The Usefulness of Anthropology
The Usefulness
of Anthropology
For many centuries,
the idea of traveling to the moon was only a dream. Yet in 1969 the dream
became a reality when a U.S. Air Force officer gingerly planted his space boot
in the moon dust, As the moon shot demonstrates, we know a great deal about the
laws of nature in the physical world. If we did not understand so much, the
technological achievements we are so proud of would not be possible.
In comparison, we k
now little about people, about how and why they behave as they do. When we
consider the great number of social problems facing us, the importance and
relevance of continuing research in cultural anthropology and the other social
sciences become evident. Since social problems such as violence in the streets
and wars between nations are products of human behaviour, we need to find out
what conditions produce those problems. Once we gain such understanding, we may
be able to change the conditions and so solve the problems.
That anthropology
and other sciences dealing with humans began to develop only relatively
recently is not in itself a sufficient reason for our knowing so little. Why,
in our quest for knowledge of all kinds, did we wait so long to study
ourselves? Leslie White has suggested that in the history of science those
phenomena most remote from us and least significant as determinants of human
behaviour were the first to be studied. The reason for this, he suggests, is
that humans like to think of themselves as citadels off free will, subject to
no laws of nature. Hence there is no need to see ourselves as objects to be
explained.[1] Even
today, society’s unwillingness to accept the notion that human behaviour is
objectively explainable is reflected in the popularity of astrology as a
determining factor in human behaviour. It is highly improbable that the stars
could account for human behaviour when there are no known mechanisms by which
they could influence people. Yet as long as such far-removed and improbable
“causes” can pass for explanations, more reasonable explanations will not be sought,
much less tested.
The belief that it
is impossible to account for human behaviour scientifically, either because our
actions and beliefs are too individualistic and complex or because human beings
are understandable only in otherworldly terms, is a self-fulfilling idea. We
cannot discover principles explaining human behaviour if we neither believe
there are such principles nor brothers to look for them. The result is ensured
from the beginning: those who do not believe in principles of human behaviour
will be reinforced by their finding none. If we are to increase our
understanding of human beings, we first have to believe it is possible to do
so.
Anthropology is
useful, then, to the degree that it contributes to our understanding of human
beings. In addition, it is useful because it helps us to avoid
misunderstandings between peoples. If we can understand why other groups are
different from ourselves, we might have less reason to condemn them for
behaviour that appears strange to us. We may then come to realize that many
differences among peoples are products of physical and cultural adaptations to
different environments.
For example,
someone not very knowledgeable about the! King[2] of the
Kalahari Desert of southern Africa might decide that those people are savages.
!Kung wear little clothing, have few possessions, live in meager shelters, and
enjoy none of our technological niceties. But let us reflect on how a typical
North American community might react if it awoke to find itself in an environment
similar to that in which the !Kung live. The people would find that the land
makes both agriculture and animal husbandry impossible, and they might have to
think about adopting a nomadic existence. They might then discard many of their
material possessions so that they could travel easily, in order to take
advantage of changing water and wild food supplies. Because of the extreme heat
and the lack of extra water for laundry, they might find it more practical to
be almost naked than to wear clothes. They would undoubtedly find it impossible
to build elaborate homes. For social security, they might start to share the
food brought into the group. Thus, if they survived at all, they might end up
looking and acting far more like the !Kung than like typical North Americans.
Physical
differences, too, may be seen as results of adaptations to the environment. For
example, in our society we admire people who are tall and slim. However, if
these same individuals were forced to live above the Arctic Circle, they might
wish they could trade their tall, slim bodies for short, compact ones, since
stocky physiques appear to conserve body hear more effectively and may
therefore be more adaptive in cold climates.
Exposure to
anthropology might help to alleviate some of the misunderstandings that arise
between people of different cultural groups from subtle causes operating below
the level of consciousness. For example, different cultures have different
conceptions of the gestures and interpersonal distances that are appropriate
under various circumstances. Arabs consider it proper to stand close enough to
other people to smell them.[3]Judging
from the popularity of deodorants in our culture, Americans seem to prefer to
keep the olfactory dimension out of interpersonal relations. When someone comes
too close, we may feel he or she is being too intimate. However, we should
remember that this person may only be acting according to a culturally
conditioned conception of what is proper in a given situation. If our
intolerance for others results in part from a lack of understanding of why
peoples vary, then the knowledge accumulated by anthropologists may help lessen
that intolerance.
