Language Experiment

Part 1: You were asked to engage in a conversation for 15 minutes where you were not allowed to use any version of a symbolic language (no speaking, writing, or ASL).

 Did you find this experiment difficult or easy? Explain. (5 pts)

I found this part of it more frustrating than difficult. Eventually I was able to get most of my point across, but it was frustrating and inefficient when I could have just said something and communicated more directly and effectively. To be honest my 6 year old son was the only person I could do the experiment with, and though we did end up just making faces at each other at one point, I did learn a lot about how difficult and frustrating it can be to communicate effectively without symbolic language.

 What were the impressions of partners in the conversation? Did they alter their way of communicating with you because of your absence of symbolic communication? Describe. (5 pts)

There was a lot more guesswork involved. He would try to guess what I meant when I was trying to describe something and most of the time he got very close. However, since he knows my pattern of language so well, it would have been easier to guess my train of thought. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been if we were strangers, and even moreso, strangers with nothing in common, nothing to make comparisons of our non-verbal communication against.

 Imagine that you and your partners in the conversation represent two different cultures meeting for the first time. Which culture has the advantage in communicating complex ideas? What attitudes might the speaking culture have toward the culture that does not use symbolic language? Identify individuals in our culture that have difficulty communicating with spoken language and explore how that affects how those who do speak interact with those individuals. (5 pts)

The culture with the symbolic language has the advantage of being able to communicate complex ideas amongst themselves. Symbolic language allows us to communicate a much more diverse and complex amount of information and respond much quicker to questions when we speak the same language. An attitude that one might adopt when dealling with another culture that is unable to communicate is that they are just not as smart or developed. The deaf community might fall under this generalization, but they are able to communicate massive amounts of information with ASL, so it would be wrong to assume this.

Part 2: You were asked to spend 15 minutes communicating without any physical embellishments, i.e., no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial, or body movements.

 Were you able to last for the full 15 minutes of using only speech for communicating? What made this experiment difficult for you? (5 pts)

I was not able to last the entire 15 minutes with this portion of it. Though it was easier than the first part, being able to say words to your partner, there was a general seriousness and boring quality to the conversation that could not hold attention. I found it difficult not to laugh, or bring inflection to my tone when I wanted to get excited about something. The physical part was not that hard, but the actual monotonous tone of the conversation was very difficult to maintain.

 How were your partners in this part of the experiment affected by your communication limitations? Explain. (5 pts)

Since I am usually very sarcastic, and I like to joke around, especially with my son, I think he got confused as to whether I was serious or not when it all sounded the same. It was hard to be serious when sounding and acting so monotonous though, so a lot of what I said to him was joking around with him but with a very neutral tone. He was just unable to determine whether I was exaggerating something or if I was actually serious because there was no cue to give him an idea.

 What does this experiment say about our use of "signs" in our language, i.e., how important is non-speech language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively? (5 pts)

I believe that non-speech language techniques are extremely important. Body language, tone, inflection, etc. share just as much about what we are saying as the words themselves. It takes sight as well as sound in order to gain an impression of somebody, so by observing non-verbal cues you can learn a lot about what goes unsaid or implied.

 Are there people who have difficulty reading body language? Describe the adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language. Can you describe environmental conditions where there might be a benefit to not reading body language? (5 pts)

There probably are people that have difficulty reading boy language or they just outright ignore it. Being able to read body language is almost like when two animals come across each other and can tell whether they are challenging each other to a fight. Perhaps it is an adaptive benefit to avoid harm and confrontation by being able to read certain signals that tell us something is wrong (a threat).
The only environmental conditions where not reading body language might be an advantage is if we are in a condition where there is no threat and want to focus on keeping an open mind to strictly what somebody would say, not what we think they mean.

Part 3: There is a third component of language which we did not test in this experiment, and that is the importance of written language.

 Do you think your experiment in Part 1 would have been easier if you had been permitted to use written language? Why or why not? Explain. (5 pts)

In small bits it would have been helpful just for clarification of certain specific words, and then the ideas could have been acted out. I believe that written language is definitely much more effective as a form of communication than just acting things out, but it would still take time and the gestures and other movements add depth to the words.

 What advantage does written language provide to the culture that develops and uses it? (5 pts)

Written language allows a culture to not only develop its language, it helps to record it so that later on, it can be compared and the development is able to be seen through the change in words. This allows the language of the culture to be studied and documented. 

 What impact has written language had on "globalization", or the spread of ideas around the world?

Written language has allowed many ideas to spread throughout the word. It allows people that can write the same  language to communicate with each other across vast distances. Facilitated by the use of the internet, these days, an idea can spread around the world overnight if it was popular enough.

 (5 pts)

Nacerima

1. (5 pts) As an American, how do you feel about your choice of descriptive words in Part A? (If you are from another country, you can still comment on your choices based upon your first hand experience with American culture but include the fact that you are from another culture.)

