Latest Test Bank for Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft, 3rd Edition Stein All chapters

Chapter 1: The Anthropological Study of Religion TEST QUESTIONS Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following would not be an appropriate task for an anthropologist? a. translating a religious text in the Navaho language b. excavating the ruins of a Mayan temple c. filming an American religious ceremony d. studying the chimpanzees of the Gombe National Park e. all of the above would be appropriate tasks Answer: e page 2 2. A study of a people's religious beliefs and rituals would be a part of the study of: a. cultural anthropology b. linguistics c. archaeology d. physical anthropology Answer: a page 2 3. Anthropologists study societies as systematic sums of their parts, a concept known as: a. relativism b. ethnology c. holism d. postmodernism Answer: c pages 1-2 4. A method of studying communities that is unique to anthropology is: a. questionnaires b. participant observation c. psychological tests d. recording of oral literature and songs Answer: b page 2 5. An ethnography is a: a. comparative study of the social systems of many societies b. study of the physical characteristics of a human population c. analysis of a nonhuman primate species d. descriptive study of a society or culture Answer: d page 3 6. An example of an ethnography is: a. Goodall's study of chimpanzee behavior b. Herskovits's study of economic anthropology c. Johanson's study of the fossil hominids from Hadar d. Malinowski's study of the Trobriand Islanders Answer: d page 3 7. An anthropologist travels to the Fore of New Guinea and produces an ethnography. This ethnography is a(n): a. comparison of Fore society with other New Guinea societies b. a description of Fore society and culture c. analysis of the Fore language d. analysis of the biological and genetic characteristics of the Fore people Answer: b page 3 8. Which of the following might also be referred to as an ethnographer? a. a physical anthropologist b. an archaeologist c. a cultural anthropologist d. a linguistic anthropologist Answer: c page 3 9. Geographical areas wherein are found societies that share a great many characteristics are known as: a. culture areas b. ethnographic zones c. ecological regions d. societal areas Answer: a page 4 10. Two main ways that anthropologists organize societies are by: a. culture area and food getting strategies b. level of religious complexity and gender stratification c. gender ratio and child rearing strategies d. kinship system and language spoken Answer: a page 6 11. Societies characterized by low population density, no full-time specialists or social stratification, whose food is obtained primarily from gathering, hunting, and fishing are: a. foragers b. pastoralists c. horticulturalists d. intensive agriculturalists Answer: a page 7 12. Kuru, a disease found among the Fore, is caused by: a. microscopic particles transmitted through cannibalism b. a parasite transmitted through poorly-cooked pork c. a hereditary factor passed on through the mother to her children d. toxins introduced by Indonesian mining operations Answer: a page 8 13. The Fore believe that kuru is caused by the: a. breaking of a taboo b. displeasure of an ancestral spirit c. transmission of a microorganism d. activities of a sorcerer doing evil magic Answer: d page 8 14. From the etic perspective, Western medicine sees kuru as an infectious disease. From the emic perspective, the Fore believe that kuru is caused by the: a. breaking of a tabu b. displeasure of an ancestral spirit c. transmission of a microorganism d. activities of a sorcerer doing evil magic Answer: d page 8 15. Anthropologists attempt to see the world through the eyes of the people in the community they are studying. This is: a. emic analysis b. functional analysis c. etic analysis d. psychosocial analysis Answer: a page 9-10 16. After cremating their dead, the Yanomamö grind the ashes and later add the ashes to a banana stew to be consumed. Most Americans might feel that drinking the ashes of the dead to be disgusting. On the other hand, anthropology tells us that we should not judge the customs of others by our own standards. This latter attitude towards other cultures is called: a. holism b. ethnocentrism c. cultural relativism d. participant observation Answer: c page 10 17. The Wogeo of New Guinea believe that Wogeo traditions are the only valid traditions in the world and that Wogeo speech is uniquely pure. They refuse to speak the languages of the communities with which they trade because their neighbors make the sounds of dogs. This attitude is an example of: a. cultural relativism b. ethnocentrism c. morality d. righteousness Answer: b page 10 18. The point of view that all knowledge is a human “construction,” that there are multiple viewpoints and truths, and that we must