Culture is defined as the total way of life shared by members of a community, including both nonmaterial aspects like language and values as well as material objects. There are two main categories of culture - nonmaterial culture which includes language, values, and shared meanings, and material culture which consists of physical objects produced by a society. Common assumptions about culture are that it is a problem-solving mechanism, it is relative to the culture in which practices exist, and it is a social product that is learned and modified over time through carriers like language, values, and norms.