Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities.
quote by Alfred L. Kroeber
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The Interpretation of Nature and
I.
MAN, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature: beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.
II.
Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much. It is by instruments and helps that the work is done, which are as much wanted for the understanding as for the hand. And as the instruments of the hand either give motion or guide it, so the instruments of the mind supply either suggestions for the understanding or cautions.
III.
Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.
IV.
Towards the effecting of works, all that man can do is to put together or put asunder natural bodies. The rest is done by nature working within.
V.
The study of nature with a view to works is engaged in by the mechanic, the mathematician, the physician, the alchemist, and the magician; but by all (as things now are) with slight endeavour and scanty success.
VI.
It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to expect that things which have never yet been done can be done except by means which have never yet been tried.
VII.
The productions of the mind and hand seem very numerous in books and manufactures. But all this variety lies in an exquisite subtlety and derivations from a few things already known; not in the number of axioms.
VIII.
Moreover the works already known are due to chance and experiment rather than to sciences; for the sciences we now possess are merely systems for the nice ordering and setting forth of things already invented; not methods of invention or directions for new works.
IX.
The cause and root of nearly all evils in the sciences is this -- that while we falsely admire and extol the powers of the human mind we neglect to seek for its true helps.
X.
The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding; so that all those specious meditations, speculations, and glosses in which men indulge are quite from the purpose, only there is no one by to observe it.
XI.
As the sciences which we now have do not help us in finding out new works, so neither does the logic which we now have help us in finding out new sciences.
XII.
The logic now in use serves rather to fix and give stability to the errors which have their foundation in commonly received notions than to help the search after truth. So it does more harm than good.
XIII.
[...] Read more
poem by Sir Francis Bacon
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Voyage around the Square Root of Minus One
I often heard
that while the sciences concern themselves
with objective truths
the arts deal with subjective phenomena.
Many years ago I held the same view,
but later came to the conclusion
that this is just a well-combed popular myth.
It is an untenable credo
because the sharp separation
of the arts and sciences is a rigid
and arbitrary mandate, full of holes.
Although all subjects have their specificities,
at the same time they also share
many common traits with each other.
There is art in science and science in art.
Artists, for example,
apply geometry to represent
a three dimensional scene in a painting,
which is a two dimensional surface.
By using ‘objective' geometrical perspective,
Renaissance artists, among them Alberti,
Brunelleschi, Uccello, Leonardo and Dürer,
developed in Europe the ‘subjective' illusion
of perceptual realism.
Later, in the Dutch Republic of the 17th century,
Johannes Vermeer applied expensive pigments
to the canvas and conducted
pioneering research in optics that enhanced
the supreme quality of his work,
imbuing his paintings with sublime,
otherworldly light.
In the 19th century
the Romantic painter John Constable
prepared detailed studies
of the landscape and weather conditions
of England, before transcribing them
into images of stunning accuracy and grace.
Following the closing of the Weimar Bauhaus
by the Nazis in 1933, the artist Josef Albers
moved to the USA, where he worked at
Black Mountain College and at Yale University.
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Younger anthropologists have the notion that anthropology is too diverse. The number of things done under the name of anthropology is just infinite; you can do anything and call it anthropology.
quote by Clifford Geertz
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Surprise in Malaysia - A State Assembly under a Tree
a State Assembly
held under a raintree
this awakening that the seed
of democracy was sown
in the streets of Athens
The Perak State Assembly Speaker V Sivakumar (member of Pakatan Rakyat) yesterday (March 3,2009) held an emergency State Assembly under a tree in Ipoh, the State capital of Perak. They were disallowed into the State Assembly Hall. Perak was well known for its tin trade in the 19th and 20th century.
Pakatan Rakyat lost its governing mandate last month when three of its members defected to the State Barisan Nasional (BN) . The State Speaker however said the three had earlier resigned from the Party and therefore their constituencies. The BN therefore cannot form the new State Government. Pakatan Rakyat wants a fresh election to be held to determine the new government for the people of Perak.
The following by Clive S Kessler is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
DATUK Seri Azalina Othman Said has characterised the attempt of the Speaker to convene an emergency sitting of the Perak state assembly as 'uncivilised' and as recourse to the 'law of the jungle'.
Never in the country's history, she avers, has a state assembly sitting been convened under a tree. Perhaps she is right. But some further historical perspective is needed.
In 1789, when the King of France sought to forbid the so-called 'Third Estate' or representatives of the people from meeting to discuss urgent national business, they convened on a Paris tennis court.
