1 A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. The position that the ideas, meanings, beliefs and values people learn as members of society determines human nature. 2  People are what they learn. 3  Optimistic version of cultural determinism place no limits on the abilities of human beings to do or to be whatever they want.