Once there was a man going through his village on a beautiful sunny morning. He was enchanted by the warm sunlight. His heart was mesmerized by listening to the sweet voices of birds. Suddenly he came across three men doing some work. He asked the first person, "What are you doing?" I am breaking the stones, replied the man. He repeated the same question to the second person. He replied I am doing chores to earn my living. Finally, the young man turned towards the third person and asked him the same question. The third man looked very calm and serene. There exists a glitter in his eyes. He said I am building one of the most beautiful temples in the world. The perspective of all of them was different towards their work. Having the right perspective will drastically impact the quality of our life.
The goal of Anthropology is to give the right perspective to external events. According to Britannica, "Anthropology is the science of humanity that studies human beings ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of HomoSapiens to the feature of society and culture that decisively distinguishes humans from other animal species". Initially, it emerged as the study of myths, rituals, symbols, and artifacts of the strange culture along with their institutions and social culture. As time progresses, its principles can be used in other fields to gain a better understanding of the world.
The key principles in Anthropology that give the right perspective of the external world are:
People create different webs of meaning around the same thing.
Look at the things from the bird's eye as well as the worm's eye
People often looked at the tip of the iceberg and overlook the things that are submerged beneath them.
Focus on one micro-level topic or set of practices and then gradually widen the lenses to capture the entire landscape.
People create different webs of meaning around the same thing: Many times things are told to indicate one fact but they are interpreted in an entirely opposite way. An example of Tea will serve as a good example here. The people of America view tea as an addition. Sugar and Caffeine will help them to thwart their sleep in the late afternoon. The same tea will be viewed in China as a subtraction. It is taken as a meditative tool that helps them to attain calmness in their life. Tea companies need to put emphasis on the fact how does their product is viewed by the people who are living in different cultures. The sales of any product are more likely to improve if they are advertised in any country according to their culture. The value of Anthropology is to provide transnational cultural translation for the era of globalization.
In Anthro-vision, Gillian Tett writes...
In the mid-twentieth century, Gerber(Food company) tried to expand its international operations by selling baby food in West Africa using jars decorated with the picture of a smiling baby, a common advertising image in America and Europe. But in some African cultures, the picture on the tin is expected to represent the ingredients of the food. "Accustomed to seeing the contents of a packaged food depicted on product labels, some villagers assumed that the jars contained not food made for babies, but the food made of babies." Are Americans cannibals, they wondered?
It is also more likely that the same message can be interpreted in a different way by the different people of the same family or an organization. The father is pressurizing his son to wake up early and read quality books so that he can stand upon the shoulders of giants. Son is interpreting the intentions of his father as a masochist. Interpreting the intentions of others in a wrong way is the core reason for conflict within the family or in an organization. The core teaching of anthropology is to don't form any assumptions. Simply listen to people and try to understand their perspectives.
Look at the things from the bird's eye as well as the worm's eye: The underlying idea behind this principle is to change the frame of reference to effectively find out the solution to a particular problem. When the cases of the Ebola virus started increasing in Sierra Leone, the health officials of European countries issued some guidelines like quarantines to reduce the impact of it in Sierra Leone. The people of Sierra Leone became violent when these rules were enforced upon them. They even started killing health workers.
The health officials of European countries started worrying about the strange behavior shown by the people of Sierra Leone. Any outsider will look at those people as if they are barbarians. They hired some anthropologists who had previously done the research in Sierra Leone so that they can figure out why are they behaving like that?
Anthropologists found that whenever anyone died in Sierra Leone, those people kissed their dead bodies. Health workers forcefully try to prevent people from touching their dead bodies. The native people felt like the outsiders were trying to break their culture which was a huge blow to their ego. Anthropologists advised the health officials to make some amendments to the guidelines in such a way that will prevent the contagion along with that their cultural values should remain intact. There was a huge decline in cases in Sierra Leone after the amendments done to guidelines. The lessons learned during the Ebola crisis would be utilized during the covid-19 pandemic.
The least questioned assumptions are often the most questionable. Paul Broca
The above example shows that sometimes the change in the frame of reference will help us to see the problem in a new light. It's wrong to assume the behavior of others through intellectual reasoning because physical experiences and habits mattered deeply. Policies can be much more effective when you work with communities and bring them into solutions. Never impose your innovative ideas on others. It's much better to look at the world through their eyes and observe how they respond to them. Disasters happen when people neither pay attention to the external context of what they were doing nor to the internal context of their world. Before making any decision ask yourself...
1. What would happen if I have to look at the organization from the eyes of the lowest member of the staff?
2. What does an outsider see if he looked at the organization?
People generally looked at the tip of an iceberg and overlook those things that are submerged beneath them: People sometimes behave in strange ways. It is a mistake to assume that they are bad people. Sometimes circumstances were arranged in such ways that make them behave like that. Try to look at the things from their standpoint. It will help you to feel the pain of others and develop empathy towards them. People often attribute the success of others to luck. They are just looking at the tip of an iceberg. They don't pay attention to the hard work and toil one has undergone to attain that success.
Ethnography is a technique that fosters the skill of looking at the world from different standpoints. The pillar upon which ethnography stands are:
Look around and gaze at the world like a child.
Ask open-ended questions.
Have a compulsive curiosity.
Try to walk in someone else shoes.
If we put together all that we have learned from anthropology and ethnography about primitive men and primitive society, we perceive that the first task of life is to live. Men begin with acts, not with thoughts. William Graham Sumner
Zoom in and zoom out to get the overall picture. Don't form any assumptions about people. Simply listen and try to understand their perspective. Pay attention to what people talk about and also to what they don't.
Focus on one micro-level topic or set of practices and then gradually widen your lenses to capture the entire landscape: This principle has enormous applications in present-day scenarios. A wide array of skills are needed to become successful in life. One must know how to acquire any new skill. In the beginning, one gets intimidated by looking at the entire domain. It appears as if one has to remember a zillion of things. The key thing is to focus on one micro-level topic and learn everything about it. As time progresses expand your horizon to capture the entire landscape. If you have eight hours at your disposal, give six hours to increase the depth and two hours to widen the breadth. You become an expert over the span of years.
Life is all about survival. Generalist species have far more chances of survival than a specialist. A cockroach has more chances of survival than a panda. Be like a bee in the garden of flowers. Pick up pollens (knowledge) from as many flowers (domains) to increase the surface area of luck. Success is the result of thousands of iterations and micro-actions.
Humans instinctively shy away from cultures that seem strange. There exists an infinite number of variations in this world. It is foolish to assume that our practices are always superior to others. Anything strange always look intimidating. People generally discard them. The truth is what is embarrassing or intimidating is always revealing. It is only through patient listening and observation one comes to know about their worldview. Embrace openness and let yourself collide with the unexpected. It will expand your horizon and you will be forced to rethink what you already know.
Conclusion: The principles of anthropology will help us to see the world in a new light. It fosters empathy towards others that accelerates progress when we work with them. Smart people assume that everyone thinks like them. They dismissed the behavior that look strange to them. This mindset would be disastrous for the world. Don't rely on statistics and surveys. In fact, use observation and open-ended conversations. Look at the world in a holistic way. Remember this fact, That may be my worldview but it's not everybody's.
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