This too was, at the time, unprecedented and surprising.
They passed their 'Tennis Court Oath' that they would not disperse, adjourn or relent until their right to convene and discuss important public matters as the people's legitimate representatives was acknowledged.
That, too, was presumably seen as an 'insult' to the ruler, King Louis XVI.
It was also the beginning, for better or worse, of the French Revolution and of the entire drama of modern representative democracy and popular sovereignty. Those who seek to invoke history should know history. It may often prove a double-edged sword.
-
Clive S Kessler is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the School of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Origin Of The Universe -ten Questions Answered
1.How did the UNIVERSE originate?
It was from the bang, bang and the bang,
It was through the big bang
And you know it for certain.
Yes, the universe originated through the Big Bang.
2.What was the Big Bang?
An explosion of a particle was it
And the particle was smaller than an atom.
It was first explosion for our cause.
Yes, it was a causeless act of explosion of a small particle that resulted in the evolution of an ever expanding universe. Before the Big Bang the universe was smaller than an atom! There was only a point of time then and not a place! The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that describes the early development of the Universe.According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly.
3.What followed the act of expansion of the universe?
Then began the expansion,
An expansion that is still going on
And then and thus began the life of our universe.
The rapid expansion caused the Universe to cool and resulted in its present continuously expanding state. According to the most recent measurements and observations, the Big Bang occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, which is thus considered the age of the Universe.
4.What happened in the next stage?
There came the phases of energy
And the wonder of electrons, protons and neutrons.
We learnt about from the sweet mouth of our teacher first.
After its initial expansion from a singularity, the Universe cooled sufficiently to allow energy to be converted into various subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons.While protons and neutrons combined to form the first atomic nuclei only a few minutes after the Big Bang, it would take thousands of years for electrons to combine with them and create electrically neutral atoms.The first element produced was hydrogen, along with traces of helium and lithium. Giant clouds of these primordial elements would coalesce through gravity to form stars and galaxies, and the heavier elements would be synthesized either within stars orduring supernovae.
5.What is the scientific theory/relevance of the Big Bang?
Truth is that matters much to us
And the core ideas have to lead us.
Or else we might go back to life darker still.
The Big Bang is a well-tested scientific theory and is widely accepted within the scientific community. It offers a comprehensive explanation for a broad range of observed phenomena. Since its conception, abundant evidence has been uncovered in support of the model. The core ideas of the Big Bang—the expansion, the early hot state, the formation of helium, and the formation of galaxies—are derived from many observations that are independent from any cosmological model; these include the abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, and the Hubble diagram for Type I - a supernovae.
6.What will be the phases of the expansion of the universe?
An ever expanding mystery it is
Closer it was then and now it will be farther and farther.
And once begun it can`t go back ever.
As the distance between galaxy clusters is increasing today, it can be inferred that everything was closer together in the past. This idea has been considered in detail back in time to extreme densities and temperatures, and large particle accelerators have been built to experiment in such conditions, resulting in further development of the model. On the other hand, these accelerators have limited capabilities to probe into such high energy regimes.
7.Does the Big Bang theory explain everything?
[...] Read more
poem by M.d Dinesh Nair
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The notion that every well educated person would have a mastery of at least the basic elements of the humanities, sciences, and social sciences is a far cry from the specialized education that most students today receive, particularly in the research universities.
quote by Joseph E. Stiglitz
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Johnson’s Antidote
Down along the Snakebite River, where the overlanders camp,
Where the serpents are in millions, all of the most deadly stamp;
Where the station-cook in terror, nearly every time he bakes,
Mixes up among the doughboys half-a-dozen poison-snakes:
Where the wily free-selector walks in armour-plated pants,
And defies the stings of scorpions, and the bites of bull-dog ants:
Where the adder and the viper tear each other by the throat,—
There it was that William Johnson sought his snake-bite antidote.
Johnson was a free-selector, and his brain went rather queer,
For the constant sight of serpents filled him with a deadly fear;
So he tramped his free-selection, morning, afternoon, and night,
Seeking for some great specific that would cure the serpent’s bite.
Till King Billy, of the Mooki, chieftain of the flour-bag head,
Told him, “Spos’n snake bite pfeller, pfeller mostly drop down dead;
Spos’n snake bite old goanna, then you watch a while you see,
Old goanna cure himself with eating little pfeller tree.”
“That’s the cure,” said William Johnson, “point me out this plant sublime,”
But King Billy, feeling lazy, said he’d go another time.
