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Interesting article. Unfortunately the only criticism of Chagnon mentioned
was the introduction of measles (which he was later cleared of). This
overlooks the other detestable behaviors he engaged in.
Such as the fact that Kenneth Good (Chagnon's own graduate student) stated
that Chagnon would bribe tribal villagers with machetes, guns, and other
items in return for good stories. He also admitted to intentionally causing
conflict between tribal members (or fanning the flames of existing
tensions) in order to play one against the other; essentially blackmailing
subjects in order to get information. None of the other anthropologists who
have lived among the Yanomami (Good, Leslie Sponsel, Patrick Tierney, and
Juan Finkers) considered them "fierce" or "violent." Sponsel even showed
them pictures of themselves in Chagnon's book and found they were
embarrassed and ashamed of acting angry. I'm afraid Chagnon is perpetuating
the "nasty, brutish, and short" maxim. His own doctoral thesis admits that
no Yonomami had been murdered in the 13 years prior to his arrival.
Ultimately Chagnon's book is required in many Anthropology courses now as
an example of what not to do.


On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 9:22 AM, Charles Carlson <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> From The New York Times:
>
> BOOKS: An Anthropologist’s War Stories
>
> The anthropologist Napoleon A. Chagnon tries to answer questions about
> human evolution in his 35-year study of the Yanomamö of Venezuela and
> Brazil.
>
> http://nyti.ms/WSq280
>
> Hi All,
> This sounds like an interesting book.  I only peripherally followed the
> Chagnon's story, but do remember aspects of the ongoing controversy, and
> the story richly highlights the inherent challenges of understanding human
> nature and behavior.
>
> C
> Sent from Charlie Carlson's iPad
> [log in to unmask]
> Cell 510-499-8086
> Try me on Skype (510) 984-3543
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