religion and science has become an issue of heated debate, with religious beliefs sometimes being taken to be obstacles to scientific inventions (Pinker, 2018). Additionally, some scientists have tried using scientific explanations to counter religious beliefs, and this has led to the development of movements such as atheism. Finally, while values, feelings, and intuition characterized American romanticism, the current American culture is characterized by reasoning, which based on individual values and beliefs and intentions of doing what is right by the own self (Maxwell, 2019). Therefore, the general conclusion is that the current American culture has adopted a more science-driven mentality and view of life as compared to the romantic mindset.
References
Maxwell, N. (2019). The Enlightenment and the Romantic Opposition. In Science and Enlightenment (pp. 9-20). Springer, Cham.
Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. Penguin.