be aware of our own viewpoints and biases, is referred to as: a. modernity b. essentialism c. postmodernism d. Marxism Answer: c page 11 19. Culture consists of: a. innate behavioral patterns that humans share with the apes b. an appreciation of the fine arts and literature c. nutrients upon which bacteria can grow d. learned and traditional patterns of behavior Answer: d page 13 20. The first use of the term culture in anthropology appeared in 1871 in a book written by: a. James Frazer b. Robert Edgerton c. Edward Tylor d. Melford Spiro Answer: c page 13 21. Defining terms so they are observable and measurable is called a(n): a. analytic definition b. functional definition c. anthropological definition d. operant definition Answer: d page 14 22. In an analytic definition of religion, the study of the organization and leadership of a religious system represents the: a. social dimension b. ritual dimension c. institutional dimension d. narrative dimension Answer: c page 15 23. A definition of religion that is concerned with the role that religion plays in a society is a(n): a. analytic definition b. functional definition c. essentialist definition d. psychosocial definition Answer: b page 15 24. A belief in spirit beings is termed: a. animatism b. animism c. agnosticism d. anthropocentrism Answer: b page 15 25. The term supernatural refers to: a. an attitude of reverence and respect b. a belief in spirit beings such as spirits and gods c. belief in a general supernatural force d. things that are above the natural and not subject to the laws of nature Answer: d page 15 26. The operant definition of religion proposed in this textbook includes the following characteristics: a. a belief in anthropomorphic supernatural beings b. a focus on the sacred supernatural c. an articulation of a worldview and moral code through narratives d. all of the above Answer: d page 16 27. The concept of animatism refers to a belief: a. in spirit beings b. that it is impossible to prove the existence of a supernatural power c. that humans are set off from the animal world d. in an impersonal supernatural power Answer: d page 17 28. Late nineteenth century anthropologists who saw “primitive” societies as presenting an early stage in the development of religion were using the: a. functional approach b. essentialist approach c. evolutionary approach d. psychoanalytic approach Answer: c page 17 29. Who wrote, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature”? a. Edward Tylor b. Bronislaw Malinowski c. Karl Marx d. Sigmund Freud Answer: c page 18 30. There are many approaches to the study of religion in anthropology. One approach is to ask the question: What does religion do? What roles does religion play in human societies? This approach is referred to as the: a. functional approach b. psychosocial approach c. evolutionary approach d. cognitive approach Answer: a pages 18-20 31. Which of the following anthropologists is most closely associated with the functionalist approach? a. Melford Spiro b. Edward Tyler c. Alfred Radcliff-Brown d. Bronislaw Malinowski Answer: d page 19-20 32. Ethnographic fieldwork among the Trobriand Islanders was carried out by: a. E. E. Evans-Pritchard b. Bronislaw Malinowski c. Karen McCarthy Brown d. Alfred R. Radcliffe-Brown Answer: b page 19 33. The interpretative approach, in which religion is described as a cluster of symbols that together make up a whole, was developed by: a. Sigmund Freud b. Melford Spiro c. Clifford Geertz d. James Frazer Answer: b page 20 34. The approach to the study of religion that is concerned with the relationship between culture and personality and the connection between society and the individual is the: a. psychosocial approach b. the functional approach c. the analytic approach d. the Marxist approach Answer: a page 21 35. Some neuroscientists conclude that the brain is capable of creating religious experiences. Which of the following is evidence for this conclusion? a. People suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy often report intense religious experiences as part of their attacks. b. People who report having intense religious experiences often report having had brain trauma or brain injury in childhood. c. Brain scans of people in deep meditation show a decreased activity in the parietal lobe of the brain, in an area responsible for giving us a sense of our orientation in space and time. d. All of the above. Answer: d page 22 36. Theory of mind refers to the idea that: a. children are born with “blank slates” and slowly develop a mind through observation and trial and error b. people are not capable of seeing events as the result of randomness or coincidence c. people know, or think they know, what is going on in another people’s minds d. the evolution of a large brain was largely responsible for the development of the human mind Answer: c pages 