I feel that the words that I chose are all relatively accurate. I have traveled to a few different countries and seen some other cultures and returning back to America is a shocking experience. I think that we are a dramatic group of people in which too much emphasis is placed on appearance and the things and money that we all have. And I think prude is an accurate word to use also. Whereas in other countries the average amount of time a woman will spend breatfeeding her baby is 1-2 years, in America it is only a couple of months. It is taboo and shocking to see somebody doing something like that in public here in America.

2. (5 pts) Do any of your choices exhibit ethnocentrism on your part? In other words, do any of your descriptive words reveal a judgment of the Nacerima rooted in your own cultural bias? Are any of your words free of bias? Identify the words you feel are biased and unbiased and explain your reasoning.

Perhaps the words Pessimistic, Prude, and Exaggerated are a bit more judgemental and biased than Holistic and Devout. The first three would then be biased based on my own opinions and what I've experienced myself. Which is not the most scientific way to go about describing another culture, but is difficult to change because the words are coming from my own experience and the worldview that I have set up as a guide.

3. (5 pts) For any of the words that are biased, can you provide alternate words that are free of bias but communicate the same explanatory information and intent of your original word?

It would be difficult to come up with a synonym for pessimistic. The opposite of it is optimistic and the rituals are based on the pessimistic attitude towards aging. Pushing it back as far as possible, and hoping that we can keep our bodies from the decay of age. Prude could probably be changed, since it is used to classify behavior as being excessive, that would be more a judgemental word. Maybe modest or discriminating would be less biased when describing the behavior regarding nudity and sex. Exaggerated is also difficult to replace. When looking up synonyms the closest one I could find was eccentric, but that is even more biased than the one originally chosen. It is very difficult to find neutral words to explain something without comparing it to your own frame of reference.

4. (5 pts) From this experience, reflect on the importance of avoiding ethnocentric judgments when describing other cultures. Why is it important to describe another culture in a manner as free from personal cultural bias as possible? Do you think it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias as a Cultural Anthropologist?

I don't believe it is possible to completely avoid personal cultural bias. Humans do not know everything and when we learn new things we compare them to the things that we already know in order to make comparisons and connections. I think that it would take a lot of experience and awareness in order to be able to recognize when you are applying your own personal cultural bias to a situation or choice (such as choosing words). It's easier to see now though how important it is to try to describe without bias or judgement. People are already biased by their own experiences, so when educating others about cultures that they will most likely never see, it is important to be neutral in order to relay information but not sway people's judgements.

Easier said than done!

Pessimistic- I would use this word to describe this culture in reference to the creation of their rituals and when they use them. The philosophy behind the rituals is to prevent the inevitable horror that is the decay of the human body. Instead of working towards something positive, like good health, they are moving away from something negative, like debility and disease. “the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony.” It is negative reinforcement that continues these rituals and the pessimistic view on the body and aging that brought about these rituals.

Exaggerated- Though the rituals that these people perform may be extreme, it is only an exaggeration of things that people in our culture do in one way or another. “the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures” could be viewed as just brushing your teeth in a different way. A witch doctor involved in the act where “The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember.” sounds a lot like a psychologist to me.

Devout- As the rituals that are carried out in this culture seem to be labor-intensive and painful to some extent, the people involved in this culture would have to be devout and faithful in the supposed outcomes in order to carry out these rituals. “One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved.”

Holistic- I was trying to find the right word to describe the thing about the culture that interested me the most, the connection that they make between the rituals and effects, which are mainly physical, to the spiritual and social aspects of people’s lives. The word that I would choose to describe this is holistic in the sense that they make different connections of cause and effect between the health of their mouth and other seemingly unrelated aspects of their lives. ” Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber.”

Prude- Much of the cultural rituals are about the body and care, which seems to involve hiding the body and avoiding nudity and the body’s natural functions at all costs.” Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition.”

Educational Background and Anthro Intro

Anthropology 103: Cultural Anthropology Introduction

Just wanted to type up a bit about my background. I attended COC about 4 years ago, obtaining my Associates Degree in Biological/Physical science before transferring to UCLA. I had a hard time after I transferred, struggling to afford to go to school, raising my son on my own, and almost losing motivation altogether. I pushed myself to keep going and even though my record is not spotless I am proud to keep moving forward. I am currently 2 classes away from obtaining my Bachelor's degree in Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics. After that I will obtain a Master's in Public Health. I will work in the healthcare field, I am just trying to find my place, but from my experiences volunteering and working in hospitals, I understand the significance of being able to communicate with people different from yourself. Outside of school, I am extremely interested in making communication with different people easier. I love to travel and I would love to be able to go somewhere and blend in with the people that live there, speaking the language and appreciating the differences and similarities between cultures. I don't need to take this class, but I wanted to, in order to have a greater appreciation for the rest of the world and the people that I may never see from the places that I may not reach.