Essay on “Cultural Anthropology” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Cultural Anthropology

Anthropology is one of the most interesting subjects that fascinates humans. Anthropology is the scientific study of human beings, especially in relation to physical characteristics, social relations and culture, and the origin and distribution of races. Anthropology tells us that people are the same the whole world over. The main goal of anthropology is to understand objectively the reasons for both similarities and differences among humans, their behaviours and ideas. Using the central concept of culture, a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and material objects that members of a society use to cope with their world; anthropologists investigate and gather data on the human condition. Cultural anthropology not only includes different ethnic cultures but social, economic cultures as well. Cultural anthropology seeks to understand and describe each culture in its own perspective and in comparative perspective. Cultural anthropologists gather data through first-hand field study in other cultures and do cross-cultural comparative studies, which provide insight and understanding of the modes and patterns of human life. The overall breadth of anthropology is meaningful because the more a person knows about a topic the less they are to prejudge someone or something before getting to know about it. Cultural anthropologists seek to understand both the cultural and individual bases for behaviour; and how political, economic, and social factors affect both the individuals and various groups. Many quantitative methods are used in cultural anthropology but more or less it is qualitative. Classical anthropological fieldwork requires prolonged residence (of one or more years) with a particular group in order to understand their way of life. Until World War II, cultural anthropology focused especially on non-Western cultures, including Native American Indians, gaining a unique perspective on human life and behaviour. More recently this perspective and fieldwork method have been applied as well to Western culture. There are numerous examples. Indian parent’s generations had a strong work ethic and pushed their children to go to school. Most of the earlier second-generation kids did well in school and excelled in their professional fields because they had a strong family background with support and help. Today’s generation is a little different however because while our parents were working and running business 18 hours a day they didn’t have much time to spend with the younger kids and consequently a lot of young Indian youths today are involved in antisocial activities. When talked about Indian kids today, the majority of them speak the language of English much better than those of previous generation. Nowadays they are also inclined to many other languages other than their native language and slowly forgetting their own language. It is a well-known fact that the Sanskrit language is now confined to some distinct class of the society. Cultural anthropology allows it prospective readers to look at other cultures-differently and understand a little better what that group has gone through to get to where they are today. The study of cultural anthropology helps us in discovering many interesting facts and knowledge about the different cultures. The understanding

of the culture around you and the cultures that inhabit the same planet as you enables you to make better and more informed decisions in both business and social interactions.