This discussion was interesting enough to bring me out of the Lurkers' Lounge. unfortunately I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet . I will re-read it later and see if I have anything intelligent to contribute. In the meantime may I just offer that, as a teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESL) and mother of two bilingual, bicultural children, and having spent almost my whole adult life in a "foreign" culture, I have come to believe that what many people accept as "natural" is in fact not **natural** but a part of their culture. It is very difficult if not impossible to analyze all the effects of our cultural upbringing, though spending time in another culture does help you to understand your own culture better.

Anyway, my point is that culturally-based beliefs and behaviors are so ingrained, so much a part of our subconscious, that we simply accept them as true, e.g. just "natural"...

 

OK. Time for more coffee. Hope that made sense.

 

Hikaru