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Answer: Anthropology is the scientific and humanistic study of human diversity through space and time. It concerns itself with all aspects of the human condition, past, present, and future, and with biology, society, language, and culture. In this respect, it is holistic, comparative, and cross-cultural. Answer: Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that play a large role in determining the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them. Children learn these traditions by growing up in a particular society. All people are cultural beings; one person cannot have more "culture" than another. Answer: Biocultural refers to the inclusion and combination of both biological and cultural perspectives and approaches to comment on or solve a particular issue or problem. Culture is a key environmental force in determining how human bodies grow and develop. Cultural traditions promote certain activities and abilities, discourage others, and set standards of physical well-being and attractiveness. For example, cultural standards of attractiveness and propriety influence participation and achievement in sports. Answer: Biological differences are real, important, and apparent to all of us. However, it is not possible to define human races biologically. Still, scientists have made much progress in explaining variation in, for example, human skin color, along with many other expressions of human biological diversity. We shift from classification to explanation, in which natural selection plays a key role. Natural selection is the process by which the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in greater number than do others in the same population. The role of natural selection in producing variation in skin color will illustrate the explanatory approach to human biological diversity. Melanin, the primary determinant of human skin color, is a chemical substance manufactured in the epidermis, or outer skin layer. It screens out ultraviolet radiation from the sun, offering protection against diseases such as skin cancer. Before the 16th century, most of the world's very-dark-skinned populations lived in the tropics. Outside of the tropics, skin color tends to be lighter. How, aside from migrations, can we explain the geographic distribution of skin color? Natural selection provides the answer. In the tropics, with intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun, unprotected humans face the threat of severe sunburn. This confers a selective disadvantage on lighter-skinned people in the tropics. Another important factor affecting the geographic distribution of human skin color has to do with vitamin D. Ultraviolet radiation stimulates the manufacture of vitamin D in the human body. A shortage of vitamin D diminishes the absorption of calcium in the intestines, leading to the nutritional disease known as rickets, which softens and deforms bones. Thus, considering vitamin D production, light skin is an advantage in the cloudy north but a disadvantage in the sunny tropics. In the tropics, dark skin color protects the body against an overproduction of vitamin D that can lead to a potentially fatal condition leading to calcium deposits in the body's soft tissues. Recent research has revealed yet another factor affecting the geographic distribution of human skin color: the effects of UV radiation on folate, an essential nutrient that the human body manufactures from folic acid. Folate is needed for cell division and the production of new DNA. Lack of folate is linked to neural tube defects in human embryos. This nutrient is also key to the process of spermatogenesis. Yet, UV radiation destroys folate. Thus, dark skin confers a selective advantage to individuals exposed to great amounts of UV radiation. This discussion of skin color shows that common ancestry, the presumed basis of race, is not the only reason for biological similarities. Natural selection can produce the same results in separate and distant populations. Answer: What distinguishes anthropology from the other social sciences is that it is holistic and comparative. It is holistic because anthropologists study the whole of the human condition: past, present, and future; in biology, society, language, and culture. In contrast to other social sciences, for example, anthropology studies how economics, religion, history, psychology, political science, and sociology all interact and are expressed in culture. Anthropology is comparative because it studies all human cultures, past and present, not just Western cultures or those with written histories. Answer: Applied anthropologists take anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and techniques and use them to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems. This work might include forensic anthropology, which is the application of biological anthropology to the law; development anthropology, which helps assess the social and cultural dimensions of economic and social development; medical anthropology, which applies anthropological knowledge to health systems; or environmental archaeology, which studies culture and the environment. Applied anthropologists often work for international development agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development or the World Health Organization. However, applied anthropologists are hired by many other organizations as well. |