22-23 37. The term cognition refers to: a. unconsciousness b. the totality of all perceptions c. conscious intellectual activities including perception, reasoning, and feeling d. a form of psychotherapy Answer: c page 24 38. An agnostic: a. has not made up his mind about the existence of the supernatural b. believes that there is no supernatural c. says that it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of the supernatural d. none of the above Answer: c page 25 True/False Questions 39. The study of religious art excavated from now extinct cultures is a part of the field of archaeology. Answer: T page 2 40. An important method of field study in anthropology is participant observation. Answer: T page 2 41. Anthropologists frequently apply the term primitive to small-scale societies. Answer: F pages 2-3 42. Karen McCarthy Brown’s study of vodou in New York City is an example of an ethnography. Answer: T pages 3, 11 43. Northwest Coast, East African Cattle, and Melanesia are names of culture areas. Answer: T pages 4-6 44. Foragers practice simple farming with hand tools, are seminomadic, and lack full-time specialists. Answer: F page 7 45. The Fore of New Guinea practice mortuary cannibalism, that is, they eat the body of their deceased relatives. Answer: T page 8 46. The Fore of New Guinea believe that the disease kuru is caused by evil forest spirits. Answer: F page 8 47. An outsider who applies his or her own cultural orientation to the analysis of another culture is performing an emic analysis. Answer: F pages 9-10 48. A person who judges another society in terms of his or her own culture is said to be ethnocentric. Answer: T page 10 49. Human universals refer to biological characteristics of human beings that reflect a common biology. Answer: F page 12 50. Postmodernism highlights the scientific method and rationality in the discovery of knowledge. Answer: F page 11 51. Robert Edgerton believes that all cultural practices are valid and must be accepted in the context of the society’s culture. Answer: F page 12 52. Culture is based upon the use of symbols or shared understanding about the meaning of things. Answer: T page 13 53. An analytic definition focuses on the way that religion manifests itself or is expressed in a culture. Answer: T page 14 54. The essentialist definition of religion emphasizes that region is the domain of the extraordinary. Answer: T page 15 55. All societies have clearly understood terms to label the domain of culture we call religion. Answer: F pages 16-17 56. Animatism refers to the idea of an impersonal supernatural force. Answer: T page 17 57. Émile Durkheim and Alfred Radcliff-Brown are associated with the evolutionary approach to the study of religion. Answer: F pages 18-19 58. Sigmund Freud applied some of his concepts to the analysis of religious phenomena. Answer: T page 21 59. Gods and ghosts are examples of anthropomorphic supernatural beings. Answer: T page 22 60. The idea that visions and other religious experiences are the product of brain function is what is meant by theory of mind. Answer: F pages 22-23 Essay Questions 61. How does the study of anthropology differ from sociology and psychology? (page 2) 62. Define the four fields of anthropology. How does each relate to the study of religion? (page 2) 63. What is the nature of ethnographic research? How does it differ from research in other disciplines? (pages 2-3) 64. What is meant by the term “culture area”? What do societies in the same culture area tend to have in common? Why? (page 4-6) 65. What are some of the important differences in social structure among peoples practicing different food-getting strategies? (page 7) 66. How does the study of kuru among the Fore of New Guinea illustrate the concept of holism? (pages 6-8) 67. Think of a political and economic issue that you have read about that has occurred in another part of the world. How would you describe and analyze this event from an ethnocentric viewpoint and from a cultural relativistic viewpoint? (page 10) 68. We can approach the study and understanding of other peoples through both etic and emic analysis. What is the essential difference between these two views? How does each contribute to our understanding of human societies? (page 11) 69. What are the differences between modernity and postmodernism? (page 11) 70. Is the concept of universal human rights consistent with the concept of cultural relativism? Why or why not? (page 12) 71. What criteria would you use in deciding whether or not a particular cultural practice should be eliminated in apparent contradiction of cultural relativism? (page 12) 72. When reading an ethnography about the Fore what is the difference between Fore society and Fore culture? (page 13) 73. “Culture gives meaning to reality.” What does this mean? Give some examples. (pages 14) 74. Within the analytic definition of