ANTA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: National Telephone Company, Practical Reason, Pastoralism
Document Summary
Explaining culture in terms of adaptation, meaning, or system. Middleton suggests 3 ways to approach (or explain) other cultures: In biology, an adaptation is a feature or behavior that helps an organism survive and reproduce. Like an owl"s big eyes and sharp beak help it to hunt at night, thus survive, thus reproduce. In social science, an adaptation is a way of getting by in the given circumstances. Like making bows and arrows help humans to hunt, thus survive, thus reproduce. Social methods for living in large settlements. Adaptive means fits the environment or produces success . Not necessarily flexible , changes to fit changing situations , etc. How it is an effective way of dealing with the given circumstances. Looks at culture in terms of perceived needs and problems. Makes sense of culture as a way of dealing with the situation that the people face.
