Problems Facing Cultural Anthropology in Today’s Woke World

Cultural anthropology is a science relying on facts and observations.

The toast at a Pure Mathematics institute in the 60s and 70s was, “To Pure Mathematics. May it never be any use to anyone”.

That was tongue in cheek, of course. Pure mathematics is a science, and the comment was just meant to annoy the more worldly mathematicians who put the science to good use in a pragmatic and useful way. Just friendly rivalry.

Anthropology suffers in the same way in today’s rather woke world. It is not treated as a science based on facts, observations, and rigorous testing. Too many anthologists today just publish their own opinions, ignoring sources. In my specialty, Social Anthropology, and Cultural Anthropology, I strive to only report and comment on what I can prove to be true.

Let’s look at what Woke really is.

Woke people don’t THINK, they COPY other people’s comments or views.

Interesting, isn’t it, that the original meaning of woke, “awake to reality, awake to the truth, being particularly alert to racial prejudices and discrimination”, has morphed in popular parlance to the exact opposite. A woke person is now seen as one who has personal biases on certain subjects. Authoritarian people tend to be like this. Someone who won’t accept the opinion of others, however much proof they are given.

They dislike the concept of Free Speech. Universities are now “cancelling” visiting speakers and even their own lecturers and professors if they don’t “toe the line”.

In extreme cases some are keen to eliminate capitalism or to advocate gender neutrality. Some believe in reparations to be given to the ancestors of slaves, forgetting that slavery was first practiced by the native rulers of countries which the West colonised. Forgetting that it was the West which was the first to abolish slavery (William Wilberforce) and paid slave owners handsomely to comply.

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And I’d like to encourage readers to comment. Agreeing or disagreeing, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is to create a conversation where you can communicate your own thoughts and ideas.