Part 1
Advantages for Hunting-gathering and Agriculture
There are certain societies who are among the hunting-gathering societies, and there are agricultural societies.There are advantages and disadvantages for both societies.In the hunter-gathering society,the advantages are the people are less susceptible to health problems such as obesity, and there are more egalitarian structured than an agricultural society.Since hunting gathering individuals do not have the luxury of supermarkets, fast food restaurants, and take out, these individuals have less health problem, because they do not have immediate access to food.Hunter-gatherers are more independent, and they do not have to rely on others for food.The advantages that an agricultural society has are surplus of food supply, more structured and more civilized society.Agricultural societies do not have to be on the move to hunt for food for survival, thus making the society stay put. By becoming more stable they developed towns and communities which led to more socialization and interdependence which fostered feelings of belonging and identification with each other. The development of towns and communities also led to the development of governments and leaders, more technology and inventions, which wouldn't have happened when moving around a lot. Skills and knowledge were better passed on to the young and educational systems started; as did economies when trade with other communities started. People also developed the concept of ownership and wanting to improve status for themselves and their families and their towns.
Disadvantages of Hunting-gathering and Agriculture
The disadvantages that come with hunting and gathering is that sometimes these individuals experience scarce food, especially during the winter.They do not have surplus of food nor they do not store their food. Basically,these individuals eat what they can carry.Sometimes these individuals experience hunger and no food to eat at times.Finding food by hunting was not always reliable.The disadvantages that come with an agricultural society is that our diet today would be far superior to that of the hunter gatherers, the main problem we face in regards food today is that we often eat more than we actually need particularly as we don't exercise as much as our ancestors did, for they had to walk everywhere for instance. Thus making people less active and healthy.
Which one leads a healthier diet?
The hunter gatherers' diet would be far more superior than that of an agricultural society. The hunter gatherers were healthier. Hunting and gathering tended to produce a more diversified and nutritious diet, and since it did not produce as large quantity of food, it also did not lead to the SAME high reproductive rate. The higher reproductive rate among farming communities eventually lead to trading and epidemics, such as illnesses and disease and water pollution by sewage to name a few examples.
What led to Agriculture?
A few factors might have been the reason why certain societies turned to agriculture and farming as an alternative to hunting and gathering. People were advancing in tools and becoming more civilized which might have lead to an easier lifestyle making child rearing easier which in turn might have lead an increase in the human population. Agriculture is the only way to sustain a big population. Also, the weather climate was changing, so it would have changed the natural environment and its resources.
Part 2
"There is a direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to trade". My explanation for this statement is agriculture opened the doors to MORE food, the ability to trade for other goods i.e. knives and other tools, civilization, and to even survive. So for to have surplus of food means the ability to trade which is important for survival in agricultural society. In agriculture, you are more interdependent and in some way "networking". Individuals are no longer egalitarian or self-supported.
The two benefits that come from trading are "networking" and gaining status in the community. Trading can be a benefit to gain other useful items. For an example, A farmer can trade a few vegetable for a knife. Individuals can gain status in their community by socializing and fostering feelings such as trust and dependency.
The two negative social results of trading is an increase of warfare and exposure to illnesses and diseases. There would be more increase in competition and rivalry. When trading, individuals would be trading with other groups with different goods, so leaving individuals exposed to illnesses and disease.
In a hunter-gathering society, there are more among themselves and are egalitarian structure, all they would have to worry is their own family. But in an agricultural society, it is much different. I stated that agriculture opened the doors to acres of crop, farming, and MORE food. Which in turn, open the door to the trading market. Farmers are now able to sell their crops for other goods. So the relationship between the development of agriculture and the development of trading intertwine.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Art of Language
Part 1
I conducted this communicating experience with my boyfriend Danny where we had to hold a conversation for fifteen minutes,and I was not able to respond (he is not aware of the assignment at the time). To me, this part of the experiment was difficult. What was more difficult was that Danny would ask "How was your day?" or "What did you think of that?", where I HAD to respond, instead of "yes" or "no" questions. Well, we held a normal rapport conversation,and I was doing all the listening. i did observe Danny altered the way he was communicating. He would ask more questions, because it is not normal to have a conversation with no reciprocated communication. He would ask me "Is there something wrong?" and "What are you thinking of?". After the fifteen minutes were up, I had admitted to him about my experiment. The impressions he had were that maybe I was worried about a particular thing or that I was just plain careless on what he had to talk about.
