Cultural Anth Midterm Part 1 (quizzes 1-4)
What is Epistemology and why was it mentioned in the text?
A philosophical field used to explore how we know what we know, something that the Matses people are good at by virtue of how they are required to speak
What does the National Academy of Sciences define as, "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world"?
A scientific theory
How was Miley Cyrus an important ritual leader for Nacirema youth?
In 2013 she had the most watched strecnoc when she performed and sang about what it was like to grow up among the Nacirema, She sang about core Nacirema ideals such as freedom and choice
Our kinship system, which distinguishes one's closest blood relatives from more distant relatives supports core values that emphasize what type of family?
Independent Nuclear Family
What is the power to pay attention to alternatives and to be aware of the pliable and conditional aspects of our world?
Mindfulness
What are the sounds a language uses?
Phonemes
Which of the following are rituals and values of the Nacirema?
Strecnoc, Ablution using purified water, Going to the myg temple, Ingesting charms given to them by medicine men
Of the following, what is a true ability that humans of certain cultures?
The Moken can willfully control the pupils of their eyes, The Jenna Kuruba of India train elephants and ride them, The Tarahumara can run over 400 miles without stopping, The Balinese developed water temples to manage water saving them from environmental collapse
According to the book, what is Edward Sapir known for?
The Principle of Linguistic Relativity
What remarkable human ability are Mandarin speakers 9 times more likely to have than English speakers
Perfect Pitch
Why should we want to study evolution?
To better understand our emotional responses, To understand who we are at the biological level, To help explain why we are prone to certain diseases
About what time did modern Homo sapiens appear?
200,000 years ago
What are the three parts to the anthropologist's toolkit?
Communication, empathy, and thoughtfulness
About when did our human ancestors split from chimpanzees and bonobos?
20 million years ago
A chart showing world population growth over the past 12,000 years looks like
A hockey stick
Miley Cyrus demonstrated that there are no limitations or guidelines on how to grow up and no clearly defined rules for what it means to be an adult. These things come at the cost of what core Nacirema values?
Freedom and choice
Of the following, what will you have to do in order to practice the art of being human?
Get comfortable with the uncomfortable, Overcome your fears, Step outside your comfort zone.
What happened to Kodenim after my father and the rest of the community washed him in an attempt to cool the witchcraft?
He died
According to the reading, what kind of questions give you new alternatives for how to think about your life, do not require answers, and are insights in themselves?
Questions that stem from the realization that your beliefs and practices are contingent
What is the Principle of Linguistic Relativity?
The idea that language affects our ways of seeing and thinking about the world
What was Dr. Wesch experiencing in his first few months in Papua New Guinea that George Cooley calls, "the looking glass self"?
The idea that who we are is reflected back to us by the people around us
What did Dan Lieberman discover in his study of the Harvard track team?
The injury rate for heel strikers is 2.6x that of forefoot strikers
What does it mean to understand that your beliefs and practices are contingent?
They don't need to exist or they could be very different, They are dependent on the historical and cultural conditions that led to them
What happens when people learn a new language?
They gain a new way of looking at the world
What tools make up "the fieldworker's toolkit"?
communication, empathy, and thoughtfulness
At one point Professor Wesch started crying on a ridge and 2 guys came up behind him and
cried with him without knowing why he was crying
What did Baby George learn to do in the first video?
go down stairs
What did Professor Wesch wrestle with one night in New Guinea soon after he first arrived?
his right arm
If the textbook had been written in a way that gave an equal number of pages to each historical period, what would appear on the last page?
humans are more prosperous than ever, unparalleled global inequality, a precarious environmental situation, the possibility of nuclear war
What values permeate the culture of the United States and impact all three levels of the barrel model of culture?
independence, individualism, choice, and freedom
Of the following, what is the BEST definition of ethnocentrism?
Holding one's own beliefs, values, ideas, ideals, and assumptions to be the only true and proper ones.
What is the power called that allows your mind to change your body and heal itself?
Placebo Effect
What was the purpose of Horace Miner's Nacirema article?
To force Americans to see the strange in the familiar and see their own culture like an anthropologist
What was the original advantage of adapting to walk on two legs?
To increase efficiency when traveling
Of the following, what are mismatch diseases a result of?
Too much of something, New behaviors we have not yet adapted to, Too little of something
True of false: Some humans have been reported to have run over 400 miles in a single go.
True
What does the previous question have to do with witchcraft?
In a gift-based society, people see their well-being as connected to their relationships with others
What modification did Dr. Wesch make to his statement that "great questions will take you farther than you ever thought possible" after his first few months in Papua New Guinea?
"...but it won't matter if you can't open up and connect with people when you get there."
