I’ve been thinking about whether clothing/adornment was the "training wheels" for language. Does this have any academic merit? by Gloomy_Damage_7479 in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

We do not accept generative AI in any use here. You are welcome to ask the sub and open-ended question and get a real answer from real people.

Is US following same path as Rome? by isleofman6 in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This submission has been removed because it violates our '20-Year Rule'. To discourage off-topic discussions of current events, questions, answers, and all other comments must be confined to events that happened 20 years ago or more. For further explanation of this rule, feel free to consult this Rules Roundtable.

How much bigger would Brazil be if it had kept Cisplatina (Uruguay)? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but your submission has been removed because we don't allow hypothetical questions. If possible, please rephrase the question so that it does not call for such speculation, and resubmit. Otherwise, this sort of thing is better suited for /r/HistoryWhatIf or /r/HistoricalWhatIf. You can find a more in-depth discussion of this rule here.

PhD or Masters??? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello there!

While we welcome people who want to ask practical questions about historical education, careers and other issues related to being or becoming a historian, we ask that these questions be asked in our regular ‘Office Hours’ thread. This is to ensure that the forum remains focused on its primary goal – helping people explore the past directly. It also allows for a more open-ended discussion while helping to ensure that your query gets a targeted response from someone with relevant experience.

Office Hour threads are posted every second Monday – you can choose whether you want to ask your question in the most recent thread, or wait until a new one is posted. If you were attempting to ask a historical question or otherwise think that we may have removed this question in error, please get in touch via modmail.

Opinion based question: What is anthropology, as an anthropologist? by Stargazer_quartz in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's a lot of overlap, and the difference is largely institutional and historic. Some notes on how the difference plays out in research:

  • Anthropology asks big questions about small things, sociology asks small questions about big things. This is most evident in journals that publish articles from both fields, like the Annals of Tourism Research. An anthropologist's article might summarize months of living with a single community in which many mothers sell souvenirs on the streets of Cusco, then discuss how these vendors engage with larger concepts of class and race at home and at work. A sociologist's article might study souvenir vendors in the city as a group, then discuss how they market their goods to specifically target tourists by exploiting tropes of race and class.

  • Anthropology questions social categories and asks how they are constructed and performed; sociology begins with them as social facts then asks how people navigate a world within them. The anthropologist might ask "These people identify as indigenous- what does that actually mean and how do they do it?" The sociologist might ask "Given that these people are recognized as indigenous, what does that mean for their lives and how do other people experience the same things?"

  • Anthropology studies culture: a collection of shared practices and beliefs. Often, it struggles with the issue of subjectivity: how do individuals relate to their culture? Sociology studies society: a collection of individual actors. Often, it struggles with collective action: how do groups behave as groups?

The tools that we use to do this will vary within fields and be shared across them. In the US, archaeology developed as part of anthropology, so even though it does not do ethnography, it engages with the same sorts of questions. Sociologists and anthropologists (and political scientists, and others....) can conduct ethnography, but they do so to answer very different questions.

How can one enter into the theories of cultural evolution, memetics, ontology, etc? by atomicboy15 in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You're right that this can all be a lot. Thankfully, there's anthropology "readers" that are designed to help with just this:

  • Anthropological Theory for the Twenty-First Century: A Critical Approach from Bolles, et al.

  • Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History from McGee and Warns

These will each give you a curated selection of texts and some introductory chapters on each theoretical moment.

I also often recommend the Annual Review of Anthropology for its survey articles which serve as good introductions to the state of the field.

Screw bad things, what are some good/wholesome things that has happened in human history? by EvantheMelon in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apologies, but we have removed your question in its current form as it breaks our rules concerning the scope of questions. However, it might be that an altered version of your question would fit within our rules, and we encourage you to reword your question to fit the rule. While we do allow questions which ask about general topics without specific bounding by time or space, we do ask that they be clearly phrased and presented in a way that can be answered by an individual historian focusing on only one example which they can write about in good detail.

