Once upon a time (October 2013) I was contemplating the courses that I needed to complete my undergrad degree it turns out that I had two GE requirements that I needed to fill, "Global and Cultural Awareness" (because spending two weeks serving with people in Peru is not an indicator that I am aware of the rest of the world and their cultures) and "Social Science" (an oxymoron if I ever heard one). Naturally the only solution was to take "ANTHR 101 - Social/Cultural Anthropology" (because all seniors dream of taking classes with freshmen) to fill both credits at once.
At any rate the course has turned out to be mildly entertaining, and full of things to read and write about. Nearly every week we get to watch a short clip read some articles and write a two page paper on a random topic. (Ok, not totally random, but extremely varied.) Because I know that you were looking for a random semi-anthropological topic to muss over once a week I have decided to add those papers to the ones that go up.
Here's the first round, again please note I have tendency to write these in my three sporadic hours before class the day the paper is due (which is Monday which automatically means a loss in brain power). Also, note I use the IEEE citation style (I can't break all of my engineering habits).
Topic: Root of Inequality
Despite concerted efforts in the last one hundred and fifty years or so, inequality continues to plague the world. Given that all peoples have relatively the same amounts of intelligence, ingenuity, and other qualities that collectively form ability; the source of this inequality remains a highly debated topic even among scholars. In his book, and subsequent film, the anthropologist Jared Diamond proposed that the root of this technological inequality stems from the lack of access to protein rich food sources to certain early peoples.The work of earlier anthropologists, such as Franz Boas’ theory that societies do not all follow a single natural law and E. B. Tylor’s theory that societies could only gain technology by inventing it themselves or receiving it from another society, as well as modern examples of the lack of proper nutrition complement Diamond’s work.
In the movie Guns, Germs and Steel anthropologist Jared Diamond proposes that the availability of protein to early societies led to the gross inequality of technology seen around the world today. [1] Diamond’s theory states that an increase in the availability of protein (through plant and animal sources) directly led to specialization of labor and then to increasing technological advances. [1] Together they help explain how one seemingly insignificant factor, such as the availability of protein, could lead to the widespread inequality seen around the globe today.
Therefore, because some societies, particularly those in the south Pacific, did not have access to high protein foods these societies did not advance technologically until much later than those that did have this access. In the early 1900s anthropologist Franz Boas published a book outlining one of his primary theories on the evolution of societies. His theory included the idea that societal development is not tied to a universal natural law. [2] Diamond’s and Boas’ theories clearly support each other because if societies all developed according to a natural law then they would all develop at the same rate. However, observation shows that some societies remain (technologically) thousands of years behind others. Therefore, all societies are not following one road map to success. Diamond proposed that regional availability of protein cause these discrepancies, and indeed tracking the origins of the most advanced of today’s societies shows that they all came from one or two regions with an abundance of protein-rich foodstuffs.
Opponents of this theory may question how then, with the spread of people around the globe, this discrepancy remains so great. Anthropologist E.B. Tylor proposes a quick answer. According to his work Tylor theorized that societies have only three means of gaining technologies: 1) independent invention, 2) inheritance from relatives or ancestors in a distant region, 3) transmission from one society to another. [2] Diamond tells us that the societies did not have a sufficient quantity of nutritional food to allow either independent invention (too much time needed to gather food) or inherit from relatives (they did not have food and could not travel far from their known food sources). [1] As for the last mode written history relates the story of societies unwilling to share their technology because they jealously guarded their secrets to remain the rulers of the world.
Although many may point to other factors that have contributed to the technological inequality seen around the world today, the fact remains that the beginning of this discrepancy comes from something that a few societies had and the others did not. Jared Diamond’s study show that the “haves” had protein, and the others did not. Then the “haves” simply evolved, and advanced technologically, along a different path until the point where they became so advanced that they refused to share the knowledge they had with the less advanced peoples that they would eventually met. Thus resulting in the global dilemma we face today: the drastic technological inequality seen around the world today.
