Savage Minds is a sociocultural anthropological blog who’s writing is meant to be accessible to the public. The authors vary between graduate students and anthropologists whose relevant discussions may be appreciated by those looking to read for leisure, as well as, anthropologist looking to stay up to date with their colleagues and the modern topics they are entertaining. I have chosen blog posts by Adam Fish and Nick Seaver. Adam Fish is a cultural anthropologist, a teacher and researcher at the Sociology Department of Lancaster University, UK. The blog posts I have chosen written by him are: “The genie is out of the bottle – it’s foolish to think encryption can now be banned” and “Interview: An anthropologist on Tiger Woods”. On the other hand, Nick Seaver is a PhD candidate in anthropology at UC Irvine. Conducting his research with developers of algorithmic music recommender systems in the US. The article I have chosen by him is: “Computers and Sociocultural Anthropology”, a logical tittle for an academic, researching computational system while striving for a doctoral degree in the field. Seaver’s article concerns an “alternate universe anthropology” where Ideas about culture anthropology have been picked up or reinvented by people with no training in anthropology whose sole purpose is economic and technical gain. They are taking on big sociocultural questions and doing it with computers, modeling family ties in social networks, for example, Facebook’s social theories
Alister McGrath, from the very beginning of this book, plainly states what the dangerous idea is all about. “The dangerous new idea, firmly embodied at the heart of the Protestant
In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he goes on to tell a story about a young man’s journey to find himself. Chris Mccandless, is determined to find himself despite that he is not fully prepared in the Alaskan wilderness. The way Krakauer writes Into the Wild is an adventure itself because even though we are fully aware of the ending, he gives a rich story on how Christopher found himself there.
Before meeting Clarisse, Montag was a strong adherent of the societal function of book burning. He was rather oblivious to the ignorant and critically dull society he lived in. His meeting with Clarisse was the beginning of his Metamorphosis into a critically aware and enlightened individual, one who could see the errors of society in forming a bubble around them. This “bubble” forming that Clarisse leads Montag away from is a serious issue, and even affects our real modern day world.
Contrary to popular belief, unfreedom and slavery was not unheard of in early Canada. In Jacques Viger L 'esclavage en Canada/The Slave in Canada, he presents documentation of "purchase, regulation, and manumissions of Panis (Aboriginal) and Black slaves in early Canada," shining a light on an "often ignored" part of Canadian history . Through his article in the Visions textbook, Brett Rushforth exposes the horrifying ways in which unfreedom was practiced within Indigenous populations in the Pays d’en Haut. While Robin Winks focuses on the reason for the slow emergence of Negro salves within New France, and Kenneth Donovan concentrates on the role and experience of slaves, specifically in Ile Royale. Through their articles, these historians pull back the curtain that shrouds the truth of slavery and unfreedom in early Canada, unmasking the widely accepted deception that Canada was slave free.
Throughout his novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer’s own perspectives shape the way he tells the story of Chris McCandless. Krakauer’s writing style allows for varying interpretations of the primary motivations of his protagonist, ranging from sympathizing with Chris to perceiving him as selfish. This is especially evident when Krakauer describes an interview with Walt McCandless about his son’s death seven weeks after Chris’ body was found. However, various interpretations of Krakauer’s work can lead to differing points of view on the subject. While Krakauer’s description of Walt’s emotional reaction to his son’s death could indicate Chris’ selfishness in abandoning his family, it could also serve to justify Chris’ decision to embark on his journey into the Alaskan wilderness.
In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, seeks nature so that he can find a sense of belonging and the true meaning of who he is. However, it is the essence of nature that eventually takes his life away from him. At the end of his life, he is discovers his purpose and need of other people. After Chris McCandless death in Alaska, Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to reflect on the journey that McCandless makes. Krakauer protrays McCandless as a young man who is reckless, selfish, and arrogant, but at the same time, intelligent, determined, independent, and charismatic. Along with the irony that occurs in nature, these characteristics are the several factors that contribute to McCandless death.