religion, what is contained within the narrative, ritual, and ethnical dimensions? (page 15) 75. An essentialist definition of religions sees religions as dealing with the realm of the sacred supernatural. What is mean by the terms sacred and supernatural? (page 15) 76. Which of the definitions of religion discussed in the book do you like the best? Why? How would you personally define the term religion? (pages 14-16) 77. Two early approaches to the study of religion were the evolutionary approach of Tyler and Frazer and the psychosocial approach of Sigmund Freud. What are the essential features of these two approaches? (pages 17-18, 21) 78. Compare and contrast the essential concept of the evolutionary, Marxist, functional, interpretative, and psychosocial approaches to the study of religion. Which scholars are associated with each of these approaches? (pages 17-21) 79. Give some examples of how brain function can produce what are prescribed as religious experiences. (page 22) 80. How does the theory of mind relate to the phenomenon of animism? (pages 22-24) LEARNING OBJECTIVES CHAPTER 2 CULTURE After reading Chapter 2, the student should be able to: 1. Describe the anthropological meaning of culture and its complexities. 2. Explain why it is usually mistaken to equate “culture” with “nation” or “society.” 3. Discuss the nonobvious components of cultural knowledge and their importance. 4. Evaluate the importance of culture to human life. KEY TERMS culture (22) cultural identity (23) subculture (23) enculturation (socialization) (24) patterns of behavior (26) role (27) norm (27) values (28) symbol (30) cultural construction (31) world view (34) CHAPTER SUMMARY Anthropologists use the concept of culture to understand the diversity of human experience. Culture is the shared, socially learned knowledge and patterns of behavior that are unique to a group of people. Culture is not only essential for humanity, but it is also the key to our successful adaptation in a wide variety of environments. Though definitions vary widely, anthropologists generally agree on certain characteristics of culture: it is learned, shared, has a profound impact on the group of people who share it, and is central to understanding the different ways in which groups of people act, think, and feel. In a narrow sense, culture can be defined as a mental phenomenon; material artifacts and behaviors, for example, are products of culture in this sense. Broadly defined, culture refers to 18 The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft the way of life of a given group of people and explains the distinctiveness of the group. Culture is shared by definition, and always socially learned. Biological differences do not explain cultural differences; they are independent of each other. Culture is passed from one generation to the next, and transmitted from place to place at any given time. Attitudes, beliefs, assumptions about the world and other socially learned information that is stored in the mind, is called cultural knowledge. The five components of cultural knowledge are: norms, values, symbols, constructions of reality (including the natural and social worlds), and world views through which reality is interpreted. Culture knowledge is learned through enculturation. It is necessary for human existence because it enables us to adapt to our environments and provides the basis for human life, as well as shaping our view of reality. LECTURE OUTLINE CULTURE I. A Definition of Culture a. Culture is both a concept and a word. b. The modern idea of culture developed in the nineteenth century. c. All human groups possess culture to the same degree. d. Anthropological definitions of culture share certain features. i. Culture is learned from other people while growing up in a particular society or group. ii. Culture is widely shared by the members of that society or group. iii. Culture profoundly affects the thoughts, actions, and feelings of people. iv. Culture in large part accounts for differences in how people act, think, and feel. e. Narrow concepts of culture see it as an ideational or mental phenomenon. f. Broad concepts of culture see it as the whole way of life of a group of people. g. Even within a culture, behavior varies between individuals. h. Culture is collective. i. Common cultural identities do not necessarily equate to sameness. ii. Colonialism has produced countries filled with many cultural groups who share a common cultural identity in addition to identifying other cultural affiliations. iii. Subcultures refer to nations whose citizens and residents are culturally di- verse. i. Culture is socially learned. j. Enculturation is the process by which infants and children socially learn the culture of those around them. k. Culture is not transmitted through genetics or by biological reproduction. 