Society/Culture and development

 The Yanomamo people have a different set of rules when it comes to killing than the people of the US. The Yanomamo see killing as a seemingly normal part of life that comes with its own special social structure and importance. They take a more "eye for an eye" approach to resolving these killings where they will seek out members of the opposing group and conduct a raid, in the US that is not the case at all. Killings in the US are not seen as normal life and those who've had a close friend or family member killed are not allowed to simply gather their people and seek revenge. There is a system in place that is nothing like that of the Yanomamos which doesn't allow the US people to retaliate. The process of revenge killings within the Yanomamos community can be seen as ritualistic and organized. This is because the kin of whoever was killed all gather up and decide to strike back. Planning trips that can take days to reach their destination. Besides this, the women wh...

 Fifteen minutes without symbolic language is a hard task; especially when the other person in the conversation doesn't know it's an experiment. Being the one who wasn't allowed to speak or write was uncomfortable and led to a lot of gesturing pointing and general miming without using real signs (as far as I know). It was essentially a game of charades, and how my participant acted before knowing what was happening. As I was trying to gesture my way into describing my day they were blurting out words and sentences trying to guess what I was trying to convey. With every change of facial que, a new try to the meaning came out. At times when there was something near me to demonstrate I had to grab, point, or mime with objects. In an odd way, I think that I really had the most power in that position. This is because as I was trying to convey they were trying to understand and that meant that I set the pace of the "conversation". As I was leading they were following an...

The Andean people come from the Andes mountains, a harsh high altitude life. In this environment, the average temperature is about 41 degrees Fahrenheit, with thin air, and scarce rainfall. Because of these factors, they have adapted both physically and culturally to their environment as all other humans have had to do on their own. Andeans have evolved to have a more efficient respiratory system as a whole because of their environment. To name a few adaptations, bigger lungs,  narrower alveolar to arterial O 2  gradients,  and increased cardiac O 2  utilization. These allow Andeans to breathe more easily in their high-altitude homes. A cultural adaptation is the use of coca leaves. These leaves were used to aid Andeans in walking long distances in their oxygen-deficient homes. Categorizing the Andeans by race or skin color without having any cultural background I would label them as Indian. The Zulu people from South Africa live in a subtropical climate that can hav...

The Nacerima are a group of people with very interesting practices and traditions. They can be described in many ways. based on a reading from  Horace Miner I would describe them as ritualistic, superstitious, barbaric, secretive, and forcibly shameful.  Firstly they are intensely ritualistic. The basic functions of their bodies are completely controlled by their culture. For instance, using the restroom only at home and nowhere else because they ritualize these interactions or are maybe even ashamed of them. They are also extremely strict and repetitive which is ritualistic. Doing things such as using holy water on a daily basis and consuming boar hairs. This plays into their superstition. Superstition is in every culture but I would say it is not widely practiced by all in every culture. From the reading by Horace Miner, it seems that the community as a whole completely participates in different forms of superstitions. To the point where they don't even know why they have or...

 EClark said, "A society incapable of learning new concepts cannot grow". I believe this is also true for those who cannot learn from their past. Those that look at anthropologists as justifying immoral practices or behaviors refuse to look at the practices themselves. They're shutting themselves down and not allowing themselves to understand the reason these things have happened or are happening and how they could relate to others. Just something I thought was interesting.