ANTHO205 Lecture 3 CONTINUED LECTURE 4 9 3 13 LECTURE 3 HOW DOES EVOLUTION RELATE TO CULTURE The capacity for culture is a biological adaptation EVIDENCE OF CULTURE IN OTHER ANIMALS Chimps MATCH BETWEEN CULTURE AND ADAPTEDNESS If culture led to random traditions no selection Cultural success associated with reproductive success CULTURAL TRAITS Food Taboos You re starving in India and you see a cow but you wont and you cant because of cultural standards Religion You might be the best looking guy ever but you wont be able to take full advantage of your features because of your religions and its rules Mating Rituals As a woman it would be in her best interest to go out and find a husband but IF it were in the 20 s the woman would have to wait for the male to come and offer marriage Gender Relations Women wearing Burkahs in the Middle East PROBLEMS TO SOLVE Recall culture provides solutions to the challenges faced by individuals o What to eat How to get the food How to build a shelter Which animals are dangerous Who should you copy o Your parents they do have your best interest at heart o The most common strategy Biased part of the brain do what s popular easy to conform o The most Successful Strategy Instead of doing what your parents do or going along with the most common strategy do what the most successful people did to help yourself get where they are were If people had a natural tendency to copy those who are successful then maybe CELEBS could be used to portray an image to the public o Humans are flexible we have multiple motivations and biases going on right now LECTURE 4 CULTURAL RELATIVISM CULTURAL RELATIVISM THE CONSIDERATION OF BEHAVIOR BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE PARTICULAR CULTURE FROM WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED ETHNOCENTRISM o Tsimane Women Bolivia o Japanese household no shoes in the house is cleanliness o Kayan woman Myanmar long neck is feminine beauty o Mursi woman Ethiopia o Zo e man Brazil o Himba woman Namibia o Wodaabe Men Niger MORAL RELATIVISM o Is distinct from cultural relativism The judgment of moral values based on the particular cultural historical and social context in which they are formed There exists no higher universal moral truth Afghan women wearing Burqas Gender Specific Punishments Taliban Film execution of woman accused of Adultery in Afghanistan o Acts Punishable by death in the Bible Blasphemy Homosexuality Bestiality Adultery Witchcraft o Female Circumcision To reduce sexual pleasure by removing the clitoris Epistemological Relativism o All means of learning involve some subjective biases The Objective truth is Unobtainable No way of knowing is better than another Other Way of Knowing Acupuncture Yoga etc HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT 1 PAGE PAPER 09 03 2013 09 03 2013