Part 1:
A) I found this experiment to be very difficult. To give some context to my conversation, I tried explaining what I did for my birthday, the 24th, to a friend. Trying to explain that I watched a movie and ate out with friends is quite difficult without the ability to use a symbolic language.
B) My partner found the experiment amusing and altered his communication with me after only about a minute and a half of attempting normal conversation. The conversation evolved into an elaborate game of charades, with me doing quite a poor job. My partner spent most of the time trying to guess what I was trying to say rather than take part in a two-way conversation.
C) The culture that has the ability to use a symbolic language (and be understood by the culture that cannot use that type of language) definitely has the advantage in communicating complex ideas. The speaking culture could deem that the non-speaking culture is primitive or savage from their lack of a spoken language. People with speech impediments, mental disabilities, who are deaf or mute all have trouble communicating with spoken language. People generally try to simplify their ideas, speak louder, or speak slower when communicating with people who have trouble with spoken language. This barrier creates great difficulty for the non-speakers because they are inhabiting a world where spoken language is almost a necessity in day-to-day life.
Part 2:
A) To be honest, I had a few vocal intonation and head movement slips in the 15 minute period, so it was impossible for me to spend that amount of time without the aid of non-spoken language cues. The experiment was made difficult because, from my experience with the experiment, it's very hard to communicate without the aid of non-spoken language. Communication is more than just words coming out of your mouth and not being able to use non-spoken aspects of language was very difficult for me in the 15 minute period.
B) My partner, the same one I used for Part 1, made a comment that I feel is important, which was that he became bored during the conversation. He said without other parts of communication, it was hard to pay too much attention and the conversation ended up being monotonous and unexciting.
C) I feel that non-speech language techniques are essential to communication. Intonation, pointing, head movements, and gestures all put another dimension on communication. Language sets the foundation, with all the non-language aspects building upon it and making communication that much easier.
D) People who have Pragmatic language impairment (PLI) have, among a list of other characteristics, difficulty reading body language. One adaptive benefit, which may not be accesible to people with PLI is the ability to read another's mood or intentions without the need of being explicitly told. For example, a child who can see that a parent is angry by their facial expression can deduce that it would be a bad time to ask to go out for ice cream. When trying to consider an environmental conditions in which it would be beneficial to not read body language, nothing came to mind. Body language seems integral to any type of human communication; if it wasn't integral to communication, it wouldn't have developed the way it has over our history as a species.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Humans and their Environments
Population B: Andean Indians
1) The Andean Indians live along the Andes mountain range, with climatic zones changing according to alleviation. The general rule of thumb is the higher you go along the mountains the colder it becomes. The climatic zones along and around this mountain range range, but generally the temperature is dry, with rainfall ranging from very little to very much. The climate and altitude provide physical stress on the bodies of the Andean Indians, making it difficult to maintain homeostasis.
2) The physical stress of the altitude the Andean Indians are living at is enormous. After thousands of years living at a high range of altitudes, the people have genetically developed larger chests and a greater lung capacity compared to people who live at lower altitudes. These two adaptations allow the Andean Indians to get the amount of oxygen needed to function and help return their bodies to homeostasis.
3) The physical stress of the climate, especially the cold, dry weather most common experienced by the Andean Indians, provides a great stress on their bodies. In response to this, the people have breed llamas and used their fleece to keep themselves warm. The warmth provided by the clothing created by the llama wool helps keep the Andean Indians' bodies at a more comfortable temperature, therefore returning them to homeostasis.
4) I would describe the Andean Indians as Native Americans. I chose this specifically because I feel that the Andean Indians aren't mixed enough with Europeans to be considered Hispanic. I believe they have more in common with Native Americans, from physical features and costumes, to Hispanic peoples.
5) In regard to how laypeople view other cultures and populations, I believe race speaks more than cultural and physical adaptations. However, to an Anthropologist, race means very little. It is merely a social construct classifying people by their physical appearance. In Anthropology physical appearance is still useful, but I believe the adaptations of the people, both cultural and physical, speak more than just how one person sees another and classifies them.
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate.htm
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/204/18/3151.full.pdf
http://www.quesocabezafarm.com/pdf/llama_wool.pdf
Population A: Zulu
1) The Zulu people live in South Africa, with the climate generally characterized as warm and dry, receiving a little over half of the world average rainfall. The changes between seasons here are noticeable, with summer being warm and rainy and winter being cold and dry. The variation in temperature and the low amount of rainfall will provide
2) One physical characteristic of the Zulu people is the color of their skin, which is a physical adaptation to the amount of sunlight these people are exposed to living in their environment. High amounts of melanin protect the people from too much exposure to the sun, allowing them to thrive in a harsh environment. This physical adaptation returns the Zulu people to a state of homeostasis.
