concept review 1 and 2 Flashcards
What do we mean when we say that culture is invisible?
Culture influences everything we do and believe but its influence is often invisible to us and so we must understand cultures in order to understand the human species (importance of the influence of culture)
What is the “truth” about cultures that Anthropologists seek?
The core values of a culture
What kind of behavior was most responsible for human survival?
Cooperation
How did the survival of early humanity depend on Social Networks?
We weren’t likely to survive compared to our competitors. Our senses were not as good and we were at a disadvantage. We were the hunted instead of the hunters. But we became dominant after forming these social networks and cooperating with each other.
Explain what we mean when we say that all cultures are dynamic? Why is this not always obvious?
All cultures are dynamic because they’re all in a constant state of change. This is not always obvious because traditional cultures change slower than contemporary.
What is the “great paradox of culture”?
Culture limits our choices (what we eat, how we dress, how we act, what we believe) but at the same time allows us to become fully human (without others we could never reach our full potential as a human being. We need each other, we need to belong to a social network. But it is not the quantity of people you know but the quality of those relationships which is important)
What are sanctions? Be able to give an example of both an external and an internal sanction.
- Sanctions are punishments for violations of appropriate behavior or beliefs of the enculturation process.
- External sanction is a punishment where they take things away from you like your wealth, life, or freedom (ex: jail)
- Internal sanction is a punishment from within you (ex: embarrassment or guilt)
Why are Symbols important?
Whomever controls symbols and their meanings controls reality past, present, and future
Why is it important to understand culture shock?
If we are not reflexive it can lead to ethnocentrism (the power enculturation process)
What is the real meaning of fieldwork? In order for the Anthropologist (as Fieldworker) to be successful what should be their attitude to the people and culture they are working with?
- As the fieldworker what we are doing/ asking people is to live with them for months at a time or a year. Since we want to be a part of their lives we are going to ask them intimate questions and have them share the most intimate details. Then we tell them we will write/record this information and show all this to people you don’t know and will never meet (this is the only way to learn about people)
- The only way that this is possible is if we become part of the community if we become accepted as one of them we gain their trust loyalty and love participant observation
Who are informants and why are they critical to fieldwork?
Those members of that community that we depend on to help interpret their culture to us. They are critical because they help us learn about the cultures, customs, and way of life.
In doing fieldwork what is the primary responsibility of the Anthropologist? Why?
Responsibility is always to those whose culture they are studying because we have asked them to trust us if we betray that trust then they will have no reason to share anything with us again
What was the Second Critical Stage in American Anthropology?
Late 19th/ Early 20th Century
According to Clifford Geertz, what is the human instruction manual for survival?
Our genetically encoded instincts we need an instruction manual culture is that manual (we aren’t driven our genetics)
What is one explanation for why humans are ethnocentric?
A strong identification with one’s own culture that directly creates a positive view of that culture