It is hard to imagine two different cultures communicating , and there would be a language barrier. Danny represent the speaking culture, and I would represent the nonspeaking culture.There is no doubt that one of the cultures would be misunderstood. The speaking culture would have the advantage on communicating complex ideas. Certain attitudes would arise against the nonspeaking culture such as uneducated, careless, passive, and there would be a lot of misunderstanding between the two.
Part 2
Now for this part of the experiment, it was also difficult to be able to go through the conversation by communicating ONLY by speech. It was REALLY difficult for me, because I am BIG on giving body movement and signals. For an example, when someone asks for direction I use my hand and hand signal to demonstrate. If the person needs to make a left I would demonstrate with my left hand.I do not know why, but it is a big strong habit of mine. Surprisingly, I was able to do the whole fifteen minutes of the experiment.
We both came to conclusion that by speaking the way I did that I spoke insincere and how I talked with solely by speaking it was plain boring. It would be really hard to hold a conversation with other adults that way, because body language emphasizes and helps the ones we are communicating with on what we really mean to say and how to say it. Non speech language is important in communicating with other human.Yes, there are individuals in the American society that have trouble with body language -the blind. Those individuals who are blind cannot communicate like we do.It can help by showing concern i.e. showing facial expressions, teaching i.e. infants learn through modeling and observation, and it would help those who are deaf and cannot speak nor hear you i.e. reading your lips while you talk.
I have not encountered anyone having difficulty reading body language, but I believe there are people who do have difficulty with reading body language. An adaptive possession of reading body language is reading manipulation and what the person is REALLY trying to say (the person might say one thing, but may feel another way). It helps in understanding the human feelings and motives.
Part 3
If I had the chance to be able to write in Part 1's experiment, it would have been A LOT smoother. Writing would have helped, because it is a form of communication versus not responding. We would have communicated and understood each other if writing was present. Writing helps a culture who develops and uses it by helping the individuals to the work force, learning, intellect, and the community. The written language can help cultures communicate in building relations with other countries (globalization).
I conducted this communicating experience with my boyfriend Danny where we had to hold a conversation for fifteen minutes,and I was not able to respond (he is not aware of the assignment at the time). To me, this part of the experiment was difficult. What was more difficult was that Danny would ask "How was your day?" or "What did you think of that?", where I HAD to respond, instead of "yes" or "no" questions. Well, we held a normal rapport conversation,and I was doing all the listening. i did observe Danny altered the way he was communicating. He would ask more questions, because it is not normal to have a conversation with no reciprocated communication. He would ask me "Is there something wrong?" and "What are you thinking of?". After the fifteen minutes were up, I had admitted to him about my experiment. The impressions he had were that maybe I was worried about a particular thing or that I was just plain careless on what he had to talk about.
It is hard to imagine two different cultures communicating , and there would be a language barrier. Danny represent the speaking culture, and I would represent the nonspeaking culture.There is no doubt that one of the cultures would be misunderstood. The speaking culture would have the advantage on communicating complex ideas. Certain attitudes would arise against the nonspeaking culture such as uneducated, careless, passive, and there would be a lot of misunderstanding between the two.
Part 2
Now for this part of the experiment, it was also difficult to be able to go through the conversation by communicating ONLY by speech. It was REALLY difficult for me, because I am BIG on giving body movement and signals. For an example, when someone asks for direction I use my hand and hand signal to demonstrate. If the person needs to make a left I would demonstrate with my left hand.I do not know why, but it is a big strong habit of mine. Surprisingly, I was able to do the whole fifteen minutes of the experiment.