3) The climate of South Africa is generally warm and dry, which provides a physical stress on the bodies of the Zulu people. Culturally, the clothing they produce and wear serves as an adaptation to the climate of their environment. The minimalism of the clothing allows for nonrestrictive movement while hunting, good air flow to keep cool, and a small amount of clothes to prevent their bodies from heating up. This cultural adaptation helps the Zulu maintain a state of homeostasis.
4) Racially, I would classify the Zulu as African. Their skin, hair, and body structure all coincide with my idea of the African person.
5) I believe that to an Anthropologist the physical and cultural adaptations of the people tell more about them than the classification of their physical appearance. The term African is too broad to refer to a people this specific. We are not talking about any person who has dark skin, a certain body build, or a certain hair trait. The Zulu are a people who have developed due to their environment, which is South Africa, not all of Africa.
http://www.southafrica.info/travel/advice/climate.htm
http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/africanrace.html
1) The Andean Indians live along the Andes mountain range, with climatic zones changing according to alleviation. The general rule of thumb is the higher you go along the mountains the colder it becomes. The climatic zones along and around this mountain range range, but generally the temperature is dry, with rainfall ranging from very little to very much. The climate and altitude provide physical stress on the bodies of the Andean Indians, making it difficult to maintain homeostasis.
2) The physical stress of the altitude the Andean Indians are living at is enormous. After thousands of years living at a high range of altitudes, the people have genetically developed larger chests and a greater lung capacity compared to people who live at lower altitudes. These two adaptations allow the Andean Indians to get the amount of oxygen needed to function and help return their bodies to homeostasis.
5) In regard to how laypeople view other cultures and populations, I believe race speaks more than cultural and physical adaptations. However, to an Anthropologist, race means very little. It is merely a social construct classifying people by their physical appearance. In Anthropology physical appearance is still useful, but I believe the adaptations of the people, both cultural and physical, speak more than just how one person sees another and classifies them.
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate.htm
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/204/18/3151.full.pdf
http://www.quesocabezafarm.com/pdf/llama_wool.pdf
Population A: Zulu
1) The Zulu people live in South Africa, with the climate generally characterized as warm and dry, receiving a little over half of the world average rainfall. The changes between seasons here are noticeable, with summer being warm and rainy and winter being cold and dry. The variation in temperature and the low amount of rainfall will provide
2) One physical characteristic of the Zulu people is the color of their skin, which is a physical adaptation to the amount of sunlight these people are exposed to living in their environment. High amounts of melanin protect the people from too much exposure to the sun, allowing them to thrive in a harsh environment. This physical adaptation returns the Zulu people to a state of homeostasis.
5) I believe that to an Anthropologist the physical and cultural adaptations of the people tell more about them than the classification of their physical appearance. The term African is too broad to refer to a people this specific. We are not talking about any person who has dark skin, a certain body build, or a certain hair trait. The Zulu are a people who have developed due to their environment, which is South Africa, not all of Africa.
http://www.southafrica.info/travel/advice/climate.htm
http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/africanrace.html
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Nacerima
When reading Horace Miner's article, "Body Ritual of the Nacerima," it occurred to me how different and similar these people are to my own culture and background. There are five words that can be used to describe this population:
Mystical: These people are mystical in the sense of the degree they hold magic, magical men, and rituals in high cultural esteem. Every person has their own set of rituals they must partake in daily, monthly, or even yearly. The devotion and belief shown to the mystical is similar to any modern religious devotion, but different in regard to the types of rituals. The people are almost obsessed with purifying their bodies, usually through painful means. From men's daily cutting of the face to the yearly visit to the holy-mouth-man to prefer rudimentary dental work in order to purify and prevent decay, although a futile effort. The devotion to their mysticism is so strong that people willingly go to latipso, or temple, in order to seek a cure when very sick (even with death being the likely result, a more painful one at that if accompanied with a temple visit).
Masochist/Sadist: The Nacerima people can be deemed as both masochistic and sadistic. The rituals of these people seem to revolve around the inflicting of pain on oneself or others. The holy-mouth-men seem to enjoy the excruciating pain they inflict in order to purify their patient's mouth. There are rituals for both fat people and thin people, for women with small breasts and large breasts, and the only thing that seems consistent is the want to change people for the sake of changing them or just causing pain and discomfort.
