Anthropology 7: Biosocial Anthropology

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Anthropology 7 Biosocial Anthropology

• Lecturer Aaron Sell
• TA Daniel Sznycer
• UCSB Spring 08

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William James and instinct blindness

• It takes...a mind debauched by learning to carry
  the process of making the natural seem strange,
  so far as to ask for the why of any instinctive
  human act. To the metaphysician alone can such
  questions occur as Why do we smile, when
  pleased, and not scowl? Why are we unable to talk
  to a crowd as we talk to a single friend? Why
  does a particular maiden turn our wits so
  upside-down? The common man can only say, Of
  course we smile, of course our heart palpitates
  at the sight of the crowd, of course we love the
  maiden, that beautiful soul clad in that perfect
  form, so palpably and flagrantly made for all
  eternity to be loved!

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William James and instinct blindness

• And so, probably, does each animal feel about
  the particular things it tends to do in the
  presence of particular objects. ... To the lion
  it is the lioness which is made to be loved to
  the bear, the she-bear. To the broody hen the
  notion would probably seem monstrous that there
  should be a creature in the world to whom a
  nestful of eggs was not the utterly fascinating
  and precious and never-to-be-too-much-sat-upon
  object which it is to her.Thus we may be sure
  that, however mysterious some animals' instincts
  may appear to us, our instincts will appear no
  less mysterious to them." (William James, 1890)

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Announcements

• Syllabus
• Test philosophy minimal memorization, tests
  understanding of ideas and ability to apply them
• i.e. the tests are tricky
• Late adds see me after lecture
• Lots of reading and ideas
• Teaching style
• Relaxed, bring food drink
• Ask lots of questions
• Feel free to disagree and to challenge. Its my
  job to convince you you paid for it.

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Science

• Are no degrees in Science
• the pursuit of objective knowledge (i.e. the
  T-word truth)
• Goal of science a system of beliefs that match
  reality

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Obstacles in the way of truth

• Why might someone believe something?
• Evidence that it is true
• Light travels faster than sound
• To feel better
• Dogs go to heaven
• Elvis is alive
• looks dont matter
• everyone has a soulmate

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Obstacles in the way of truth

• Demonstrate moral superiority
• just as bad for a boy
• all children are smart
• Manipulated into believing it
• Per-act rate of transmission for AIDS
• About 1 in 1500
• Santa knows when youve been bad
• Reefer Madness

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Obstacles in the way of truth

• Prewired to believe it
• the grass IS green
• People are either male or female
• People are exempt from physics
• These are the obstacles that scientists have to
  struggle against.

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Goal of science nothing but the evidence

• Science CANNOT answer moral questions
• Hume Cannot derive an ought from an is
• Science CAN inform moral debates, i.e. should
  witches be burned?
• Science ignores the moral consequences of an idea
• e.g. are men better at math than women?
• Science changes when new data arrives (nothing is
  written in stone)
• All ideas are considered, even if they contradict
  obvious facts. (nothing is sacred nothing is
  taboo)

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What has science found?

• Everything you know is wrong
• The sky isnt blue

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Everything we know is wrong

• If a tree falls in the forest and there IS
  someone to hear it, it still doesnt make a sound

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Everything we know is wrong

• Nothing has a smell
• Synesthesia
• What does sunlight smell like?
• Nothing disgusting in the world

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Everything we know is wrong

• No one is attractive

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Everything we know is wrong

• Not suggesting we avoid the words
• POINT Most of what we think are properties of
  the world are, in fact, constructs of the human
  mind.
• Instinct Blindness
• Underestimate what we, as social scientists, have
  to explain.

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Where to begin?

• Universe began 15 billion years ago
• Earth began 5 billion years ago
• Life began on earth 4 billion years ago
• What is life? Where did it come from? Why does
  it exist?

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Thought experiments What is life?

• Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy
• Cave couple
• Answer Living things are made out of dead
  matter.