Grand Valley Dani Peaceful Warriors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Grand Valley Dani Peaceful Warriors - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the people of the Grand Dani are believed to have resided in this area of New Guinea for centuries, according to Karl Heider. The technology of these people is very limited and the only resources that were basically utilized in the 70’s era were stones and bamboo instruments. Also, their way of preservation deals almost entirely on horticulture for sustenance. Their culture and previous style of life have practically vanished away, due to Western missionaries’ encroachments and the degree of far-reaching variables in the environment due to World War II. The sociological structure of the Dani people differs greatly from American society. They are not totally united as a social network and do not necessarily have to rely on one another’s individual contributions to the clan in order to persevere. The main lifestyle objectives of the Dani women are kept separate from the men. While the men do more technical and constr uctive work, the women’s primary attentiveness is on tending to the children, gardening, tending and feeding the pigs, making salt, and weaving carrying baskets. The work among these people is almost always assigned to gender or in an age categorization. What unites them as a whole is the similarity that they have in regards to their values, beliefs, and rituals. Though it might be hard to believe, the men are the ones that normally weave the skirts that the women wear. Furthermore, they are the ones that also perform the myriad of ceremonies and rituals. The men also build the wood and grass houses and ready the fields by plowing, for the women to be able to plant the sweet potatoes (Heider 2004). One quite notable difference between the Dani people and American’s is the definite lack of specialized skills within their community. The Dani’s primary food source is sweet potatoes, although they do have other fruits and vegetables as well. Their only meat source comes from the pigs that they raise (Heidi 1970). The Dani Valley consists of a huge network of fields which the Dani improvise on and develop into harvested areas for gardening purposes. This is a year round process and there is always a field in the procurement of being harvested (Heidi 2004). Their irrigation technique involves constructing ditches around the fields so that there will be a proper route for excess water to drain. These same ditches are utilized to allow needed water into the harvested fields in the dry season of the Dani Valley. The social organization of the Dani is divided into two groups. The Wida or the Waija, which are the two designated social circles within the community. This simply means that each individual person is an aspectual part of their father’s moiety. They are required to marry outside the moiety that the reside in (Heider 1996). Though this works well for their people and their belief system, there are instances when complications arise among this type of social structure. For example, every Dani is born into the Wida moiety, no matter the specification, of which group, the father is bound too. The separation of social recognition does not occur until marriage, during the pigs feast (Heider 1996). In regards to the political aspects of the Dani people, there are different allegiances. Extended family compounds become part of a large confederation, usually equaling 1000 individuals (Heider 2004). It is the confederations that co-exist in a stable and peaceful, multi unit society. Although they might present more stability in family life, the allegiances among them often change (Heider 1970). There are no written laws or any real legal constraints, unless verbalized. Also, they share the same unique culture and belief system despite what group they are affiliated with. Their belief in marriage has a very distinct variation from an American perspective. They believe in Polygony, which is the custom of having more

Science, not Dogma Should Be the Standard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Science, not Dogma Should Be the Standard - Essay Example Over the past century and one-half, however, people’s opinions regarding evolution have experienced an evolution. Many religious persons today acknowledge evolution to be valid. The Pope even admitted creation and evolution are compatible. Still, there are a dwindling numbers of people who choose to stubbornly reject the science and contend that magical account of life described in the Bible is the â€Å"gospel truth.† This emotion-charged dispute usually occurs when the fundamentalists object to science being taught in school. They want the creation version of events taught alongside the scientific version as a viable alternative. Eventually, everyone will acknowledge that the matter is not subject to dispute no more than the question of a flat earth vs. round earth is debated. Unfortunately, it will take generations to achieve this reasonable goal because our society evolves extremely slowly. Creationism is not based on the scientific model. No evidence exists, nothin g to test or question. It is based on the belief that a supernatural being magically created the universe including all life in it. The faithful accept this version of events without question because if they did question it they likely would cease to believe it. Science is a journey for the truth. Hypothesis is formed from observation, testing and retesting. When new information is presented the original premise is altered. Science continually tries to disprove the hypothesis or theory until the conclusion is shown as credible and irrefutable based on all available evidence. Religion readily accepts the explanations of an ancient, very superstitious and uneducated people. â€Å"Religion is based on faith that is never questioned while science is based on knowledge that is constantly questioned† (Edwards, 1980). Creationist’s first line of attack is that evolution is just a â€Å"theory† therefore unproven and unacceptable when compared to the God’s unassa ilable holy words. Evolution is scientifically proven by the same method scientists prove other universally held theories. Gravity is a theory. No one knows precisely how or why gravity works but we all know it does, same with evolution. Creationists require a much higher standard of proof from evolutionists than they are willing to provide. Religious fundamentalists thought the earth was flat prior to the 16th Century. In fact, since the church controlled the government at that time it was considered heresy to publically disagree with that falsity, a crime punishable by torture and/or death. However, learned people including Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella knew better. So did Aristotle who proved the earth was round 2000 years before Columbus. (Lienhard, 1998). Science was rejected then as now by the overtly religious but even they accept the scientific evidence regarding disease, that the Devil does not cause sickness. They also, because of science, realize the sun does no t revolve around a flat earth as is described in the Bible. â€Å"There are still many points of major conflict between science and religion. In each case, only one will eventually win public support. The historical record indicates that religion wins very few of these disputes† (Robinson, 2003) Darwin theorized that species adapt and change over the duration of millions of years according to new environmental conditions. He called this process natural selection. Darwin observed and recorded