Essay --

I.- Lvi-Strauss La Pense Sauvage, scientific explanation is substitution of the much intelligible complexity for the less intelligible- The Enlightenment viewed human genius as all the same, regularly defined, did not account for the variability of all of man through history- Culture arose from the radical that man is inseparable from his environment- There must be balance between universal and local (culturally determined), not dualistic like the Balinese in their dissociated trancesII.- Stratigraphic conception of human factors, wherein man is unruffled of layers of different factors of humanity- Anthropologists began search for consensus gentium (consensus of all mankind)- For universal/particular dualism to stand, universal aspects must be substantial, grounded in scientific processes, defensible Geertz thinks gentium approach fails- No frequentizations neverthelesst joint be made of man, except that- Parsons & others said that cultural universals atomic number 18 huma n responses to realities all humans face- Common human action is much more meaningful than simple response to needIII.- Universals are accepted to avoid relativism and historicism, but the specific can teach a lot about the general- Culture is not complexes of concrete behavior patterns, but a set of control mechanisms to govern behavior- Man depends on such control mechanisms, and they are not genetic- Humans use social symbols and ideas to create meaning- Culture did not suddenly appear, it evolved with humanity genetics were not enough so men were guided by and completed through the creation of culture- Humans have a great capacity to learn, but there is likewise much to be learned culture helps us to learn that which we need to knowIV.- Enlightenment thinking... ...p in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops? So in the end, what does it matter that we are human? Maybe, as a Christians and humans, we must start viewing others as humans. We are so qui ck to apologize for what the church did to other humans in the crusades, or to humans before blacks were free. When we own up to our own humanness and stop the idea that we are the judge of who is human, maybe we will apologize to the gays, lesbians, bisexuals, pot smokers, democrats, republicans, and independents alike for what people have d one(a) to them in the name of the church. Against all odds, we are told that one man will never provoke a difference. I think the beauty of humanity is that its true. One man will never, ever make a difference by himself. But humanity as a whole, working together as one human race? That may entirely shake things up a bit.