19 20 Chapter 2: Mythology l. Any human infant is perfectly capable of learning culture of any human group or biological population. i. The same is true of language acquisition. ii. Cultural and biological differences are largely independent. m. Culture is socially learned through observation, imitation, communication, and inference. i. Every people and nation has adopted things from others. II. Cultural knowledge a. Patterns of behavior promote commonality. i. Roles are associated with privileges and obligations. ii. Norms are associated with shared ideas and expectations of how people ought to act in a given situation. b. Cultural Values c. These are people’s beliefs about the goals or ways of living that are deemed desirable. III. Cultural symbols may be objects or behaviors or events. a. These are learned along with other attributes of culture. i. Arbitrary symbols have no inherent quality. 1. A wink in one culture may have no meaning in another. ii. Conventional symbols have meaning only because people agree they do. 1. A red light at an intersection means stop only because people obey. b. Cultural constructions of reality i. Cultural knowledge that includes shared ways of perceiving the world. 1. There are constructions regarding the natural world. 2. There are constructions about social reality. c. Cultural world views i. A world view is the way a people interpret reality and events, including their images of themselves and how they relate to the world around them. 1. Some cultures believe in things that others do not. 2. Most world views make a connection between the “natural” and “supernatural.” 3. The way people view their place in nature is part of their world view. IV. Culture, Biology, and Human Life a. Culture is necessary for human existence in at least three specific ways. i. One, culture provides the knowledge we need to adapt to our surroundings. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft ii. Two, culture is the basis for human social life. iii. Three, culture profoundly influences our views of reality. SUGGESTED SUPPLEMENTARY LECTURES Culture and Hominids Discuss how definitions of culture might or might not apply to other hominid species. Consider the consequences of assuming only modern humans have culture and culture only exists in modern humans on Homo erectus or Australopithecus afarensis and others. Discuss the possibility culture arose suddenly in one species or that various components of culture arose at different times throughout prehistory. Culture and Nonhuman Primates Discuss the cognitive capacities of monkeys and apes. Potato washing behavior in Japanese monkeys is a famous example of social learning still debated. Chimpanzee mothers may exhibit teaching their infants the correct technique for cracking open palm nuts with stone hammers. Students are often amazed by the ability of chimpanzees to use symbols and other properties of language. Detail the experiments done with Kanzi, the bonobo chimpanzee. One point to make is how the results of similarities between chimpanzee or non-human primate “culture” and human culture should not be too surprising, given the close degree of shared genetic material between chimpanzees and humans. The Importance of Culture Discuss the effects of symbolic thought in humans. For example, consider how symbolic thought helps us adapt to the environment. Since it is often stated that human cultural transmission of adaptations occurs at a faster rate than genetic adaptations, explain the implications that human culture transcends biological heritage. Consider if symbolic thought has reduced human biological diversity. Illustrate how the human global distribution is unusual among animals and yet we belong to a single species. Meaning Behind Behavior Cross-cultural misunderstandings can occur if individuals assume that any given behavior has the same meaning universally. Provide examples of similar behaviors that might have different meanings. One example is an affectionate pat on the head of an American child is received as disgusting by a Balinese child. Another facet to explore is how different behaviors can have similar meanings, such as different ways to show respect. An example of this would be assuming a sitting position in the presence of an African emir, but standing in the presence of the President of the United States. The Importance of Symbols Most anthropologists agree that the human capacity to symbolize and attach arbitrary meanings to objects, events, and so forth is what makes culture possible. Devote part of a 21 lecture to how the culture that humans learn, share, and experience, actually relies on the ability to understand and interpret the world using symbols whose meanings are socially created and learned. Provide some examples of verbal, graphic, and behavioral symbols. Engage students by encouraging them to suggest some of their own. MEDIA SUGGESTIONS