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RE: The Myth of Culture & How to Hack it
My best strategy (so far) for culture hacking is to be a 3rd culture kid (I am living 16 years now in a country and culture in not my birth culture nor the country-culture I spent my adolencence and early adulthood in) raising a trilingual child in a digital world. I'm no longer sure culture will remain relevant as an idea for people like us - cos the "norm" in almost never taken for granted anymore. And not just more "travel", but place yourself for extended periods of time in communities that are so far out of your comfort zone that it's a challenge.
That last line is crucial about spending time so far out of comfort zone. That really pushes limits and expands human capacity. You bring up and interesting point about living in a digital age where "norms" are lease relevant.
Although I still feel it is up to the individual to choose a culture to identify with, it can be tough when they aren't too many accessible examples. I suppose this is where the good work happens in reviving, reintegrating and remembering our ancestral wisdom while weaving that into a modern context.
I'm finding as I raise my daughter, that I have to research, work at and CHOOSE the points-pieces of various cultures. Cos they have become so diluted that they are not a reflex anymore. I'm Dutch-German-Jewish on my mom's side, my father is a white-Dutch-Indonesian (both WW2 refugees) and I was born in Holland and raised in Holland-Australia. After 16 years in Thailand with my half Thai daughter, we literally do things like Google "Christmas traditions" to see if we like or even want any of it. It's a fascinating issue that you have chosen to shine your light on! And for me, "ancestral wisdom" is sometimes very vague as so much of that was obliterated by the war. We see it here in Asia too, with Khmer people who don't have a reference point anymore. The digital 'thing' is like putting my whole cultural mish-mash on steroids. :)
Ultimately I LOVE that my new culture (I struggle to even define what that is) is MY CHOICE. On a good day, my daughter and I simply call oursleves "global girls". :)