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Daniel D. Vaught
Dr. Andrus & Dr. Murdock
English 1001 section 30
1 November 2012
Anthropology: The Study of Mankind’s Wide Range of Beliefs
The study of Anthropology covers the global world of mankind. Everything from
our psychology, history, and culture. With all the many cultures in this world, there are a
large and diverse group of beliefs throughout it. Many people believe in the supernatural,
and there are also many that do not. Anthropologists seek to dissect our beliefs and
attempt to analyze why we have developed them, and how they may serve us.
In this paper, I will attempt to look at and sift through the many sources in the
Anthropology community. The Anthropology field as a whole mostly doesn’t believe in
the supernatural. They attempt to rationalize why we have developed these beliefs, where
they came from, and how they have served us throughout history. Anthropology studies
our history, so that we may learn from it.
In the article, Spiritual Beliefs and Ecological Traditionsin Indigenous
Communities in India: Enhancing Community-Based Biodiversity Conservation,
Maria Costanza Torri and Thora Martina Herrmann are anthropologists who study the
local spiritual beliefs of indigenous communities, and see how we may learn from them.
The communities have synthesized a land wide worship of plant life and largely believes
in spirits residing in them. With theses beliefs, Anthropologists deny there being any
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supernatural elements. However, from an Anthropological point of view, these beliefs
lend a form of nature conservation that benefits mankind.
Many tribes tend to worship nature and land in a spiritual and respectful manner,
example in figure 1. “Some of these may not have a known conservation effect, yet may
symbolically reflect a collective appreciation of the intrinsic or existence value of life
forms and love and respect for Nature (Torri, Herrman 170). This shows us that while
Anthropology largely plants a firm footing against supernatural beliefs, they do recognize
some of the positive effects it can have for us.
Fig. 1. One of the figures shown here is an Assyrian king, and there are two winged
beings beside him. This carving dates back in between 883 and 859 B.C., and located in a
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Palace in the ancient empire of Assyria, which extended along the Tigris River in
Mesopotamia. From http://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2010/06/ (Brown, Nov. 2009)
There are a large number of spiritual tree images among prehistoric rock
paintings. This has spurred Anthropologists to study this further, and they have found that
there existed this religion among most of the Neanderthals when mankind first began to
think intuitively. So, the artistic emphasis of trees, particularly the branches, roots, and,
sometimes, people climbing, is explicable by such embedded cosmological concepts and
associations with notions of divinity (Mguni, par. 22).
There are some Anthropologists in the field that have a very firm stance against
supernatural beliefs. Fellow Anthropologists James Lett believes that any supernatural
conviction is never sound and always fallible. “Because paranormal beliefs are illogical,
inconsistent, and evidentially unfounded, proponents of paranormal claims must engage
in elaborate intellectual gymnastics to buttress their irrational convictions (Lett 305). He
is so bothered by this irrational way of thinking, that he had started his own class,
teaching his students how to think logical and be able to analyze anything without any
inhibitors.
Just what is it that leads us to these way of thinking? Why do we believe in
supernatural occurences and so often seek to prove in their actual existence?
Anthropologists worldwide study these thought patterns and what has led to their
creation. David F. Bjorklund, Carlos Hernández Blasi, and Virginia A. Periss have found
one source of this school of thought and why it continues.
Humans are one of the only species that has a continued infantile state. We most
often rely on our parents for survival until our early teenage years. With this reliance and
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continued infantile state we rely on our parents to help guide us, and they shape our
reality. Because adults tend to persist in supernatural cognition, although in a very
different way than children, they may be prone to judge such cognition attributed to a
child positively, whereas they may not have such a bias for natural cognition, which
simply reflects “inefficient thinking (Bjorklund et al, par. 40). Supernatural beliefs also
persist throughout mankind from religious beliefs passed down from generation to
generation.
Religion is a shared supernatural belief in a culture. These beliefs have been
passed down throughout history. Parents continue to pass down these beliefs because
often they contain positive ethics. Many religions have helped maintain order and
promote brotherly nature towards one another.
This raises the question of what it is about the beliefs religious individuals hold
that could promote prosociality. One mechanism that has been put forward is that
belief in the existence of a supernatural agent or agents can increase prosocial
behaviour merely by creating the perception of being watched (Atkinson, and
Bourrat, par. 6).
This hypothesis leads us to the power of the mind over the body. Some people believe in
supernatural convictions so strongly that it in turn has a Placebo like effect over them.
Colin Andrew Ross studied the supernatural belief of the ‘Evil Eye’, and had
come to this conclusion: “According to Western science, evil eye beliefs are
superstitions. Anthropological study of evil eye belief, then, must focus on its cultural
and social functions, origins, patterns of dispersal, and relationship with other beliefs and
mythologies.” (par. 7) It cannot be denied that many cultures swear by this belief, and to
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them the Evil Eye is powerful and affects them in a significant way.
