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Billy, Kate & Will in Perú

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cultural

“Culture enables humans to survive.”

Posted on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Leave a Comment

This was said during my Introduction to Anthropology class earlier today. Usually, I don’t find much challenging from that class, a lot of the things seem to be common sense, or I already had encountered the material with my mom (she’s an anthropologist) at some point in my life. But today, during discussion about the cultural dimension of the study of anthropology, we were given the statement, “culture enables humans to survive.” 

Being more interested in the cultural quarter of anthropological studies (rather than the biological, archeological, or linguistic parts), I caught this comment and pondered it during the remainder of the class.

At first glance, this statement seems to be untrue. Why do we need culture to survive? Why do I need art, music and literature to have a decent life? Long before these social inventions, people seemed to get along just fine. Traditions are nice in all, but are they really absolutely necessary?

Well, in the deeper sense of anthropology, culture is more than just art, music and literature. It is what we do every day, how we do it, and most importantly, why we do it. Culture explains why we have three meals a day and what time they are (compared to others), why we dress in a certain way, why we practice certain beliefs and traditions, etc.Without the culture that contributes to our daily lives, we would not be able to effectively live.

Posted in: Alma College | Tagged: anthropology, cultural, quotes

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When your uncle comes to visit, you wear your matc When your uncle comes to visit, you wear your matching shirts together (with a flashback to his last visit in January 2020) #littlewilliamnoah
Explored Arequipa, the white city, for the first t Explored Arequipa, the white city, for the first time all together and spent many hours outside under the blue sky. #littlewilliamnoah
The @monasteriodesantacatalina is one of my favori The @monasteriodesantacatalina is one of my favorite places in Peru. There is beauty around every corner and the colors, sillar streets and potted geraniums along the walls are just amazing. This trip we were able to visit as the sun was setting and see the former monastery in a new way. #littlewilliamnoah
Spent a few days outside under blue skies in the C Spent a few days outside under blue skies in the Colca Canyon #littlewilliamnoah
Just a small glimpse into what we did during July Just a small glimpse into what we did during July in 60 seconds #littlewilliamnoah
Celebrating Fiestas Patrias with dancing los capor Celebrating Fiestas Patrias with dancing los caporales 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
Ready to perform la danza de los caporales with hi Ready to perform la danza de los caporales with his classmates at @coloringdreamsperu to celebrate Fiestas Patrias 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
All of the people in these photos are now Peruvian All of the people in these photos are now Peruvian! When I first traveled to Peru in 2001 at 15 years old, I never expected that one day I would be a living here as a citizen. After 11 years of living in Lima, I have joined @wngreenman and @greenmanbilly with dual citizenship! 🇵🇪 🎉 🇵🇪 #littlewilliamnoah
We spent the morning with the llamas of @llamapack We spent the morning with the llamas of @llamapackproject and community partners from Cancha Cancha learning about how llamas are used for social development within local communities and to conserve and protect the environment in the Andes. #llamapackproject #littlewilliamnoah
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