How do we think about culture

Ladislav Kovác, in his paper titled "Science, an essential part of culture" gives the following in a textbox:

UNESCO's CONCEPT OF CULTURE

UNESCO's concept of culture could be interpreted as a-closed axiomatic system:

• Equal dignity should be attributed to all cultures and all religions without distinction.
• The principle of cultural diversity should be promoted and firmly supported.
• Cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. Biological diversity and cultural diversity are mutually reinforcing and profoundly interdependent.
• While each culture draws from its own roots, it will probably fail to blossom without contact with other cultures.

I don't know whether an official spokesperson for UNESCO would agree with this as a definition of the organization's concept of culture, but it does seem to represent the thinking of some people.

I wonder about several of these postulates:

Point I. Of course it would be self destructive for an intergovernmental organization such as UNESCO to differentiate among world religions in terms of respect, and UNESCO should avoid doing so. More importantly, I would say that no culture should be granted the right to override the human rights (as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) of any of its members (or visitors); dignity only goes so far.

Point II. I don't know that cultural diversity is an intrinsic value. I would make all cultures more similar in the way that they protect the health of their members, in their respect for "universal" human rights, and in that they educate their children to certain international standards.

Point III. There is pretty good scientific evidence that biodiversity is necessary for the operation of a number of ecosystems. It seems fairly obvious that some relatively culturally-homogeneous countries (Japan, Sweden) are quite successful. Cultural diversity is a natural result of respect for individual human rights rather than an objective in itself.

Point IV. Actually I think this is probably true. People have progressed more in history as they have interacted more with other peoples,

I think my position may best be described as empowering people to control the rates and directions of changes of their own cultures. People everywhere I have traveled want better lives for themselves and their children; they want change. The problems arise when cultural outsiders tell people what to do, and especially when they coerce cultural change.