Thus it came to pass that Johnson, having got the tale by rote,
Followed every stray goanna, seeking for the antidote.
. . . . .
Loafing once beside the river, while he thought his heart would break,
There he saw a big goanna fighting with a tiger-snake,
In and out they rolled and wriggled, bit each other, heart and soul,
Till the valiant old goanna swallowed his opponent whole.
Breathless, Johnson sat and watched him, saw him struggle up the bank,
Saw him nibbling at the branches of some bushes, green and rank;
Saw him, happy and contented, lick his lips, as off he crept,
While the bulging in his stomach showed where his opponent slept.
Then a cheer of exultation burst aloud from Johnson’s throat;
“Luck at last,” said he, “I’ve struck it! ’tis the famous antidote.
“Here it is, the Grand Elixir, greatest blessing ever known,—
Twenty thousand men in India die each year of snakes alone.
Think of all the foreign nations, negro, chow, and blackamoor,
Saved from sudden expiration, by my wondrous snakebite cure.
It will bring me fame and fortune! In the happy days to be,
Men of every clime and nation will be round to gaze on me—
Scientific men in thousands, men of mark and men of note,
Rushing down the Mooki River, after Johnson’s antidote.
It will cure delirium tremens, when the patient’s eyeballs stare
At imaginary spiders, snakes which really are not there.
When he thinks he sees them wriggle, when he thinks he sees them bloat,
It will cure him just to think of Johnson’s Snakebite Antidote.”
Then he rushed to the museum, found a scientific man—
“Trot me out a deadly serpent, just the deadliest you can;
I intend to let him bite me, all the risk I will endure,
[...] Read more
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
"CONSONANTIST PSYCHOLOGY", PERIOD 1938-1939 - Dr. Ștefan Odobleja (1902-1978), publishes in 2 volumes "Consonantist Psychology", 1938 and 1939, at the Publishing House "Maloine", Paris, in French, totaling over 800 of pages), in which he establishes general laws, which he applies both to the sciences of inert nature and to the sciences of the living world, psychology and economic and social phenomena. "Consonantal psychology has revealed the importance of dual, binary and dichotomous mechanisms both in psychology and beyond, in all sciences. He suggested and applied as another essential for the mechanization of thought, along with circularity. Instead of logic based on 3, he proposed and sketched a logic based on 2. " says Dr. Stefan Odobleja. Thus, he came to define the 9 universal laws, among them being the law of reversibility / vicious circle, feedback. The 2 volumes represent the concepts and studies for a new science: Cybernetics.
Marin Vlada in ROINFO Romanian Informatics 2018-2022
Added by Marin Vlada
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
What affected me most profoundly was the realization that the sciences of cryptography and mathematics are very elegant, pure sciences. I found that the ends for which these pure sciences are used are less elegant.
quote by James Sanborn
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
L’Invention
O fils du Mincius, je te salue, ô toi
Par qui le dieu des arts fut roi du peuple-roi!
Et vous, à qui jadis, pour créer l'harmonie,
L'Attique et l'onde Égée, et la belle Ionie,
Donnèrent un ciel pur, les plaisirs, la beauté,
Des moeurs simples, des lois, la paix, la liberté,
Un langage sonore aux douceurs souveraines,
Le plus beau qui soit né sur des lèvres humaines!
Nul âge ne verra pâlir vos saints lauriers,
Car vos pas inventeurs ouvrirent les sentiers;
Et du temple des arts que la gloire environne
Vos mains ont élevé la première colonne.
A nous tous aujourd'hui, vos faibles nourrissons,
Votre exemple a dicté d'importantes leçons.
Il nous dit que nos mains, pour vous être fidèles,
Y doivent élever des colonnes nouvelles.
L'esclave imitateur naît et s'évanouit;
La nuit vient, le corps reste, et son ombre s'enfuit.
Ce n'est qu'aux inventeurs que la vie est promise.
Nous voyons les enfants de la fière Tamise,
De toute servitude ennemis indomptés;
Mieux qu'eux, par votre exemple, à vous vaincre excités,
Osons; de votre gloire éclatante et durable
Essayons d'épuiser la source inépuisable.
Mais inventer n'est pas, en un brusque abandon,
Blesser la vérité, le bon sens, la raison;
Ce n'est pas entasser, sans dessein et sans forme,
Des membres ennemis en un colosse énorme;
Ce n'est pas, élevant des poissons dans les airs,
A l'aile des vautours ouvrir le sein des mers;
Ce n'est pas sur le front d'une nymphe brillante
Hérisser d'un lion la crinière sanglante:
Délires insensés! fantômes monstrueux!