Characteristics of Culture, Lesson 2 of the series, Our Diverse World (2:36 minutes, 2008), streamed through Coast Learning Systems. This segment uses the city of Oaxaca, Mexico, to explore the nature of culture and how cultures are studied. In addition to visually defining the characteristics of culture, this segment explores how culture changes in response to outside forces. A bio-cultural approach is also explained. Full length version available with purchase. Culture Shock (3:53 minutes, 2008), streamed from COAST. Somali immigrants create new lives in America but encounter challenges in language and employment, placing additional strain on local community resources. Defining Race, American in Black and White, Part 1 (7:17 minutes, 2003) and Part 2 (5:11 minutes, 2003), streamed from COAST, courtesy of ABC News. The use of genetic testing to evaluate cultural affiliation creates challenges in identity. Dead Birds (83 minutes, 1963) preview available through Documentary Educational Resources. This classic ethnographic film depicts the life of the Dugum Dani of New Guinea prior to extensive contact with the industrialized world. The practices of Dani warfare and magic are featured. Available for purchase. Holy Ghost People (53 minutes, 1967) An ethnographic film depicting a small sect of Pentecostal Christians in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia, who practice snake handling. This classic ethnographic documentary was made by Peter Adair and may be downloaded from the feature films section of the Internet Archive. STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS A Definition of Culture One way to assist students in understanding collective meaning is to ask them what people might mean when they wink. Consider re-reading Geertz’s “Thick Descriptions” 22 Chapter 2: Mythology The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft in The Interpretation of Cultures for inspiration. Ask students to explain how they “know” the different meanings and how they think they learned them. Detail a misinterpreted wink and share examples of the meanings of winks in other cultures. Cultural Knowledge • Ask students to make a list of personal values and a separate list detailing the values of other Americans. Have the class reflect on any differences between the two lists. Identify the amount of discrepancy and discuss what it means to claim values that are shared. If there are international students present, compare their lists to the others. Discuss any discrepancies and evaluate conclusions about how other peoples perceive Americans. Discuss similarities and consider if there are any universally human values. • Ask students to provide examples of norms that are commonly violated and of situations in which the behavioral expectations of one norm conflicts with those of another. Bring conceptions of norms as a constraint on behavior into the discussion. Culture, Biology and Human Life Engage students in a discussion of the different role of biology and culture in daily life. Biologically, humans need to eat and sleep, to eliminate, and to have sexual intercourse in order to reproduce. How are these biological needs shaped by culture? Bring to the discussion examples of cultural variation in these activities. Ask students to try and explain the variation. Are all cultural differences obvious adaptations to a specific environment? INTERNET READINGS AND EXERCISES 1. Find the definition of culture on the internet and compare it to the one in this chapter. Describe how the definitions differ. Search using “culture” as a key word to see how many entries are returned. Scan results for content other than anthropology. Compare the way culture is addressed in contrast to your anthropological understanding. Be prepared to report your findings in class. Note complete citations for the materials that you used. 2. Search the internet to locate two primate research centers located in the U.S. Explore these websites to determine if non-human primates learn via social learning, as humans do. Note examples that seem to demonstrate social or imitative learning. Relate your findings to the discussion of social learning as a means of enculturation in the text. Determine if you believe non-human primates have culture using supporting evidence and summarize your research, including sources. 3. Use the key words “American cultural values” as search terms to locate at least one internet site that appears trustworthy and credible and note what criteria you used to make this assessment. Locate several more sites to compare descriptions of American cultural values and determine in what ways they are different and if there is any consistency in how American values are defined. Make a list of the values and evaluate each based on your own experience. Values are important to the maintenance of culture. Note significant 23 differences and reflect on societal impact. Summarize your ideas and sources for class discussion. 