Specialization: The specialization apparent in this society, especially based around their mysticism, is astounding. There are medicine men who serve much like doctors, giving their client a unique recipe for their illness, but written in a language only the herbalists and medicine men themselves can understand, preventing the client from making the curative potion them self. The holy-mouth-men serve as pseudo-dentists, the maidens of the latipso serve as rudimentary nurses, and the witch-doctors serve like hospital doctors within the temple. Everyone seems to have their own trade and way of surviving in this mystical economy. Every person is also expecting compensation for their services, making these people much like our own. Service, such as the temple care, is even refused without pay, much like our current healthcare service in the United States.
Advanced: The Nacerima are definitely an advanced, complex society. The amount of specialization within this society and economic roles is astounding, especially when all of these complexities are merely those associated with the mystical culture of the people. The mystical healthcare developed by these people is not something to be undermined or under appreciated. What these people have accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. The diversity of care and the amount of people involved at all levels is a testament to the people's resourcefulness and culture.
Human: In Anthropology, especially Cultural Anthropology, it is imperative to never forget the human element when studying a people. The portion of the article that really brought this to the forefront of my mind was the comment of the child in regard to the temple: "That is where you go to die." Nothing resonates as familiar as the innocence of a child and an improper comment. I can guarantee that the comment by the child would be seen as irreverent and inappropriate given the importance given to mystical healthcare by the Nacerima, but when it comes to children, the truth is the truth. In regard to these people, the truth is that the first thing to come to mind when studying them is that they are people, even with the stark differences compared to ourselves and our culture.
1) As an American, and with the knowledge that the Nacirema are actually my own people, I find my choice of words mostly true. The emphasis on mysticism showed my own bias against what I deemed to be an ultimately simple society. Rather than explain their beliefs and culture, I passed my own judgement on a people I knew hardly anything about. Given the ability to be an outsider in regard to my own culture, I think the rest of my word choices were true. My civilization has a trend for masochism and sadism, is quite specialized and advanced, and are still human.
2) I believe my biased choices were mystical and masochist/sadist. The mysticism of the Nacirema was my own ethnocentric viewpoint of what I deemed as simple beliefs. In my mind, their mysticism was placed in lower esteem than organized religion, rationalizing that the people were simple and backwards. The idea of the people being masochistic or sadistic also shows judgement on my end. What makes them interested in inflicting pain on themselves and others? What evidence is there that they enjoy doing this? Plastic surgery, dental hygiene, and hospital care are all seen as normal endeavors for beauty and/or health. Nothing masochistic or sadistic is applied to them in American society in my mind, but the Nacirema are not as lucky. The remaining three keywords are free of biases; they are similar to what an Anthropologist should be doing, rather than passing judgement on a people. These are unbiased because the terms are merely observations of the society, free of judgement, or the holistic view of the people compared to the whole of humankind.
3) For the two biased terms: mysticism and sadistic/masochistic tendencies, no unbiased word that communicates the same idea and intent comes to mind. This is because ethnocentrism is embedded in both of them, with my intent at the time to compare them to my own standards and show these people as being of a lower caliber to my own culture. In reality, both terms can be replaced with commitment, specifically to self-image and physical appearance. This is the closest thing I can come to that is free of my own ethnocentric bias and communicates the information about the Nacerima that I wanted to say.
4) It is imperative to any objective study, especially that of people, to limit the biases of the researcher. You cannot consider something true or factual unless you can prove that it is the truth. In regard to cultural anthropology, this means that the truth can only come from those who know it. Only the people of a culture can truly understand their culture or teach others about it. To understand a culture or a people, ultimately, it is absolutely necessary to become a part of it. By limiting one's own biases, you allow yourself to become more immersed in a culture and people, therefore gaining the most knowledge possible about it and not your own comparisons between the culture and your own. It is impossible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist, but it is possible and recommended that a Cultural Anthropologist control their own bias to the best of their ability. The more you limit your own bias from impacting your work, the closer you come to truly understanding a people that is not your own.
Mystical: These people are mystical in the sense of the degree they hold magic, magical men, and rituals in high cultural esteem. Every person has their own set of rituals they must partake in daily, monthly, or even yearly. The devotion and belief shown to the mystical is similar to any modern religious devotion, but different in regard to the types of rituals. The people are almost obsessed with purifying their bodies, usually through painful means. From men's daily cutting of the face to the yearly visit to the holy-mouth-man to prefer rudimentary dental work in order to purify and prevent decay, although a futile effort. The devotion to their mysticism is so strong that people willingly go to latipso, or temple, in order to seek a cure when very sick (even with death being the likely result, a more painful one at that if accompanied with a temple visit).