Works Cited
At any rate the course has turned out to be mildly entertaining, and full of things to read and write about. Nearly every week we get to watch a short clip read some articles and write a two page paper on a random topic. (Ok, not totally random, but extremely varied.) Because I know that you were looking for a random semi-anthropological topic to muss over once a week I have decided to add those papers to the ones that go up.
Here's the first round, again please note I have tendency to write these in my three sporadic hours before class the day the paper is due (which is Monday which automatically means a loss in brain power). Also, note I use the IEEE citation style (I can't break all of my engineering habits).
Topic: Root of Inequality
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| UBC Museum of Anthropology Photo Credit: Tim Gillin via Flikr |
Despite concerted efforts in the last one hundred and fifty years or so, inequality continues to plague the world. Given that all peoples have relatively the same amounts of intelligence, ingenuity, and other qualities that collectively form ability; the source of this inequality remains a highly debated topic even among scholars. In his book, and subsequent film, the anthropologist Jared Diamond proposed that the root of this technological inequality stems from the lack of access to protein rich food sources to certain early peoples.The work of earlier anthropologists, such as Franz Boas’ theory that societies do not all follow a single natural law and E. B. Tylor’s theory that societies could only gain technology by inventing it themselves or receiving it from another society, as well as modern examples of the lack of proper nutrition complement Diamond’s work.
In the movie Guns, Germs and Steel anthropologist Jared Diamond proposes that the availability of protein to early societies led to the gross inequality of technology seen around the world today. [1] Diamond’s theory states that an increase in the availability of protein (through plant and animal sources) directly led to specialization of labor and then to increasing technological advances. [1] Together they help explain how one seemingly insignificant factor, such as the availability of protein, could lead to the widespread inequality seen around the globe today.
Therefore, because some societies, particularly those in the south Pacific, did not have access to high protein foods these societies did not advance technologically until much later than those that did have this access. In the early 1900s anthropologist Franz Boas published a book outlining one of his primary theories on the evolution of societies. His theory included the idea that societal development is not tied to a universal natural law. [2] Diamond’s and Boas’ theories clearly support each other because if societies all developed according to a natural law then they would all develop at the same rate. However, observation shows that some societies remain (technologically) thousands of years behind others. Therefore, all societies are not following one road map to success. Diamond proposed that regional availability of protein cause these discrepancies, and indeed tracking the origins of the most advanced of today’s societies shows that they all came from one or two regions with an abundance of protein-rich foodstuffs.
Opponents of this theory may question how then, with the spread of people around the globe, this discrepancy remains so great. Anthropologist E.B. Tylor proposes a quick answer. According to his work Tylor theorized that societies have only three means of gaining technologies: 1) independent invention, 2) inheritance from relatives or ancestors in a distant region, 3) transmission from one society to another. [2] Diamond tells us that the societies did not have a sufficient quantity of nutritional food to allow either independent invention (too much time needed to gather food) or inherit from relatives (they did not have food and could not travel far from their known food sources). [1] As for the last mode written history relates the story of societies unwilling to share their technology because they jealously guarded their secrets to remain the rulers of the world.
Although many may point to other factors that have contributed to the technological inequality seen around the world today, the fact remains that the beginning of this discrepancy comes from something that a few societies had and the others did not. Jared Diamond’s study show that the “haves” had protein, and the others did not. Then the “haves” simply evolved, and advanced technologically, along a different path until the point where they became so advanced that they refused to share the knowledge they had with the less advanced peoples that they would eventually met. Thus resulting in the global dilemma we face today: the drastic technological inequality seen around the world today.
Works Cited
[1]
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Guns, Germs and
Steel. [Film]. USA: Public Broadcasting
Station, 2005.
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[2]
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D. Crandall, A Short
Introduction to Anthropology, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 2011.
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Thanks for sharing these ideas. It is not something I would have been thinking about as I make bread this morning.
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