We both came to conclusion that by speaking the way I did that I spoke insincere and how I talked with solely by speaking it was plain boring. It would be really hard to hold a conversation with other adults that way, because body language emphasizes and helps the ones we are communicating with on what we really mean to say and how to say it. Non speech language is important in communicating with other human.Yes, there are individuals in the American society that have trouble with body language -the blind. Those individuals who are blind cannot communicate like we do.It can help by showing concern i.e. showing facial expressions, teaching i.e. infants learn through modeling and observation, and it would help those who are deaf and cannot speak nor hear you i.e. reading your lips while you talk.
I have not encountered anyone having difficulty reading body language, but I believe there are people who do have difficulty with reading body language. An adaptive possession of reading body language is reading manipulation and what the person is REALLY trying to say (the person might say one thing, but may feel another way). It helps in understanding the human feelings and motives.
Part 3
If I had the chance to be able to write in Part 1's experiment, it would have been A LOT smoother. Writing would have helped, because it is a form of communication versus not responding. We would have communicated and understood each other if writing was present. Writing helps a culture who develops and uses it by helping the individuals to the work force, learning, intellect, and the community. The written language can help cultures communicate in building relations with other countries (globalization).
Monday, April 16, 2012
Adaptations among the KwaZulu Tribe and The Andean Indians
There is a close relationship between environment and human adaptations. People adapt to their surrounding either by changing in food, clothing, or their physiology. The KwaZulu tribe lives in Southern Africa, and the Andean Indians live in South America. Although these two ethnic groups are in different continents,these two cultures are our prime example on how people can adapt to extreme climate. I will provide brief information on their lifestyle and their environment.
The KwaZulu
The Zulu people are an African ethnic group who live in Southern African province of KwaZulu-Natal. This region is NOT an agriculturally fertile region. Summers being the driest and harshest. Summers are between November and April, and it is about 24-30 degrees Celsius. Winters are extremely cold, dry, and very humid for the locals. Winters temperatures are from 20 degrees Fahrenheit. For the majority of the year, their climate is very hot and have high humidity levels. Many of the Zulu people live in huts in small villages. Electricity and running water are a luxury. The village children are the ones walking miles at a time to draw water. Having that said, people in the KwaZulu province have to have equipped bodies to even live in these particular harsh conditions. People predominantly from Africa have extra course thick hair, a defense mechanism against the sun. The course hair would help protect their scalps. The skin color of this tribe is a specific adaptation. The Zulu people have deep dark skin color, for these people use manual labor to even survive. The Zulu people live in a dessert regions where there is not much shade and trees, and they are under intense sunlight. In the links provided, it has been stated that nature has selected darker skin for people who live in tropical region, ESPECIALLY non-forested regions. Our skin is like a shield, producing melanin to our skin against harmful ultraviolet rays. The more the a population is exposed to sunlight, the more skin pigmentation is produced.The cultural adaptation that I observed was that the people in this tribe body/clothing covering. It has been said that the Zulu people have been termed as a nude African tribe. These people in this tribe would need the minimum of clothing as possible due to hot temperatures. The race I would describe these individuals resemble is Black.
In the map shown, KwaZulu is located below the the equator. Majority of dark skinned people live 20 degrees within the equator.
The Andean Indians
The climate in the Andes Mountain depend on the latitude, altitude, and proximity of the sea, but the southern section of the mountains are rainy and cold, the central section is very dry, and the northern section is rainy and very warm. The average temperature is 18 degrees Celsius/64 degrees Fahrenheit. The people inhabiting these region are among the rainforests. Because of the slopes, the Andean Indians have different lifestyles. They can not travel or farm like we do. Life in the Andes Mountain can be difficult to grow crop, and machinery is impossible because of the slopes of the mountains. Farm work has to be done by hand. The Andean people have a technique called Terracing to increase fertility for their land. Traveling is also difficult for the natives, so they pack with the help of llamas (a cultural adaptation I observed for this particular ethnic group). The Andean Indians are very laborious. The Andean Indians have 20 percent more blood, weigh 60 percent more (due to they need more hemoglobin production for more oxygen absorption), thicker blood which mean they need a stronger and larger heart(said to be a fifth larger),larger lungs, slightly larger feet and hands with more arteries and veins to help them become immune against frostbite. The Andean Indians would resemble an Indian or a Hispanic race.