While reading all of these articles regarding belief from an anthropologist
perspective, you come to terms with the mind’s powerful effect over the mind. People
believe in these ideas so strongly that it has a placebo like effect over them. The fear of
god’s wraith drives people to be neighborly towards one another, and beliefs such as the
evil eye, also affect us greatly. Beliefs in extra-terrestrials, often considered another
supernatural belief, has driven some organizations to prepare for any possible encounters.
The SETI organization is the Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence. They have
employed anthropologists to help prepare us for any type of alien contact we may have.
They are a group of people that takes this matter very seriously. SETI believes in the
potential possibility that if there is an alien life in another galaxy, they maybe several
billion years more advance than our own.
In the most general sense it is cultural evolution that drives the relationship
between SETI and anthropology. If, as most SETI proponents believe,
intelligence in the universe is millions or billions of years old, we know only one
thing for certain: cultural evolution must have occurred.
It is because of this hypothesis, that Anthropologists and scientists take their jobs
seriously. In studying our history, we can learn from our mistakes and try to anticipate
the future.
While there are significant figures in the scientific community viewing alien life
critically, there are also some communities with more outlandish beliefs. Diana G.
Tumminia is an anthropologist in the ethnographic vector. Ethnography is a participatory
study of an extant culture. She was able to live among one these communities and explore
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what constitutes their way of thinking.
From their experiences, Ethnographers often find completely diverse ways of
thinking then what we are normally accustomed to. This can teach us many different
things about our own culture, as well as what leads people to this train of thought. Miss
Tumminia lived among a contactee group in El Cajon, California. Contactees are
individuals that believe they have made alien contact. The group she studied believes
they have made contact with Unarius, and they are the Unarius Academy of Science.
They are based there to help spread their beliefs and collect members.
There exist some group in this world that believe in such irrational convictions
with such intensity that it can become exhausting.
It does not matter that the outside world has a different version of credible
science, because Unarians verify the power of the Science through a
constantstream of evidence produced in their own way. They gather facts from
dreams, recovered memories of past lives, visions, bodily sensations, psychic
readings, channelings, and other experiences of supposed Space Brother contact
(Tumminia 677).
What is it that drives these people to have such strong convictions in beliefs that are
absolutely grounded in illogical thought patterns?
When examining mankind’s history, there has always been the secret desire for
supernatural experiences. There have been many folktales passed down among
generations surrounding monsters and ghoulish creatures. Because of these stories and
general fascination of the unknown, we continue to search for glimpses of their existence
in our own reality.
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Many tales of mythical monsters and creatures have been passed down from
Europe. Classical monsters such as vampires, witches, and werewolves all have their
origins stemming from Europe. To this day, they are popularized and celebrated
throughout various forms of media, example in figure 2. Many people even claim that
they are real, despite the fact that there exists no evidence to date.
We all need to take a deep breath and accept this as one aspect, perhaps not the
best one, of our human capability to order the world of arts. And possibly this is
also a structural element of the fantastic, which traditionally included tales and
myths, and now infiltraded mainstream popular culture in the form of video
games, cell phones, satellite television and the world wide web (KÜRTI 148).
Fig. 2. Popular image of battles between vampires and werewolves. From
http://www.werewolves.com/werewolves-vs-vampires/ (Moonlight, Nov.
2009)
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Professor Joel Robbins had also spent sometime among a group for his
anthropological studies. He was able to study among a group named the Urapmin. They
are a population of about 400 members residing in West Sepik Province of New Guinea.
Just like the Unarius community, they have widely different beliefs then our own. In their
culure, they believe all of one’s true self resides in the heart. Your heart being the prime
source of life, governs your whole true self in their beliefs. They do not trust speech and
communication among each other because they believe the truth is lost in translation
from your heart’s action to when the words come out of your mouth.
The Urapmin people with such a lack in faith towards communication, generally
are untrusting and try to communicate with each other with action.
Among the Urapmin, people understand constant practices of gift giving to do
much of the work of speech and its mindreading interpretation elsewhere. It is
also true that the Urapmin expect and tolerate a much greater lack of coordination
in social life than Euro-Americans are willing to accept, suggesting that we may
overestimate what is necessary along these lines (Robbins 17).
It is cultures like this that help us better understand our own and teach us different
schools of beliefs
In Healing, Efficacy And The Spirits, Samuel Geoffrey studies various shaman
arts and beliefs. In this he also looks into the body over mind dynamic. Many of the
people treated by Shamans, believe the shaman will heal him. They have bestowed upon
him that power with their train of thought. Unknowingly it is by this design that they are
often healed. It is this placebo effect that Anthropologists explore.
Examining many of these articles you can see the power of the mind. Our reality
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is shaped by our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Anthropology, studying the many
different cultures of mankind, shows us the various different realities we shape for
ourselves.