4. Conduct an internet search using the keywords “family” and “values,” along with various geographical areas (e.g. Africa) to prepare a cross-cultural comparison of family values and their influences. Note values that seem different from and similar to your own. Prepare notes and a works cited page, and be prepared to discuss your findings in class. 5. Conduct an internet search using the keywords “culture” and “biology.” Screen results to find those relating to anthropology and develop several examples of the relationship between culture and biology in some aspect of human life. Cite your sources. 6. Instruct students to search for information regarding which animals other than humans demonstrate cultural behavior. Use the keywords, “culture” and “animal” to see if you can find evidentiary examples. Review search results and assess if the term culture is used differently when applied to other animals. Provide examples of animal behavior that might indicate the presence of culture. Summarize your findings to present to class and cite sources. 7. Explore the evolution of culture using the key words “evolution” and “culture.” Describe at least one view of how culture has evolved in humans. Explain what factors are involved in the evolution of culture and which species of early humans evidenced such behavior. Prepare a summary of your research, including a works cited page. TEST BANK FOR INTRODUCTION TO PHYSI­ CAL ANTHROPOLOGY EDITION 14TH EDITION BY JURMAIN CONTACT US AT CHAPTER 2: THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY 24 Chapter 2: Mythology The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft Chapter Outline I. Introduction a) Evolution is often denigrated as being “only” a theory. i) Evolution is, in fact, a scientific theory that has a wealth of support, and is the unifying theory of the biological sciences. b) Evolution is of central importance to physical anthropology, and evolutionary thought has had a long history of development. i) The earliest human ancestors evolved from a species that lived some 6 to 8 million years ago. ii) All living species are the current result of processes that go back millions of year. iii) We see microevolutionary changes in many species including humans. iv) Some religious views hold that evolutionary statements run counter to biblical teachings. II. A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought a) The discovery of evolutionary principles date back to the sixteen century. b) Charles Darwin was the first person to explain the basic mechanics of the evolutionary process, although Alfred Russel Wallace independently duplicated Darwin’s ideas. c) Just as technological change is based on past achievements, scientific knowledge builds on previously developed theories. d) The predominant European worldview throughout the Middle Ages was one of stasis and the fixity of the species. i) Christian teachings that God created all life were taken literally. ii) The universe was perceived as being part of the Grand Design. (1) Archbishop James Ussher calculated that the world had been created in 4004 B.C. iii) The belief that the earth was very young, coupled with the notion of fixity of the species was a significant obstacle to the development of evolutionary thought. e) The Scientific Revolution- the development of evolutionary theory came about as a result of a series of discoveries that led to major paradigms shifts. i) As Europeans began to explore the “New World” encountering plants and animals they had never seen before, their awareness of biological diversity expanded. (1) In 1514, Copernicus challenged Aristotle’s idea that the earth was the center of the universe by arguing that the solar system was heliocentric. (2) In the early 17th century, an Italian mathematician named Galileo Galilei supported Copernicus’s views and stated that the earth was a place of motion. (3) The discovery of the principles of physics and the invention of a number of scientific instruments made it possible to investigate many previously misunderstood natural phenomena. f) Precursors to the Theory of Evolution i) John Ray () proposed the concept of species, he was first to recognize that groups of plants and animals could be distinguished from other groups by their ability to mate with one another and produce offspring. 