Finals week has already begun. It is Friday afternoon and I have just submitted my final examination for anthropology. I need to do some laundry and pack before I go out to a fun party. Okay, I suppose I deserve this. This was my busiest week ever. This was the first week I had 5 exams, including my paper. I need to get up very early tomorrow morning. I’m hoping to catch my flight from Pullman Airport at 6am. It’s summer in my hometown, so that is the most exciting part of returning home. Lima is one of South America’s mildest cities, and it’s right on the coast. Get ready for a fun-filled night and morning.
The Sunday morning has come and gone and I am home. I was picked up from the Airport by my parents, and then taken to a restaurant for a conversation about the life that I have here in the United States. They ask me a few questions. I answer their first question about tennis. I play here for the Vandal Tennis Team, which is part of the University of Illinois. I told them I had an excellent semester in tennis, with good results. The next semester should be very difficult, because the Vandal Tennis Team will be making a number of trips. My parents and relatives were also concerned about the grades I received and the courses I had taken this semester. I told my parents that I had taken Calculus 3, Computer Science, Chemistry 112, Engineering Statics and Introduction to Anthropology. They asked me about my grades. They were asking about my classes and we started a long conversation.
As I read Marvin Harris book, witchcraft was what really caught my attention. People practice witchcraft for its excitement and entertainment. Marvin Harris claims that people engage in occult, mystical and other practices like Ouija or Zen on a regular basis. It is due in large part to the fact that people are attracted to “counter cultures” which oppose the scientific and philosophical advancements of this century. People who participate in these activities believe that imagination and feelings are important. They think that science and objectivity is bad. Witchcraft is a way to enjoy yourself and be happy. Religion is a lot like witchcraft. The world is viewed differently by religion than it is by science. Many religions believe that the all-knowing God created man. Many religions believe that fate is the cause of events, as well as many other ideas and facts that are not supported scientifically.
Marvin Harris, who has written a comprehensive definition of environmental determinism, states that this is the idea that the environment, especially its physical factors, can have an enormous and often controlling effect on people, which may not change over time and affects them in all aspects. Environmental determinism is defined by a geographical definition as the idea that the physical environment, such as weather or landforms, dictates patterns of culture and society. Environmental determinists claim that the environment, climate, and geography are all that determine human culture. Individual decisions or social conditions do not have much of an impact. Marvin Harris’ environmental-determinism represents the anthropological approach to different cultures.
Why is it important to feed a baby breast milk and to teach her how to do so? Meredith Small defines parental ethnotheories as “parental belief system that has complex cultural and psychological histories” (Small 1998, p. 56). These beliefs, which are usually passed from generation to another, are vital for a baby’s healthy growth. In the first few months of life, babies are not able to chew or eat anything but breastmilk. This is only done for a few days and then a baby should be introduced to more food.
Enculturation is what they are. Each one is a part of a single and unique culture.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Indians must be studied in the same way as other parts of nature.” Thomas, p. 29, says that American indians can be studied objectively, as he would mammoth bones or fruit trees from his garden. When i first heard this, it was shocking. But i soon realized that many anthropologists today are still using the same approach to cultures that follow a hunter-gatherer way of life. It’s an interesting way to look back at our history. Jefferson’s statement was made for this reason, I believe. Alice Fletcher, an anthropologist, was a pioneer in recording Indian culture. She was also in favor of ensuring that Indians lived like whites. The Daws Act was created by this woman, which led to a destruction of indian heritage.
Morgan’s social evolution theory is the subject of Chapter 5, and it discusses Morgan’s belief that barbarism and savagery are germs in our minds. He concluded intermarrying would remove the biological flaw that caused barbarism and create respectable people. Unfortunately, the anthropology community accepted his research. “The highest percentages of people who tolerate lactose were among populations living in an area that overlapped with the ancient territory of Funnel Beaker cultures” (Wade, 2006, 137). This phrase allows me to say that people’s inability to tolerate lactose today is not due to a slight metabolism defect, but rather human evolution. The term human evolution is now more complex, encompassing not just physical but also psychological and cultural changes.