When studying anthropology, it examines mankind in general and then goes down
to the most basic human level. We as a people, our born into this world and our reality is
thrust upon us by the culture we live in. As anthropology teaches, with all the different
cultures in this world we can all learn something from each other.
There will always be a wide range of beliefs in this world. Anthropology teaches
us how to learn from this wide range and how to continue to progress as a species. While
Anthropologists worldwide do deny the fact of supernatural beliefs, they also see it from
another perspective and see the positive aspects it has as well. Mankind has unknowingly
learned how to harness their strong spiritual convictions into ways that subconsciously
improves them.
It is a worldwide fact that the placebo effect has a strong outcome on mankind.
Through tapping with some spiritual inclinations and practices, anthropologists have
learned that we positively heal ourselves with these exercises. People’s fear of god(s)
wraith have also lead to a general sense of comradery among mankind. In learning from
these instances, Anthropologists have taken a complete disagreement with these beliefs,
because of their positive outcomes.
We have also learned that some organizations such as SETI are taking preparation
for otherworldly contact seriously. Perhaps then not all, supernatural beliefs are fantasy.
Scientists such as James Lett have an extreme distaste against supernatural beliefs.
However, he only wants to encourage rational thought processing, and believes that what
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mostly leads to supernatural beliefs is irrational thinking. But when you think about,
mankind will always be frightened of the unknown. It is because of this fear that we
attempt to explain the unexplainable. We are a young species just beginning to crack the
surface of meaning. Maybe there are a few unknown monsters waiting around the corner,
who knows…
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Annotated Bibliography: Anthropological Studies on our Beliefs
This is an annotated bibliography for an anthropological study on our beliefs. I
have researched many different sources and forms of study on the way we shape our
beliefs. Anthropology is a general study of the human race, so this research covers many
different forms of study ranging from civilizations to humans in general. I have ten
sources here total, two for each of the different sources required for the assignment.
Bjorklund, David. "Lorenz revisited : the adaptive nature of children's supernatural
thinking." Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) 21.4 (2010), 371.
In this article, Professor HyeEun Shin and his peers conduct studies on children’s
and adult’s inclinations towards supernatural thinking. Through their studies they
see that this way of thinking begins in our children and persists from Adult’s
continued support. Concluding that we never grow out of supernatural
inclinations as a result of rewarding our children for this intuitive behavior. This
article can be used as one of the general articles from peer-reviewed sources. It
can be used to support the theory that supernatural beliefs persist as a result of the
way we groom our children. We plant the seeds of supernatural beliefs, such as
Santa Claus, the easter bunny, and the tooth fair, in our children. Later on in life
our beliefs evolve as we mature, but retain supernatural qualities because of this.
Bourrat, Pierrick, and Quentin D. Atkinson. "Evolution and Human Behavior." SciVerse.
University of Cincinnati Libraries, 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Quentin D. Atkinson and Pierrick Bourrat study the effects that supernatural
belief in gods has had on civilizations throughout history. They have come to the
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realization that most successful societies have all had strong beliefs in gods. For
fear of eternal punishment, societies geared towards a more cooperative and
beneficial existence among each other. These two researchers believe that always
fearful of the watchful eye led to societies coming together and good will
prospering. This can be used as of the four sources that provide reputable
information from credible sources but that are directed to a general audience.
The writers did a good job at compiling their evidence and presenting a good
point. It is true that many of the societies throughout history had strong religious
affiliations. This source could be used to demonstrate one of the positive
outcomes of supernatural beliefs, and also help show why they persist in our
cultures.
Dick, Steven J. "Anthropology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: An
Historical View." Jstor. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland, Apr. 2006. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
Researcher Steven J. Dick discusses the development and expansion of the
SETI(search for extra-terrestrial intelligence) institute, and the effects that
anthropology has had on them. After we landed on the moon, many institutes such
as SETI began to think deeply about the search for alien life and preparing for
initial contact. Using anthropology and our history, anthropologists in this
institute hope to prepare us for any future encounters. I will use this as one of the
four sources that provide reputable information from credible sources but that are
directed to a general audience. This is a very credible published article about this
institute. I plan to use this source to demonstrate that there are people and
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organizations that are taking the matter of alien life very seriously and preparing
us for this type of contact.
Kürti, László. "The Symbolic Construction Of The Monstrous - The Elizabeth Bathory
Story." Croatian Journal Of Ethnology & Folklore Research / Narodna Umjetnost
46.1 (2009): 133-159. Humanities International Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
In this study, the writer examines many of the classic monsters and their roots
from Eastern Europe. Many of the monsters originated from this area, and this
research examines their spread from folklore to current times. I would use this
article as one of the four general articles from peer-reviewed sources which can
have research in them, but are not necessarily bound to it. It can be used to
showcase the spread of supernatural beliefs and why we are quick to believe in
similar unknown creatures in our world. This is a very reliable source with lots of
research put into it.