25 (1) These groups were termed species. (2) Ray also coined the term genus, recognizing that similar species could be grouped together. ii) Carolus Linnaeus (), a Swedish naturalist and believer in the fixity of species, 26 Chapter 2: Mythology developed the binomial system of classification plants in his publication, Systema Naturae (1735). (1) He added the taxonomic levels class and order and classified humans as Homo sapiens. iii) Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon () a French naturalist (a.k.a. Comte de Buffon) stressed the importance of change in the universe and the dynamics between nature and living forms in Natural History (1749). iv) Erasmus Darwin (), Charles Darwin’s grandfather, was a freethinking physician who wrote about evolutionary ideas composed in verse but the degree to which he influenced his grandson’s ideas is unclear. v) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck () was the first to propose an explanation of the evolutionary process. (1) He proposed a theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics in which an animal’s body parts are altered through use or disuse and these altered characteristics are transmitted to their offspring. (a) Although this is biologically impossible, he nevertheless is credited with being the first to recognize the importance of the interaction between organisms and their environment in the evolutionary process. vi) Georges Cuvier (), a French vertebrate paleontologist, was an opponent of Lamarck’s evolutionary ideas. (1) Cuvier introduced the concept of extinction to explain the existence of hitherto unknown fossil forms. (2) Cuvier was a proponent of catastrophism, the idea that the earth’s geological features are a result of catastrophic events, the most recent being the biblical flood. (a) These events destroyed old life forms, and the newer forms were the result of creation events. vii) Thomas Malthus (), an English clergyman and economist wrote An Essay on the Principles of Population (1798). (1) He noted that population sizes increase exponentially but food supplies remain stable. (a) This concept inspired both Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. viii) Charles Lyell (), author of Principles of Geology (), is considered the founder of modern geology. (1) He demonstrated that uniform processes (uniformitarianism) could account for present geological features. (2) His ideas provided the time depth necessary for biological evolution to have occurred. ix) Alfred Russel Wallace () developed his own theory of natural selection after collecting bird and insect specimens in Southeast Asia. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft (1) He first published some of his ideas in 1855, and then in 1858 Wallace wrote “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type”. x) Mary Anning (), an amateur geologist and famous “fossilist”, unknowingly contributed significantly to the field of paleontology by discovering hundreds of fossils including the first complete fossil of an Ichthyosaurus. III. The Discovery of Natural Selection a) Charles Darwin () proposed the first credible mechanism for evolutionary change, natural selection, in On the Origin of the Species (1859). i) After graduating from Christ’s College, where he studied theology, but also cultivated his interests in natural science and geology, he was recommended to join the five-year expedition of the HMS Beagle. (1) Darwin began the voyage as a believer in the fixity of species, but his observations of, among other things, fossils of giant ancient versions of living animals and varieties of Galápagos finches eventually convinced him to the contrary. (2) After his return to England in October 1836, he began to formulate his theory of natural selection. (a) He wrote summaries of his ideas in 1842 and 1844, but felt he needed more evidence before he published. (b) He was sent both of Wallace’s papers, and Darwin was spurred to put all of his ideas in writing. (c) Initial reaction to On the Origin of Species was mostly negative, but scientific opinion gradually shifted to Darwin’s favor. b) In Darwin’s Shadow unlike Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace was born to a family of modest means. i) In 1855 Wallace an article suggesting that current species were descendant of older species and that the appearance of new ones were influenced environmental factors played a role in their evolution. (1) This article caused Lyell and others to urge Darwin to publish his findings but he continued to hesitate. (2) In 1858 Wallace sent Darwin another paper, the title was “On the tendency of varieties to depart indefinitely from the original type” where he described evolution as a process driven by competition in natural selection. (3) Darwin realized that unless he published his work, Wallace would get credit for the theory he had been working on for many years. In December 1859, Darwin completed and published his greatest work “On the Origin of Species.” IV. Natural Selection a) Darwin envisioned it as a process in which individuals with favorable variations survive and reproduce at a higher rate than those with unfavorable variations. The key elements in Darwin’s formulation include: i) The potential for reproductive rates that outpace the rate of increase of food supplies. 27