Anthropology Assignment, Essay Example

Anthropology developed and came to be recognized as a separate discipline under a fairly biased view of the colonial masters of yore who recognized it as a study exclusively about man in the nineteenth century where the lesser civilizations were considered primitive as compared with the benevolent and the superior colonial masters who ruled the world in that era. It incorporates elements of sociology, history and economics. Traditionally, anthropology has broadly been believed to incorporate mainly four fields which include biological/physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and cultural studies. The major determinants of anthropology studies have been the post mortem of historical evidence as gathered during excavations, surveys and laboratory examination of the collected material according to the available methods of analysis as and when they developed. Determining age by means of counting rings of the wooden remnants, carbon dating and thermo luminescence are some of the examples of the methods used in anthropological studies. Paleontology, archeological excavations, language studies, cultural variations and application of racial attributes have been some of the methods employed by modern day anthropologists, although their interpretations have been highly biased due to consideration of some civilizations as savage or barbaric when they did not conform to the western school of thought. This led to highly erroneous interpretations of some of the most developed cultures in the world.

A human society and its cultural exclusiveness is dependant upon the geographical location, the natural resources available for life sustenance, the climate and each culture develops in a harmonious manner according to the peculiarity of its circumstances. To judge that culture from a perspective when one is religiously and culturally indoctrinated in a particular manner is highly objectionable. Not only wrong it leads to wrong interpretations which are passed onto others who have been made to believe and carry the impression that the analyst is absolutely correct. Every human being upon gaining intelligible understanding of life, is driven by passion for one’ family, desire to provide shelter and food to one’s close relations and a will to propagate one’s family. This is a universal desire and drives man to apply means and methods to fulfill them which may be morally correct or not. Its is only the human species among all life forms which nurtures greed as an emotion which drives some to employ unnatural and morally incorrect means to achieve their ends.

The disease process of Kuru can be attributed to the unique cultural practice of the Fore society in which women and children were involved in the ritual of consumption of biological material obtained from their dead kin which propagated the now recognized virus which was responsible for the disease. Men, who were segregated from this ritual, had lesser incidence of the disease. Banning of cannibalism was a step which yielded results in the lowering of Kuru incidence in Papua New Guinea. The holistic approach to this disease had previously misinterpreted the phenomenon as a genetically inherited disease which was applied to that particular ethnic group which has been now proven to be wrong.

The emic perspective comes from a person from within a cultural identity to which he or she actually belongs while an etic perspective is from an outsider or observer who is culturally neutral.

Star arrangements in the sky have been interpreted differently although possessing similar attributes by civilizations which are culturally distinct. The Greek interpretations have mapped the constellations extensively and given it a rational structure while the Indians in east interpret the influence of stars and planets on their life as an actual reality.

Religion has evolved differently in different geographical locations due to the unique cultural and social practices prevalent there in accordance with the innate desires, understanding and comprehension of life as a whole. Folk psychology, evolutionary adaptations and purposeful violations of innate expectations have driven religious beliefs. It becomes difficult from a previously religiously indoctrinated individual to accept the truth in another religion without a sustained cultural exposure.