The Andean Indians farm potatoes,corn, and rice manually.
The Andes Mountain are very tropical, therefore the Andean Indian
are of olive skin tone complexions.
The Andes Mountain stretches down South American through Colombia,
Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina,
These two ethnic groups have come a long way as a civilization facing extreme weather conditions. From the Zulu tribe, they lack access to drinking water on the hottest continents of the world, and the Andean Indian have been said to be among the only civilization to thrive in mountainous regions from not having normal oxygen and temperature level. There is a close relationship between environment and adaptations leading to race characteristics (i.e. The people in the Zulu tribe have really dark skin as a defense mechanism for being under intense sunlight. and the Andean Indians have quite bigger and larger internal organs than most of other human populations because of their environment).
The KwaZulu
The Zulu people are an African ethnic group who live in Southern African province of KwaZulu-Natal. This region is NOT an agriculturally fertile region. Summers being the driest and harshest. Summers are between November and April, and it is about 24-30 degrees Celsius. Winters are extremely cold, dry, and very humid for the locals. Winters temperatures are from 20 degrees Fahrenheit. For the majority of the year, their climate is very hot and have high humidity levels. Many of the Zulu people live in huts in small villages. Electricity and running water are a luxury. The village children are the ones walking miles at a time to draw water. Having that said, people in the KwaZulu province have to have equipped bodies to even live in these particular harsh conditions. People predominantly from Africa have extra course thick hair, a defense mechanism against the sun. The course hair would help protect their scalps. The skin color of this tribe is a specific adaptation. The Zulu people have deep dark skin color, for these people use manual labor to even survive. The Zulu people live in a dessert regions where there is not much shade and trees, and they are under intense sunlight. In the links provided, it has been stated that nature has selected darker skin for people who live in tropical region, ESPECIALLY non-forested regions. Our skin is like a shield, producing melanin to our skin against harmful ultraviolet rays. The more the a population is exposed to sunlight, the more skin pigmentation is produced.The cultural adaptation that I observed was that the people in this tribe body/clothing covering. It has been said that the Zulu people have been termed as a nude African tribe. These people in this tribe would need the minimum of clothing as possible due to hot temperatures. The race I would describe these individuals resemble is Black.
The Andean Indians
The climate in the Andes Mountain depend on the latitude, altitude, and proximity of the sea, but the southern section of the mountains are rainy and cold, the central section is very dry, and the northern section is rainy and very warm. The average temperature is 18 degrees Celsius/64 degrees Fahrenheit. The people inhabiting these region are among the rainforests. Because of the slopes, the Andean Indians have different lifestyles. They can not travel or farm like we do. Life in the Andes Mountain can be difficult to grow crop, and machinery is impossible because of the slopes of the mountains. Farm work has to be done by hand. The Andean people have a technique called Terracing to increase fertility for their land. Traveling is also difficult for the natives, so they pack with the help of llamas (a cultural adaptation I observed for this particular ethnic group). The Andean Indians are very laborious. The Andean Indians have 20 percent more blood, weigh 60 percent more (due to they need more hemoglobin production for more oxygen absorption), thicker blood which mean they need a stronger and larger heart(said to be a fifth larger),larger lungs, slightly larger feet and hands with more arteries and veins to help them become immune against frostbite. The Andean Indians would resemble an Indian or a Hispanic race.
The Andean Indians farm potatoes,corn, and rice manually.
The Andes Mountain are very tropical, therefore the Andean Indian
are of olive skin tone complexions.
The Andes Mountain stretches down South American through Colombia,
Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina,
These two ethnic groups have come a long way as a civilization facing extreme weather conditions. From the Zulu tribe, they lack access to drinking water on the hottest continents of the world, and the Andean Indian have been said to be among the only civilization to thrive in mountainous regions from not having normal oxygen and temperature level. There is a close relationship between environment and adaptations leading to race characteristics (i.e. The people in the Zulu tribe have really dark skin as a defense mechanism for being under intense sunlight. and the Andean Indians have quite bigger and larger internal organs than most of other human populations because of their environment).
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