Читать книгу Anthropology For Dummies - Cameron M. Smith - Страница 59

Attempting to rectify common-sense evaluations of the rest of the world is a sort of corrective for human perception of itself. The idea that one’s own culture is the best and most appropriate way to live is called ethnocentrism, and it’s been used to justify discrimination against people outside ones’ own culture for centuries and worldwide. Keep in mind that just because a cultural practice exists doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good for the culture at large; like slavery, it may benefit a relative few at the expense of many. Robert G. Edgerton’s book Sick Societies demonstrates that many human cultural adaptations are actually maladaptations, adaptations that are actually bad for the society rather than beneficial. For example, some agricultural practices provide high yields in the short run but may burn out the soil in the long run.

Western civilization isn’t shy about pointing out obvious problems of its own — such as racial discrimination or the fact that women make significantly less money than men at the same jobs — and should remain open to the possibility that such problems are possible in other cultures. In this way, cultural anthropology isn’t a discipline focused on bashing Western civilization; it’s an objective science that doesn’t idealize any society over another.