Jed Wrote: > Nonsense. Some of my best friends are anthropologists.
So are mine. They're the ones who told me about the Maya. I've read "Coming of Age in Samoa" and it describes behavior that the Samoans themselves were very upset about. This was not a language problem or a cultural disconnect, this was deliberate misrepresentation. I guess it depends on whom you wish to believe, Mead or the Samoans themselves. Whether you like Margaret Mead or not, the fact is the field of anthropology seems to have a greater history of fraud and wishful thinking than other fields of scientific endeavor. I just worry that some of this sort of thinking has spilled over into other disciplines. And yes, I'm sure you're right. I would probably tend to interpret an alien culture through my own beliefs and prejudices. But don't you think somebody would catch me at it if they were in the same field of study? M. _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
