No Talking!

Part 1:
     My friend Angela and I did this experiment and for me personally the 15 minutes was very difficult because I feel the need to comment on everything but I couldn't since I wasn't aloud to talk. I think you could compare this experiment to someone being mute because they can express themselves with facial expressions and hands but they can't talk!

     This is what Angela had to say: "I felt as if I was talking to myself. It was very hard to continue on a conversation without having any input. I felt like a chatty Kathy and I felt that it was very hard to talk to someone especially when they are your best friend and they can't give you any advice or input."

     I think the culture that is able to express themselves and use gestures is able to communicate complex ideas better. Individuals that would have issues communicating would be people who are mute or people who do not speak the language. I think people who do speak the language or who can speak in general tend to treat these people like lesser I guess you can say.

Part 2:
     I hated this part. I wasn't able to last the whole 15 but I was able to last 10 minutes. It was so hard to be monotoned that was definitely the hardest part. I was putting myself to sleep trying not to fluctuate my voice or anything. I won't lie though even though it was really hard at first I giggled a couple of times because it was just too much for me to try and be plain. Non speech techniques in our language is very important because you can use gestures and other motions to explain what you mean. There definitely are some people who can't read body language. The adaptive benefit to this would be that you can tell when someone is uncomfortable or when the conversation is over without making it awkward. One situation where it might be advantageous is in customer service when they can't tell if you are upset with them or not.

     Angela: "It was super hard to concentrate on what you were saying and what you were talking about. I couldn't really pay attention to what you were saying and to top it off since you couldn't use your hands or anything to express your self I really wasn't paying attention."

    All in all though this was a very interesting experience and I never noticed how much I fluctuate my voice or use my hands or gestures to express myself. I think that if we were to have been able to use written language it would've have been slightly easier but not by much because even written language can be misinterpreted. The advantage that written language provides is that is provides and passes down history. The impact that it has had is that it's easier to translate stuff when it is written down and its good for trade agreements.

Zulu vs. Andean Indians

     The Zulu population of South Africa live in the agriculturally productive region of KwaZulu Natal where the temperatures are moderate averaging in at around 24º C  and the seasons have variation in weather. In the summertime it's warm and rainy while the winter time it is cold and dry. Rainfall varies depending on the time of year but it can be anywhere between 32 mm of precipitation to almost 150 mm of precipitation. An environmental condition for them that would cause physical stress on the body would be that they receive so much sunshine through the year it would make it very possible for someone to develop hyperthermia from becoming overheated.

     A physical adaptation the zulu tribe has is that they developed a darker skin tone over time to combat the harmful effects of too much UV rays from the sun. It has helped the population by regulating their body temperatures so that they can be in the heat longer with less consequences.

I think a race the Zulu best would be described as is African because they are of an African descent.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Zulu.aspx

http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Zulu.html

http://www.sa-venues.com/weather/kwazulunatal.htm

http://us.worldweatheronline.com/durban-weather-averages/kwazulu-natal/za.aspx

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     The Andean Indians live in an extensive range of South America high in the Andes Mountains. They don't tend to measure by temperature but more by precipitation. Even then it depends on where you go because the precipitation and temperature varies so drastically from country to country.

A physical adaptation they have is that their skin is more red because their blood cells are trying to get them more oxygen since they live so high up in the mountains. This helps them maintain homeostasis because if they ascend any higher they will not die or faint because they are so used to the thin air.

     I think the best race to describe them as would be South American because that is the area that they live in and it's not limiting them to one specific area so as to call them just Venezuelan or just Guatemalan. 

http://www.virtualexplorers.org/ard/people/andes.htm

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Andean-peoples

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/andes_climate_page.htm

The Unknown Nacerima

     The population that Miner describes in the article is definitely something that is different. Five words that I would use to describe them would be interesting, secretive, unusual, extreme, and hopeful.

     I chose the word interesting because I think that is the best way to describe them! They are an interesting population because little is known about them and they have very different rituals compared to other populations. In the article it talks about how they have shrines in their homes and how they think that the human body is ugly and they spend a good majority of their days in their homes at this shrine worshipping. I think it's interesting of them because most tribes or other cultures don't really spend time doing that, they spend their time trying to survive and worship their Gods.

    I chose the word secretive because the Nacerima are very secretive with everything they do. Their bodies are a secret they don't let anyone see them. If the women get pregnant they hide the pregnancy as much as possible and even the women have never seen their partners naked! They have chest built into the walls of their shrines but it's a secret whats in them usually. They have an ancient secret language only the medicine men know. They have a lot to hide.

     Unusual might be an understatement but it describes them because honestly what they do can be a little off the wall. They have a slight obsession with their mouths and perform a lot of rituals on them yet they are also afraid of the mouth. They believe that if it weren't for the mouth rituals everyone they love or know would leave them. 

    They are definitely an extreme bunch because they purposely inflict pain upon themselves (again with the mouth), they scrape their faces and the women stick their heads in the oven for about an hour. It doesn't really go into detail of why though in the article but either way they take some pretty extreme measures.

     And finally they are a very hopeful bunch. They depend on their medicine man for a lot and in the end they hope to become perfect (or at least that is the impression that I get). They hope that by putting themselves through pain and extreme rituals that in the end they will be cured and ok.

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    1.  After learning that we (Americans) were reading about ourselves, I think the words that I chose were pretty accurate.

    2. I don't think that any of my words exhibit ethnocentrism but one that might be boarder line could probably be the word unusual. I do feel that my words are free of bias though because they're pretty neutral. I think that extreme and unusual are biased because they have a slight negative connotation. Secretive, hopeful, and interesting I think are unbiased because they can be associated with good or bad usually so they aren't really harmful words.

    3. Intense can replace extreme and unique can replace unusual.
   
4. It's important to try and avoid ethnocentric judgements because then it just diminishes the people and their culture to the point where a lot of people will look at them like they're ignorant but they really aren't they just convey things differently than we do. I don't think it is possible to completely avoid ethnocentrism as a Cultural Anthropologist just because at one point or another no matter who it is they will have a biased view on something just because they experienced this one time or that happened to one of their co-workers so they think it will happen to them too.