Masochist/Sadist: The Nacerima people can be deemed as both masochistic and sadistic. The rituals of these people seem to revolve around the inflicting of pain on oneself or others. The holy-mouth-men seem to enjoy the excruciating pain they inflict in order to purify their patient's mouth. There are rituals for both fat people and thin people, for women with small breasts and large breasts, and the only thing that seems consistent is the want to change people for the sake of changing them or just causing pain and discomfort.
Specialization: The specialization apparent in this society, especially based around their mysticism, is astounding. There are medicine men who serve much like doctors, giving their client a unique recipe for their illness, but written in a language only the herbalists and medicine men themselves can understand, preventing the client from making the curative potion them self. The holy-mouth-men serve as pseudo-dentists, the maidens of the latipso serve as rudimentary nurses, and the witch-doctors serve like hospital doctors within the temple. Everyone seems to have their own trade and way of surviving in this mystical economy. Every person is also expecting compensation for their services, making these people much like our own. Service, such as the temple care, is even refused without pay, much like our current healthcare service in the United States.
Advanced: The Nacerima are definitely an advanced, complex society. The amount of specialization within this society and economic roles is astounding, especially when all of these complexities are merely those associated with the mystical culture of the people. The mystical healthcare developed by these people is not something to be undermined or under appreciated. What these people have accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. The diversity of care and the amount of people involved at all levels is a testament to the people's resourcefulness and culture.
Human: In Anthropology, especially Cultural Anthropology, it is imperative to never forget the human element when studying a people. The portion of the article that really brought this to the forefront of my mind was the comment of the child in regard to the temple: "That is where you go to die." Nothing resonates as familiar as the innocence of a child and an improper comment. I can guarantee that the comment by the child would be seen as irreverent and inappropriate given the importance given to mystical healthcare by the Nacerima, but when it comes to children, the truth is the truth. In regard to these people, the truth is that the first thing to come to mind when studying them is that they are people, even with the stark differences compared to ourselves and our culture.
1) As an American, and with the knowledge that the Nacirema are actually my own people, I find my choice of words mostly true. The emphasis on mysticism showed my own bias against what I deemed to be an ultimately simple society. Rather than explain their beliefs and culture, I passed my own judgement on a people I knew hardly anything about. Given the ability to be an outsider in regard to my own culture, I think the rest of my word choices were true. My civilization has a trend for masochism and sadism, is quite specialized and advanced, and are still human.
2) I believe my biased choices were mystical and masochist/sadist. The mysticism of the Nacirema was my own ethnocentric viewpoint of what I deemed as simple beliefs. In my mind, their mysticism was placed in lower esteem than organized religion, rationalizing that the people were simple and backwards. The idea of the people being masochistic or sadistic also shows judgement on my end. What makes them interested in inflicting pain on themselves and others? What evidence is there that they enjoy doing this? Plastic surgery, dental hygiene, and hospital care are all seen as normal endeavors for beauty and/or health. Nothing masochistic or sadistic is applied to them in American society in my mind, but the Nacirema are not as lucky. The remaining three keywords are free of biases; they are similar to what an Anthropologist should be doing, rather than passing judgement on a people. These are unbiased because the terms are merely observations of the society, free of judgement, or the holistic view of the people compared to the whole of humankind.
3) For the two biased terms: mysticism and sadistic/masochistic tendencies, no unbiased word that communicates the same idea and intent comes to mind. This is because ethnocentrism is embedded in both of them, with my intent at the time to compare them to my own standards and show these people as being of a lower caliber to my own culture. In reality, both terms can be replaced with commitment, specifically to self-image and physical appearance. This is the closest thing I can come to that is free of my own ethnocentric bias and communicates the information about the Nacerima that I wanted to say.
4) It is imperative to any objective study, especially that of people, to limit the biases of the researcher. You cannot consider something true or factual unless you can prove that it is the truth. In regard to cultural anthropology, this means that the truth can only come from those who know it. Only the people of a culture can truly understand their culture or teach others about it. To understand a culture or a people, ultimately, it is absolutely necessary to become a part of it. By limiting one's own biases, you allow yourself to become more immersed in a culture and people, therefore gaining the most knowledge possible about it and not your own comparisons between the culture and your own. It is impossible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist, but it is possible and recommended that a Cultural Anthropologist control their own bias to the best of their ability. The more you limit your own bias from impacting your work, the closer you come to truly understanding a people that is not your own.
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