Lett, James. "Interpretive Anthropology, Metaphysics, and the Paranormal." Journal of
Anthropological Research. University of New Mexico, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Professor James Lett expresses his beliefs on the irrational way of believing in the
Paranormal. To combat this growing trend, he designed his own college course to
teach us how to approach these ideas with a logical and scientific approach. He’s
conducted years of research and has concluded that all supernatural beliefs always
lack clear evidence and what leads to these beliefs is an eschewed perception of
our reality; denying any scientific and logical convention. I’ve chosen to use this
article as one of the four general articles from peer-reviewed sources. Depending
on your stance on the supernatural, this may be used as evidence or counter
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evidence. He has researched extensively on the topic and presents many
additional sources to investigate as well.
Mguni, Siyakha. "Natural and Supernatural Convergences Trees in Southern African
Rock Art." Current Anthropology. The University of Chicago Press, 1 Feb. 2011.
Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
Siyakha Mguni closely examines the many images found of tree’s at prehistoric
sites in Africa. All of these engravings are leading researchers to believe there
have been multiple religions of worshipping these types of trees, and a natural and
supernatural convergence. This alarming amount of images begs to be studied
further, which led the researcher to documenting his findings. This can be used as
another of the four sources that are considered scholarly references on belief. I
found this article extremely interesting, and this is one of the supernatural
phenomena not often discussed. With the amount of images uncovered at sites,
there could be some thing very interesting here. This can be used as one of the
four sources that are considered scholarly references on the issue. I would use this
as a source to demonstrate a different type of supernatural force documented in
history that not very many people are aware about in the world. A supernatural
force documented long ago in history that showcases an interesting dynamic
between the hunter-gatherers of the past and their worship of their natural
environment.
Robbins, Joel. "The Constitution Of Mind: What's In A Mind? Interiority And
Boundedness." Suomen Antropologi: Journal Of The Finnish Anthropological
Society 36.4 (2011): 15-17. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
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In this article, Professor Joel Robbins recounts his research among the Urapmin
people in West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. He spent 26 weeks of
fieldwork with the community, and came to learn of their interesting concepts of
our heart and interpretations of speech. They believe that our hearts are the center
of our being; housing our thoughts, motivations, and true intentions. Speech in
their culture is then untrusted and never used to express their real emotions.
Professor Joel Robbins relates this to his scholarly peers and shares their thoughts
on this way of thinking and its origins among other cultures. This article can be
used for a scholarly reference on the issue. His study of this vastly different
culture of people shows us a different way of thinking, and exemplifies that, much
like Plato’s the Cave relates to us, our beliefs become our reality.
Ross, Colin A. "Hypothesis: The Electrophysiological Basis of Evil Eye Belief." Wiley
Online Library. N.p., 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
Colin Ross delivers an interesting anthropological study regarding the Evil Eye
beliefs and their origins. He also takes an in depth scientific examination at the
phenomena, and proves it’s a superstition. This can be used as one of the four
research-based articles from peer-reviewed sources. I would use this to
demonstrate that science can prove whether a supernatural belief is false or not.
The article is very reliable in its scientific analysis of the phenomena and the
evidence the experiment provides.
Samuel, Geoffrey. "Healing, Efficacy And The Spirits." Journal Of Ritual Studies 24.2
(2010): 7-20. ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Anthropologist Samuel Geoffrey studies many different cultures and their beliefs
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and practice of spiritual healing. Through his study, he notes the powerful
placebo-like effect many of the tribes receive during these rituals. He compares
our placebo practice with theirs, and makes a point that it is worth looking into
further. I’ve decided to use this as a source for a fringe perspective on the issue. In
this article, the anthropologist explores the positive placebo-like results from the
spiritual healings. During our studies of belief, some scientists have very negative
views on believing in the supernatural, and this article shows one of the positive
qualities of such practices. The writer is very trustworthy with his documented
research. While reading the article, you see that he cites many reliable sources and
studies conducted regarding this topic.
Tumminia, Diana G. "In the Dreamtime of the Saucer People: Sense-making and
Interpretive Boundaries in a Contactee Group." OhioLINK Electronic Journal
Center. SAGE, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
Ethnographer Diana Tumminia studies among an alien contactee group called
Unarius Academy of Science headquartered in El Cajon, California. In this article
she tries to make sense of their diverse culture, and relates her findings. Their
culture and beliefs are very outside the norm, and as an anthropologist she tries to
make sense of their group and where it originates. This is definitely an article for
the fringe perspective. This is another article that can be used to demonstrate a
culture of belief so far different than our own. Further demonstrating that our
reality is shaped by our beliefs. This is a credible source of material for an essay
on belief.
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