#Anthropologist Revelation
No other disciplines are fascinate as Anthropology does. At least for me.
It is more than just one subject, but includes Sociology, Psychology, Archeology, Homo structure and Anatomy. The charisma of Anthropology exactly roots on the factor of a studying of ourselves.
From Margaret Mead and Jane Goodall, anthropologists help us to better discover ourselves and explore potential power.
These are the methodologies and useful thinking tools I have been inspired:
1. observe
Anthropologists sited and lived together with the group of people that they want to study. This is what they call it "Fieldwork". By observing their daily behaviors, how they interact with the surroundings (let's say, the stuff they are using, the organization where they belong to, and the most important, other people involved direct and indirect) both physically and emotionally , they bring us new insights and smart strategies.
2. Anthropology methodologies
So what does that mean of "new insights"? Isn't that those people who help to solve our problems by gathering data, "advising" what shall we do to become a better me. Which in another word. selling consultancy by costing a mountain. In the end, we created new and more problems by solving the olds ones.
But an anthropologist does is much more than other or even to say, very different. They re-frame the problems, in a brand new way, and this is what Dorothy Leonard the professor of Harvard Business School calls "Deep Smarts".
. Anthropologist observe with open mind, despite of how strong academic background, they put aside their "knowledge" and preconceived notions.
. No human behavior is "surprise" for an anthropologist. They watch people, but they don't judge.
. Logical and analytical thinking sharpen our deductive skills by training left-brain, while an anthropologist using hypotheses and emotional underpinnings without any constraints.
. An anthropologist observes with a childlike "eyes", with a sense of discovery, they see things as for the first time, even if they have experienced before. This is how they get epiphany from those missed or unnoticed by other people. "They look beyond the obvious."
. As stated by Margaret Mead, fieldwork is "never to come up for air, until it is all over." You have to be there, observe firsthand, "Seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one has thought".
If you want to have an anthropologist mind, Ask-Watch-Learn and try. Start with asking right question is always an important beginning. Don't ask in general, or "what is your typical xxx". We instantly like generalizing, to idealize the real world. Jumping out of the stereotype mind, you will find people say:"Today is always a little unusual."
Anthropologists not look for perfection, but authenticity.
Anthropology teaches us, that the alpha male is the man wearing the crown, displaying the most colorful plumage and the shiniest baubles.
But I think that anthropology may have it wrong. I've come to realize that the quiet man, the invisible man, the man who not wears crown or plumage or baubles but the scars of bearing sorrow, the man who is always there for friends and family.
- that's the real alpha male.
Brennan说，人类学家的首要任务是观察，身在其中，又置身事外。不喜不悲，不动声色。
今天确是读出点“禅”的味道来了。