Knowledge of our
past may also bring both a feeling of humility and a sense of accomplishment.
If we are to attempt to deal with the problems of our world, we must be aware
of our vulnerability, so that we do not think the problems will solve
themselves. But we also have to think enough of our accomplishments to believe
we can find solutions to our problems.
It may be that much
of the trouble people get themselves into is a result of their feelings of
self-importance and invulnerability – in short, their lack of humility. Knowing
something about our evolutionary past may help us to understand and accept our
place in the biological world. Just as for any other form of life, there is no
guarantee that any particular human population, or even the entire human
species, will perpetuate itself indefinitely. They earth changes, the
environment changes, and humanity itself changes, so that what survives and
flourishes in the present might not do so in the future.
Yet our
vulnerability should not make us feel powerless. There are many reasons to feel
confident about the future. Consider what we have accomplished so far. By means
of tools and weapons fashioned from sticks and stones, we were able to hunt
animals larger and more powerful than ourselves. We discovered how to make fire
and we learned to use it to keep ourselves warm and to cook our food. As we domesticated
plants and animals, we gained greater control over our food supply and were
able to establish more permanent settlements. We mined and smelted ores to
fashion more durable tools. We built cities and irrigation systems, monuments
and ships. We made it possible to travel from one continent to another in a
single day. We conquered various illnesses and prolonged human life.
In short, human
beings and their cultures have changed considerably over the course of history.
Some human populations – though different ones at different times – have been
able to adapt to changing circumstances,. Let us hope that humans continue to
adapt to the challenges of the present and the future.
Anthropology is literally the study of human beings. It differs from
other disciplines concerned with people in that it is broader in scope. It is
concerned with humans in all places of the world (not simply those places close
to us), and it traces human evolution and cultural development from millions of
years ago to the present day.
Another distinguishing feature of anthropology is its holistic
approach to the study of human beings. Not only do anthropologists study all
ware varieties of people, they also study all aspects of those peoples’
experiences.
Anthropologists are concerned with identifying and explaining
typical characteristics of particular human populations. Such a characteristic
might be any human trait or custom.
Physical anthropology is one of the major fields of the discipline.
Physical anthropology studies the emergence of humans and their later physical
evolution (the focus called human paleontology). It also studies how and why
contemporary human population very biologically (the focus called human
variation).
The second broad area of concern to anthropology is cultural
anthropology. Its three subfields-archeology, anthropological linguistics, and
ethnology – all deal with aspects of human culture 0- that is, with the
customary ways of thinking and behaving of a particular society.
Archeologists seek not only to reconstruct the daily life and
customs of prehistoric peoples but also to trace cultural changes and offer
possible explanations of those changes. Therefore, archeologists try to
reconstruct history from the remains of human cultures.
Anthropological linguists are concerned with the emergence of
language and with the divergence of languages over time (a subject known as
historical linguistics). They also study how contemporary languages differ,
both in construction (structural or descriptive linguistics) and in use in
actual speech (sociolinguistics).
The ethnologist seeks to understand how and why peoples of today and
the recent past differ in their customary ways of thinking and acting. One type
of ethnologist, the ethnographer, usually spends a year or so living with,
talking to, and observing the customs of a particular population. Later, he or
she may prepare a detailed report of the group’s behaviour, which is called an
ethnography. Another type of ethnologist, the ethnolhistorian, investigates
written documents to determine how the ways of life of a particular group of
people have changed over time. A third type of ethnologist – the cross-cultural
research-studies data collected by ethnographers and ethnohistorians for a
sample of cultures and attempts to discover which explanations of particular
customs may be generally applicable.
Anthropology may help people to be more tolerant. Anthropological
studies can show us why other people are the way they are, both culturally and
physically. Customs or actions of theirs that appear improper or offensive to
us may be adaptations to particular environmental and social conditions.
Anthropology is also valuable in that knowledge of our past may
bring us both a feeling of humility and a sense of accomplishment. Like any
other form of life, we have no guarantee that any particular human population
will perpetuate itself indefinitely. Yet, knowledge of our achievements in the
past may give us confidence in our ability to solve the problems of the future.
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