Why does it matter if we say something "is" X vs. something "might be" X?
"might be" allows us to play with the idea as well as remember it better later on
What did Katy Bowman call the modern ailments that plague many people today such as bum knees or tight hamstrings
A disease of captivity
Who are the Nacirema?
Americans
What does the book refer to as "the essence of this science of human beings" as well as the "art of being human"?
Asking questions, making connections, and trying new things.
What is the scientific term for walking on two legs?
Bipedalism
What color dyes did not appear until about three thousand years ago?
Blue
The barrel model of culture
Can be broken down into three parts known as the infrastructure, social structure, and superstructure, Looks at culture as a complex integrated structure that shapes our lives, Can be divided into worldview, social organization, and economy
Of the following, what is an essential component of anthropology as stated in the reading?
Capturing and telling stories of humans in compelling ways.
We can make the world a better place if we're willing to do which of the following?
Challenge ourselves, Understand others with empathy, Shed the comfort of the familiar, Recognize our taken-for-granted assumptions.
The ancient hunting style of "Persistence Hunting" was used by our human ancestors and entails what?
Chasing animals until they die from exhaustion
What is the correct sequence of the habit loop?
Cue, Follow Through, Reward
What do the double arrows on the barrel model of culture represent?
Culture is integrated and dynamic, If the economy changes, social structure or worldview will change and if the worldview or social structure change the economy will too, If the social structure changes, the economy will too
What did Dr. Wesch experience in his first few months in Papua New Guinea that is defined as, "the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture"?
Culture shock
What is the ability to know exactly which direction is which at every moment of the day, even in unfamiliar territory after long travels?
Dead Reckoning
What are the verb forms used by the Matses that require speakers to indicate precisely how they know what they know?
Evidentials
What Nacirema game is Baby George especially good at?
Flog
What technique do anthropologists use to learn an unwritten language? In the reading, Professor Wesch notes that this technique allowed him to "unlock the language" in New Guinea once he knew the phrase "I am going to the garden."
Frame substitution
Why did Professor Wesch struggle to learn anything when he first went to New Guinea? (from the video for lesson one)
He was experiencing culture shock.
How are sweet potatoes different in a New Guinea village than they are at HyVee?
In New Guinea they are gifts. At HyVee they are commodities
Of the following, which are a part of the 10 Natural Utilities children have as observed by Georges Herbert?
Jumping, Fighting, Swimming
Historically, what was the first color to appear in a language besides black and white?
Red
What are the four parts of the art of seeing?
See big, see small, see our own seeing, see it all
The barrel model is a tool for which kind of seeing?
Seeing big
What is the BEST definition of a scientific fact?
Something that has been confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent
What is the term used for something that takes key features from natural objects we have evolved to crave and magnifies them to their most stimulating while not offering any actual reward?
Supernormal Stimuli
As what part of the brain expanded did we begin to rely less on nature and more on culture?
The neocortex
What is anthropology?
The study of all humans in all times in all places.
Why is it important to notice the metaphors we use?
When we notice them we can change them and build new understandings, They permeate our thoughts and deeply shape how we make sense of the world
What big question emerges after the industrial revolution?
Who am I? What am I going to do? Am I going to make it?
Which colors are important in identifying the health and ripeness of many plants?
Yellow and Green
When carrying large bundles of wet bamboo, who among the following proved most able?
a small elderly Papua New Guinea woman
What is the key to changing our habits?
change the routine the cue triggers
What is the holistic perspective?
understanding all elements of culture as interconnected
Of the following, which are physiological traits of bipedalism?
An S shaped spine, Upward curving toes, A tilted pelvis
What allowed Dr. Wesch to understand that witchcraft beliefs were an integral part to a much larger system in these New Guinea villages?
Communication, Empathy, Thoughtfulness
Of the following, which is/are an example of participant observation?
Dr. Wesch learning about the Papua New Guinean dance style by dancing with them, Playing a game with some children and trying to understand the game's significance, Learning about a culture's traditional cuisine by cooking alongside someone from that culture.
What is a dead metaphor?
Metaphors we use in our thought that we do not see as metaphors at all
What kind of kinship system does a culture use if wealth is passed through the fathers line?
Patrilineal
What is an apparent weakness that is a strength in another context or generates strength over time?
Strengthness
According to the intro video for this course, what lies in sight at every new endeavor of life?
a fork in the road, rivers of doubt, mountains of fear, a smooth green path leading somewhere else, before the doubt and the fear
What "song" do humans all over the world "sing" to babies when the speak baby-talk?
the approval song (rising and falling pitch), the warning song (staccato), the comfort song, the question song
What object serves as a good metaphorical model of New Guinea social relations?
the bilum / string bag