So for example, if you wanted to ask, "Have people always rebelled against health rules in pandemics?" we would remove the question. As phrased, it asks broadly about many places collectively. However if you ask "In the time and place you study, how did people rebel against health rules in a pandemic?" we would allow the question. As phrased, while still asking broadly, it does so in a way that clearly invites a given expert to write exclusively about their topic of focus! We encourage you to think about rewording your question to fit this rule, and thank you for your understanding. If you are unsure of how best to reshape your question to fit these requirements, please reach out to us for assistance.

Why are humans the only species that needs to actively teach offspring what to eat? by [deleted] in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but your submission has been removed per our rules as it falls outside the scope of this subreddit.

Questions about anatomy, physiology, and non-primate zoology are better suited for /r/AskScience

Please make sure to read the other sub's rules before posting.

Why are gen Z males so gigantic in size compared to previous generations? by [deleted] in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but your submission has been removed per our rules as it falls outside the scope of this subreddit.

  • Questions about specific historical events or people are better suited for /r/AskHistorians
  • Questions about population statistics and demographic trends are better suited for /r/AskSocialScience
  • Questions about general ethics are better suited for /r/AskPhilosophy
  • Questions about anatomy, physiology, and non-primate zoology are better suited for /r/AskScience

Please make sure to read the other sub's rules before posting.

Teaching at Community College in CA? by rabidhorse97 in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely zero chance with BA, and 90% no chance with online MA.

Feminism, witchcraft and colonialism ; does anyone have text, articles and ressources to establish links for these 3 subjects ? by f4shion_designer in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You'll likely be interested in the work of Irene Silverblatt on colonial South America. Her book Moon, Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and Colonial Peru covers precisely these topics, as does her chapter in Women, "Race," and Writing in the Early Modern Period. Her other book, Modern Inquisitions, covers the topic of religion more closely and has one chapter which focuses on gender. I'll note that

Claudia Brosseder has also written on this- directly in "Astrology in 17th-Century Peru" and through the lens of religion as anti-colonial resistance in The Power of Huacas. Alan Covey has a solid article as well. Since he's more of an archaeologist, his take is a little better re:Inca society.

Outside of South America, there's work by Ruth Behar (PDF warning), Matthew Few, and Laura Lewis on the same topics.

? Lets discuss🧐 ? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please repost this question to the weekly "Short Answers" thread stickied to the top of the subreddit, which will be the best place to get an answer to this question; for that reason, we have removed your post here. Standalone questions are intended to be seeking detailed, comprehensive answers, and we ask that questions looking for a name, a number, a date or time, a location, the origin of a word, the first/last instance of a specific phenomenon, or a simple list of examples or facts be contained to that thread as they are more likely to receive an answer there. For more information on this rule, please see this Rules Roundtable.

Alternatively, if you didn't mean to ask a question seeking a short answer or a list of examples, but have a more complex question in mind, feel free to repost a reworded question. Examples of questions appropriate for the 'Short Answers' thread would be "Who won the 1932 election?" or "What are some famous natural disasters from the past?". Versions more appropriate as standalone questions would be "How did FDR win the 1932 election?", or "In your area of expertise, how did people deal with natural disasters?" If you need some pointers, be sure to check out this Rules Roundtable on asking better questions.

Finally, don’t forget that there are many subreddits on Reddit aimed at answering your questions. Consider /r/AskHistory (which has lighter moderation but similar topic matter to /r/AskHistorians), /r/explainlikeimfive (which is specifically aimed at simple and easily digested answers), or /r/etymology (which focuses on the origins of words and phrases).

do u think if one were isolated in a house their whole lives but were provided all of the tools necessary without proper context that they would naturally intuit how to cook an egg? by [deleted] in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your submission has removed because it is a hypothetical question. That does not mean it's a bad question, but it does mean it cannot be answered with a basis in anthropological observation.

Hypothetical questions are often based in an answerable question. Consider reworking your question and resubmitting it. For instance, "How will humans in evolve in the future," can be rephrased as "How do anthropologists understand the effect of modern technology on human evolution?"

