What is Anthropology?
Sometimes in casual conversation with someone at a party, say, or with a seatmate on a bus or plane, it comes out that I’m an anthropologist. In one common response he or she asks whether I’ve gone on “digs” or recently dug up any bones (or even found any dinosaurs?). Or my conversationalist might say “Oh, that’s really interesting! I took anthropology in college and loved it. I even wanted to major in anthropology but couldn’t see how I’d make a living.” Others relate to popular TV shows and books about forensic anthropology, where a physical anthropologist with knowledge of bones and human anatomy helps solve crimes; or they call up Indiana Jones and his wild adventures in the jungle.
The first person has only the vaguest idea of what anthropology is. The second person knows something about anthropology. They also are right, more or less, about its job prospects—unless you want to teach at the university level, and that also has its challenges. No one goes into anthropology to get rich. All these different responses touch on part of the picture, but only part, and none suggests a very clear idea about what anthropology might be good for outside of specific contexts, like forensic anthropology.
Human Nature in Nature takes a basically anthropological approach to the questions of who and what we human beings are, and to our current challenges as citizens of Earth. We face some very pressing dilemmas. Why? Where did they start, and where might they end? What can we do about them? So you’ll understand where I’m coming from in taking on those issues, or if you just want to learn more about anthropology in general, I’ll offer an overview of anthropology and its overall relevance as I understand it, in a series of posts to follow.