The book written by Joel Spring was based on the constant derogation and the oppression of the people that were not considered “white”. The constant segregation between races caused many fights for equal rights among Native Americans, African American, Asian and Hispanic people. The conflict was never easy because the United States demonstrated an ethnocentric attitude, which caused the idea of deculturalization for many of the incoming immigrant races. The book demonstrates accuracy in many of the historical struggles between education, language, culture lands, and equal rights for a voice among the people in the United States.
Within anthropology there are two main schools of thought. These different views shape the philosophies of anthropologist who are classified as materialist, idealist, or falling in between. The materialist approach focuses on positivistic knowledge and empirical truths. Materialists’ use science and material elements within society to explain the basis for human culture and life; they consider anthropology one of the sciences. On the other hand, idealists consider anthropology one of the humanities. Idealists view culture and behavior as a pattern of interpretation of beliefs and ideas by the participants. This paper will discuss anthropologist Marvin Harris, a materialist, Clifford Geertz’s idealist point of view, and Eleanor Leacock’s approach
In her blog “ The Fakebook Generation,” later to be published in the New York Times on October 6, 2007, Alice Mathias enters the topic of the most used social networking service worldwide, Facebook. Mathias debates on Facebook’s claim of being a forum for “genuine personal and professional connections” (438) and tries to influence her readers to ask themselves if the website really promotes human relationships. Alice Mathias, a 2007 graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire has wrote several more columns before, in which one of them was even awarded the Waterhouse Research Award.
Response on “The Humans” By Matt Haig “The Humans” written by Matt Haig is one that alters my perspective on career choice. The fiction is set under an extraordinary background, which, as the plot drives on, insightfully reflects human nature and the true meaning of being a human. In particular, I like the idea that humans’ achievements are limited by the lengths of their lives. The author holds a ground that technology explosion must be supported by long-lived people, since the information and knowledge cannot be directly conveyed between brains. Saving the time spent on learning process between generations can significantly impact the outcome in limited amount of time.
Slaughterhouse-Five, a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, tells the story of the devastating effects of war on a man, Billy Pilgrim, who joins the army fight in World War II. The semi-autobiographical novel sheds light on one of history’s most tragic, yet rarely spoken of events, the 1945 fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany.
Criminal case is always tedious when it involves little or no information about the offender, like in the 9/11 terrorist attack which annihilated most of the workers in and damaged the New York Trade Center building. However, in an attempt to identify the offenders, government officials and investigators try out different ways such as criminal profiling and others. Thus, in the New Yorker article, “Dangerous Minds” by Malcolm Gladwell; the author informs the deeper problems with FBI profiling and argues that it is ineffective. He questions the usefulness of criminal profiling, “But how useful is that profile, really?” and uses other criminal cases, group research analyses, and analogies to refute
All people want from life is to find happiness. We have learn that it’s not as easy as it looks, we have to search for it, maybe not literal but learning to love ourselves. Everyone tries hard enough to get what they desire and work hard for it, but we can’t see what the future holds, so no one knows exactly what might happen. Tragedy can sometimes come when we least expect them while searching for what we believe can bring us peace and satisfaction. We see this in the novel, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer about a young man who is searching for what he believes might give him freedom, he goes on his own journey without knowing the end consequences. The author includes and arranges many features that help better understand why he wrote this
they perform the bulk of their work, and what it is they do in both problem
Humans are an interesting species because of the strong need humans have to fully understand what it truly means to be human. Many fields such as history, psychology, and sociology all offer a perspective in the study of humanity, but there are distinguishable from anthropology. Anthropology differs from other humanities fields due to its holistic nature, comparative research methods, and the strong emphasis on fieldwork and participant interaction. Anthropology is the study of people throughout the world, their evolutionary history, how they behave, adapt to different environments, communicate and socialize with one another. In order for anthropologists to examine the full scope of human life, they employ the four field approach that embodies the holistic nature of the field.