Et d'un cerveau malsain rêves tumultueux!
Ces transports déréglés, vagabonde manie,
Sont l'accès de la fièvre et non pas du génie;
D'Ormus et d'Ariman ce sont les noirs combats,
Où, partout confondus, la vie et le trépas,
Les ténèbres, le jour, la forme et la matière,
Luttent sans être unis; mais l'esprit de lumière
Fait naître en ce chaos la concorde et le jour:
D'éléments divisés il reconnaît l'amour,
Les rappelle; et partout, en d'heureux intervalles,
Sépare et met en paix les semences rivales.
Ainsi donc, dans les arts, l'inventeur est celui
Qui peint ce que chacun put sentir comme lui;
Qui, fouillant des objets les plus sombres retraites,
Étale et fait briller leurs richesses secrètes;
Qui, par des noeuds certains, imprévus et nouveaux,
[...] Read more
poem by Andre Marie de Chenier
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research. Writing is central to it.
quote by Clifford Geertz
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Canto the First
I
I want a hero: an uncommon want,
When every year and month sends forth a new one,
Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant,
The age discovers he is not the true one;
Of such as these I should not care to vaunt,
I'll therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan—
We all have seen him, in the pantomime,
Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time.
II
Vernon, the butcher Cumberland, Wolfe, Hawke,
Prince Ferdinand, Granby, Burgoyne, Keppel, Howe,
Evil and good, have had their tithe of talk,
And fill'd their sign posts then, like Wellesley now;
Each in their turn like Banquo's monarchs stalk,
Followers of fame, "nine farrow" of that sow:
France, too, had Buonaparté and Dumourier
Recorded in the Moniteur and Courier.
III
Barnave, Brissot, Condorcet, Mirabeau,
Petion, Clootz, Danton, Marat, La Fayette,
Were French, and famous people, as we know:
And there were others, scarce forgotten yet,
Joubert, Hoche, Marceau, Lannes, Desaix, Moreau,
With many of the military set,
Exceedingly remarkable at times,
But not at all adapted to my rhymes.
IV
Nelson was once Britannia's god of war,
And still should be so, but the tide is turn'd;
There's no more to be said of Trafalgar,
'T is with our hero quietly inurn'd;
Because the army's grown more popular,
At which the naval people are concern'd;
Besides, the prince is all for the land-service,
Forgetting Duncan, Nelson, Howe, and Jervis.
V
Brave men were living before Agamemnon
And since, exceeding valorous and sage,
A good deal like him too, though quite the same none;
But then they shone not on the poet's page,
And so have been forgotten:—I condemn none,
But can't find any in the present age
Fit for my poem (that is, for my new one);
So, as I said, I'll take my friend Don Juan.
[...] Read more
poem by Byron from Don Juan (1824)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Internationalism on the other hand admits that spiritual achievements have their roots deep in national life; from this national consciousness art and literature derive their character and strength and on it even many of the humanistic sciences are firmly based.
quote by Christian Lous Lange
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
When One Is Thought To Be Kept Back
I had a professor who once stated,
In a humanities class...
I had attended years ago.
And...
That comment remains,
As an observation wherever I go!
'There are two who are kept at a disadvantage,
When one is thought to be kept back!
The one that is obviously being consciously held,
From advancement.
And the one too ignorant to tell,
What is the benefit being received from this...
In the keeping of others from attempting to excell? '
And I continue to think about this,
As today I witness...
The activities of those,
Who are clearly ludicrous...
As they look down upon others,
With turned up noses.
And this shows in a land,
Where great achievements have been made.
Only to smell of the origins from a gutter kept,
That has been actively dispelled...
At an accepting low grade,
Could keep people believing...
Some are chosen to deceive,
To have it made as they do as they please.
Dedicated to:
Dr. John Rodgers
Professor of African Studies and Humanities
And taught both at Greather Hartford Community College
Today known as Capital Community College
Downtown Hartford, Connecticut.
And...The University of Hartford.
Now deceased but Dr. Rodgers,
And his teachings remain 'timeless'.
'Thank you, Dr. Rodgers.'
~lsp~
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Beast Of Field
“Do unto others, as you would
have, others do unto thee.”
Praise be to Allah.
Praise be to Jah.
I would I could ascend
free of this world of men.
Suddenly if humanity started living
in accordance with Divine Laws.
Humanities’ problems would dissolve
like snow under summer sun.
Humanity must achieve
conceptional spiritual massed transition.