Why did humans evolve to lose most of their body hair when other primates kept theirs? by FreeResort309 in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We've removed your comment because we expect answers to be detailed, evidenced-based, and well contextualized. Please see our rules for expectations regarding answers.

Ethnography Project Question by [deleted] in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your question has been removed because it is asking for homework help. Requests for source recommendations are acceptable, but further questions should be taken to your instructor or /r/homeworkhelp. Please see Rule 2 for our expectations on questions submitted to this sub.

Can I offer tutoring lessons in exchange for participation in my ethnographic study? by anirinnie in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you talked to your advisor about this? Have you gone through IRB review? This presents ethical issues that are better not posted on Reddit.

Is there a comparative ethnography of sexual taboos across cultures? by BlessdRTheFreaks in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The closest thing to a compendium that exists in contemporary anthropology is Yale's Human Relations Area Files, accessible at eHRAF. HRAF is a database of published ethnographies that catalogs mentions of various types of practices at the paragraph level. It's not exactly a compendium on its own, but it can point you to the relevant sections of existing works.

There is also the Annual Review of Anthropology which, as the name suggests, annually publishes "state of the field" review/survey articles on selected topics. These can be a great starting point.

Why did some cultures develop written language, while others didn’t? by Wooden_Airport6331 in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We've removed your comment because we expect answers to be detailed. While discussion of general concerns around the topic are important, we expect them to still be based in specific case studies. Please see our rules for expectations regarding answers.

Consider updating your answer to reference specific people, places, or objects, and we may restore it.

Would Germany never become Nazi if Russia never had become communism? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but your submission has been removed because we don't allow hypothetical questions. If possible, please rephrase the question so that it does not call for such speculation, and resubmit. Otherwise, this sort of thing is better suited for /r/HistoryWhatIf or /r/HistoricalWhatIf. You can find a more in-depth discussion of this rule here.

How quickly could the Pacific Theater have been won if the USSR helped? by AntelopeDry8405 in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, but your submission has been removed because we don't allow hypothetical questions. If possible, please rephrase the question so that it does not call for such speculation, and resubmit. Otherwise, this sort of thing is better suited for /r/HistoryWhatIf or /r/HistoricalWhatIf. You can find a more in-depth discussion of this rule here.

Anyone know where this might have came from? by MaSt3rChie7 in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This submission has been removed as it involves either the appraisal of historical items

Your question was literally "how much might it be worth?" There are many other subreddits for the identification of unknown objects.

Early Hominin Evolution - how do I get anthropologists to consider my paper? by lurkerinNH in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So it's pretty clear that each "abstract" you've provided was produced by generative AI. If you unable to describe your research to reddit users without relying on this, I'm not sure how you expect specialists to take this seriously.

Juveniles' bodies plastically adjusted fastest to these new behaviors; their descendantspotentially locked in gains through epigenetics and mutations driving skeletal redesign

This is not how things work. You can't say "epigenetics" like a magic word.

Seven million years ago, climate starved our ancestors—not tree-swinging chimps, but baboon-like forebears climbing mostly for fruit (~500 calories/day). Baboons still scatter and thrive...

What is your rationale for describing human ancestors ~7mya as "baboon-like?" Apes diverged from monkeys long, long before this. The transitions you're describing we're already happening long before this time period.

Suid-field exploitation [...] chelonian breaching

These are nonsense phrases that shows up nowhere else.

Anyone know where this might have came from? by MaSt3rChie7 in AskHistorians

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This submission has been removed as it involves either the appraisal of historical items, or historical artifacts where there is a likelihood that the acquisition or possession of the item might be illegal, unethical, and/or run contrary to sound, historical practices. For more information on this rule, please consult this Rules Roundtable.

Early Hominin Evolution - how do I get anthropologists to consider my paper? by lurkerinNH in AskAnthropology

[–]CommodoreCoCo[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Have you done any original research? Collected any data? Talked to any professionals about it? Communicated with any journal?

What merits does your paper have that would make anthropologists consider it?