The book cultural anthropology review
Can people embrace new ways and maintain their cultural beliefs? The central theme in the book Cultural Anthropology is that people are active decision-makers, with a constant interest in creating and using their culture. When individuals are faced with new obstacles and circumstances in their surroundings, they will often try to get solutions that are past their traditional norms and cultural prescriptions. It also highlights the significance of putting humans in a broader evolutionary perspective. This changes our belief of the causes of cultural extinction and the idea that some cultures are superior to others.
The book cultural anthropology changes our understanding of the term culture extinction. It is believed that culture extinction begins when people change their traditional way of living and adopt new ideas. However, this book enlightens our understanding of culture through the idea that culture is ever-changing because people are always involved in creating it. Thus, new ideas are created every day in different cultures that do not result in their extinction but to change in cultural patterns.
The book also changes the perceived idea that some cultures are superior to others. People are open to the idea that the concepts of other cultures can be useful in solving their problems. This shows they accept that other cultures are also important, and none is superior to the other. However, this can cause challenges in distinguishing the unique cultural identities from different cultural groups and result in the extinction of ancient cultural knowledge and skills.
The book cultural anthropology provides different perspectives on the commonly perceived threats to cultures such as technological advancements and ethnocentrism. It shows that people can maintain their cultural beliefs and still adapt to new advancements without causing cultural extinction.