Case Assignment: Anthropologist

Case Assignment: Anthropologist

Case Assignment: Anthropologist

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Anthropologist Leslie Alvin White focused on the harnessing and control of energy. For White, controlling energy is the primary purpose and function of any culture. White differentiated five stages of human development.

· Stage 1: Human muscle power is the source of energy.

· Stage 2: Humans harness the energy provided by domesticated animals. Humans raise and herd livestock for food energy while using some animals, especially the horse, to provide transport and mounts for warriors and hunters..

· Stage 3: The agricultural revolution provides surplus food energy to extend the value of Stage 2.

· Stage 4: Especially as expressed in the Industrial Revolution, humans harness the power of natural resources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

· Stage 5: Nuclear energy is harnessed. (White was perhaps a bit too optimistic about nuclear energy, given its dangerous drawbacks.)

White developed a formula that remains useful in our day: P = E*T. Here “E” is a measure of energy consumed and “T” is the measure of efficiency respecting technical factors utilizing that energy. “P” is what we get when calculate “E*T.” For example, in comparing early steam engines with steam-powered turbines, the efficiency of the latter will increase the value “P.” In White’s words, “culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year is increased . . . or as the efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to work is increased.”

Reference: White, L. A., Energy and the Evolution of Culture. American Anthropologist, Vol 45, July-September, 1943, No. 3, Part 1. Retrieved from: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/99636/aa.1943.45.3.02a00010.pdf?sequence=1

Alvin Toffler

Alvin Toffler is a journalist, social critic, and futurist. While various intellectuals are associated with ideas and prognostications about what we have come to think of as the postindustrial era, Toffler stands out. That’s because what he had to say reached a large audience. Here’s a quote that gives you a good sense of Toffler’s view of our current era. (The quote can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3030.Alvin_Toffler.)

To survive, to avert what we have termed future shock, the individual must become infinitely more adaptable and capable than ever before. We must search out totally new ways to anchor ourselves, for all the old roots– religion, nation, community, family, or profession–are now shaking under the hurricane impact of the accelerative thrust. It is no longer resources that limit decisions, it is the decision that makes the resources.

Toffler is best known for the concept of future shock. He defined future shock as one’s personal perception that there is “too much change in too short a period of time.” Toffler provided compelling arguments to the effect that human societies are undergoing mind-boggling social and technological structural change. We are living in an era of unprecedented revolution as industrial society is morphing into what he calls a “super-industrial” society. And, in Toffler’s view, the acceleration of change is overwhelming for many, if not most of us. Millions of us are feeling disconnected, living a life characterized by “shattering stress and disorientation.” We are “future shocked.” We are all but drowning in what he called information overload. (He invented that term.) In Toffler’s view, future shock is responsible for most of our current social problems.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

• The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

  Discussion Questions (DQ)

  • Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
  • Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
  • One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
  • I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

  Weekly Participation

  • Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
  • In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
  • Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
  • Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

  APA Format and Writing Quality

  • Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
  • Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
  • I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

  Use of Direct Quotes

  • I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
  • As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
  • It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

   

  LopesWrite Policy

  • For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
  • Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
  • Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
  • Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

  Late Policy

  • The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
  • Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
  • If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
  • I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
  • As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

  Communication

  • Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
    • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
    • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.