Instead of fever creating doomsday
weapons. Designed to indifferently
dispense diabolical death.
Fault designed commercial machines
spare part increase corporal margins
false deceit gain fever sacred profits
amassed by wealthy rich industrialists.
Knowledge must serve faithfully
not rent repulsively deceitfully destroy.
Serve humankind entire race family
not self serving ego miser philosophy.
Engineered by hoard cretin manipulators
who manufacture profit epidemic war.
We must strive endeavour earnestly,
to truly try solving technological
nightmares; capitalist communist
religionist; insanity craving gravity
greed created poverty inequality.
To blame God for global problems,
generated by exploitative human
greed deceit; is childishly ridiculous.
Power coveted lusts; depravity initiated
by misguided; callous crazed human
beings; were sick source stagnant cause.
[...] Read more
poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Emotions ((Terzanelle))
Emotions are humanities heart-print
Enhancing our intrinsic affinity
Etching each loving heart with its imprint
Birthing mankind's compatibility
Relieving our sense of isolation
Enhancing our intrinsic affinity
Emotions need no translation
They sensitize our compassion
Relieving our sense of isolation
Our emotional growth is begun
By stimulating our perceptions
They sensitize our compassion
Strengthening pure contemplation
Intrinsic to mankind's development
We are all relatives in man's collation
The soulful experience of emotion is
Intrinsic to mankind's development
Emotions are humanities' heart-print
Etching each loving heart with its imprint.
poem by Kristin Nicole RothDavis
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Where Credit Is Due
We must give credit, where it is due, for the devil lies to me and you,
Distorting man’s true knowledge of, the Lord God who reigns above.
Many intelligent peoples today, by the Father of Lies are lead astray,
Discounting all the evidence of God, with a shaky but, skeptical nod.
God is apparent to every Nation, through the witness of His Creation,
However, the very creation many deny, using science to cover the lie,
Many reduce God’s power we see, down to a vain scientific theology,
Ideas that entangle many a believer, in the lies of the mighty deceiver.
That deceiver even employs politics, to create for us a humanistic fix,
A body to address ills of the world, with every UN resolution unfurled.
Missing is an acknowledgement of, a Sovereign God, reigning above,
As wicked men pen failing solutions, with empty and dark resolutions.
Satan even uses everyday situations, to chart his deceptive creations,
Sowing in many hearts mistrust, for the only One who’s Eternally Just,
Swaying a heart to taint their mind, painting God as one who’s unkind,
Wanting all on an unbelieving path, to see not God’s Love, but, Wrath.
Calling God nonexistent at best, and in the end you shall not see rest,
Or call Him Mother Nature friend; you’ll see God as Judge in the End.
Whatever argument you want to use, you’ll still stand, without excuse,
As ill-fated logic won’t mean a thing, when all knees bow to The King.
(Copyright ©09/2009)
poem by Bob Gotti
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Moreover, only a strong and united scientific opinion imposing the intrinsic value of scientific progress on society at large can elicit the support of scientific inquiry by the general public.
quote by Michael Polanyi
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
A theory is only as good as its assumptions. If the premises are false, the theory has no real scientific value. The only scientific criterion for judging the validity of a scientific theory is a confrontation with the data of experience.
quote by Maurice Allais
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Science is Unscientific
The Professor rose from his chair.
He moved the book to the middle
Of the table as he stood up.
"Now, listen! " he said in an amicable voice.
"Science prides itself in being factual,
objective, precise, unbiased, detached
and verifiable, free from introversion,
a way of knowing things without added colours
and portraying accurately the physical world
in its own light".
The Turtle was sipping his ginger ale.
"Oh, this description of science is nothing
but a myth", he said. "As I see it,
even the most magnificent accomplishments
of science involve emotions,
an individual sense of wonder and curiosity,
the psychological experience of the rapturous
and the mystical. Consequently,
a paradoxical and built in property
of science concerns
its own unscientific disposition.
And therefore, in my opinion,
science is thoroughly unscientific."
"Nonsense", the professor objected.
"If science were really unscientific,
as you claim, it could not produce
nuclear energy, airplanes, or computers.
And it could not put
astronauts on the moon".
"Well, I indeed never stop to wonder,
How is it possible that with so little knowledge
humans can accomplish so much? "
the Turtle said.
And then he added:
"But, you should not
confuse science with technology".
"I don't get your point", the Professor said,
"because you still did not provide me with
a good justification of your negative view
of science".
"Look! Science stands on very shaky
[...] Read more
poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!