Anthropology Mini Essays

ANTHR 1 Biological Anthropology Lecture # 1 — The Anthropological Perspective and Scientific Method Getting Started • Be sure to read the entire syllabus • Take a look around Canvas and see what is posted, get yourself familiar with how it works • Complete the first assignment — Introductions on the Discussion Board • Complete the assigned readings, videos, and weekly discussion posts • ASK if you have any questions Today’s Questions • What is anthropology? • What is biological anthropology? • What is the anthropological perspective? • What are the steps of the scientific method? • What questions does biological anthropology try to answer? What is anthropology? • Greek – Anthropos = “man” or “human” – Logos = “study of ” or “word” • Sub -Fields – Cultural Anthropology – Archaeology – Linguistics – Biological Anthropology http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/ Vitruvian.jpg Biological Anthropology • “…study of human biology within the framework of evolution and with an emphasis on the interaction between biology and culture” ( Jurmain et al. 2010: 9 -10). Biological Anthropology • Study of biocultural evolution • The mutual, interactive evolution of human biology and culture – biology makes culture possible – culture influences biological evolution https://boneclones.com/images/store -product/product -1377 -main -main -big-1416944533.jpg Biocultural Evolution • Evolution is a change in the genetic make -up of a population from one generation to the next. • Culture is the primary human adaptation — it is the human adaptive strategy, how we adapt to the environment • Culture is a characteristic of being human — all humans have culture (not to say other animals do not have culture), a set of behavioral norms shared by a group and passed on through generations through social learning mechanisms. Human Nature • Part of what biological anthropology does is try to understand what human nature is. • Take 5 minutes and jot down some of your ideas about human nature. – Whatever comes to mind… Now that you have written down your ideas about human nature… Now that you have written down your ideas about human nature… FORGET THEM! Unlearn what you have learned • http://youtu.be/z4jeREy7Pbc Anthropological Perspective Anthropological Perspective • We often base our ideas about human nature, about what it means to be human, on our own experience and through the lens of our own cultural context. This gives us a very limited and very biased view of human nature and the human experience. • We, and everything we know, ARE BRAND NEW. How old is stuff? Stuff Years Old Electronic Computers 50 Modern Nation State 200 Cities 6000 Agriculture 10,000 Homo sapiens 200,000 First hominin (bipedalism) 6,000,000 Primates 65,000,000 Mammals 200,000,000 Animals 600,000,000 LIFE ON EARTH 3,800,000,000 Planet Earth 4,500,000,000 The Universe 13,770,000,000 Anthropological Perspective • Humans must be approached as a highly variable species and the full range of that variation, biological and cultural, must be considered when drawing scientific conclusions. • All humans have the same basic needs but the means by which they obtain necessary resources, particularly regarding food and reproduction, can vary dramatically cross -culturally Would you eat these? http://www.gen.wur.nl/UK/Staff/Scientific+Staff/Duur+Aanen/ Why not? http://www.planetscott.com/babes/nutrition.asp Culture and Food • Culture tells us what food is • Insects are an important component of the human diet and have been throughout our evolutionary history Anthropological Perspective • “Many of the things we take for granted as natural, divinely given, logically necessary, or practically indispensable for life in an orderly, safe and decent society are neither natural, divinely given, logically necessary, nor practically indispensable for such life. They are products of a local history, ways of seeing and being in the world that may lend meaning and value to our own form of life but are not the only ways to lead a meaningful and valuable life.” — Richard Schweder How Humans Explain Stuff • Anthropology is a social science – Scientific method – Humans are subject matter • Many bodies of human knowledge are concerned with explaining how the world works: – Science – Religion/mythology Differences in How Knowledge Is Acquired and Evaluated • Religion/Mythology – Supernatural explanations for natural phenomena – Cannot be tested, falsified, or verified • Science – Natural explanations for natural phenomena – Can be tested, falsified, or verified – A process of explaining natural phenomena by means of observation, developing explanations or hypotheses, and then devising a research design or series of experiments to test those hypotheses Ibn al - Haytham (965 - 1039) http://historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/images/Ibn_al -haytham.png http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42652000/gif/_426523 57_iraq_prov_sec_map416.gif ***First person to articulate the Scientific Method *** Scientific Method Ask a Question State Hypothesis -- Predictions Data Collection Data Analysis Conclusion — Accept or Reject Hypothesis Observation Report Results Hypothesis and Theory • Hypothesis — a provisional explanation of a phenomenon; requires falsification or verification through testing • Theory — a broad statement of scientific relationships or underlying principles; makes sense of the observable realities of the natural world Theory • A theory is an explanatory framework used to unify many strains of evidence into one cohesive model for explaining an observable, natural phenomenon. A theory is a statement of scientific relationships verified through hypothesis testing. – Theories are not absolute truths since they can be disproved in light of new evidence. For example, the shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric solar system. – Theories are tested explanations of facts. Theories make sense of facts. Science Is About Questions • What questions does biological anthropology try to answer? How do we go from this… a tree shrew -like animal that is the common ancestor of all primates http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog105/pages/demos/106/unit08/media/treeshrew.jpg To the great diversity of primate species today? http://primatology.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/goo dman_mouse_lemur.jpg Photo by Kevin Schafer Photo by Yan Kanghui How did we go from an ape - like ancestor we shared with bonobos and chimpanzees…. Photo by Me Photo by Kyleb Wild To the Great Diversity of Modern Humans? Sub - Disciplines • Paleoanthropology • Osteology /Functional Morphology • Forensic Anthropology/ Paleopathology • Human Biology/Anthropometry • Primatology