ANTHRO 2A Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Auguste Comte, James Ussher, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
Anthro 2a-60020 lecture 2 notes-the history of anthroplogy. Culture is a system of meaning embedded in symbols. These symbols can range from anything including food, tradition, and dance. Culture is learned: it is not innate. Cultures are not static; they all change over time. No (cid:272)ultu(cid:396)e is stu(cid:272)k i(cid:374) the (cid:862) to(cid:374)e age(cid:863). No (cid:272)ultu(cid:396)e is a(cid:374) a(cid:272)tual (cid:449)i(cid:374)do(cid:449) i(cid:374)to the past. Just as how america advanced so are others currently. A symbol does not mean the same thing in every culture. Red in america is symbolized to mean romance or love, but red in east asia means good fortune or luck. All cultures have some level of inequality built into them. !ku(cid:374)g: a(cid:374) e(cid:454)a(cid:373)ple of a so(cid:272)iet(cid:455) that does(cid:374)"t ha(cid:448)e a lot of i(cid:374)e(cid:395)ualit(cid:455). O(cid:374)e of the s(cid:373)allest amount of inequality we will ever see in the world. Ethnocentrism:the belief/perspective that your own culture is superior. This is a typical scenario for most cultures.
