Anthology of Ideas

I think this selection of words shows evidences the many ways words enter into the English vocabulary. Itinerary: Itinerary began as the word itinerarium from Latin which means “account of a journey”. Mouse: Mouse began as the Greek word m?s it the evolved over time to be (in chronological order) m?s in Latin, maus in German, m?s in Old English, then finally as mous in Middle English. This word is interesting for two reasons the first is that it has a rather long etymology and the second is that English first borrowed the word directly from Latin and then later borrowed it in a different form from the Germans.

Abstract

In non-human mammals, the family group is a heterologic system. Only three percent of mammalian species are monogamous with their mates and have both parents involved in the raising of the young. Humans rank in this three percent. Humans require both parents to ensure the survival of the young and humans, across all cultures, form pair bonds. This leads to a family group far removed from the groups of other mammals. The creation of the human family rests on three foundations: (1) the cultural phenomenon of the human family group evolved because of the instinct to protect ones genes; (2) the basis of the family group, the pair bond, is the result of the female desire to have an economically supportive mate during the developmental years of her offspring’s lives; it is also a result of the males desire to have a suitable mate for multiple children and ensure all offspring are genetically his, and (3) the extended family group is a result of the desire to pass on ones genes through any means available even if it means helping blood relatives to reproduce [kin selection], the extended family is also preferable because social and instinctual taboos prevent mating with blood relatives, thus further protecting the pair bond. The result of these instincts for modern humans is the cultural family unit, the provision of resources for offspring, and to pass on genes.

This speech was televised during the Goldwater campaign in 1964 in support of his candidacy. This was a sweeping speech touching on most of the hotbed issues of the time; Vietnam, welfare, taxes and the ever over budget American government.

This speech was made directly to the people, and although it was made in support of Goldwater, it seems to be a foundation of Reagan’s political career. Reagan went beyond the basic party line that the democrat’s were ruining America, and picked at every fault in the democrat’s plans, he blasted away at all of the programs of the “Great Society”, exposed the gross inaccuracies in the planning and execution of existing programs. He then portrayed Goldwater as a kind and caring individual, who would do anything to help someone in trouble.

The letter was a long-winded appeal by Russian Premier Khrushchev attempting to convince President Kennedy to not invade Cuba and end the United States blockade; in return, Premier Khrushchev promised that the Russians would stop shipments of armaments to Cuba.

The letter is directed to President Kennedy personally and places all the blame for the situation on Kennedy entirely. Khrushchev paints a picture of an evil America threatening the peaceful communist countries of the world and in a very propagandist maneuver describes communists as hard-working peaceful peasant farmers who want nothing more than pleasant diplomatic relations with their neighbors.

Shelley’s “Frankenstein” warns the reader to consider if just because something can be done should it be done. Twenty years before Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” Luigi Galvani found that electricity could be used to cause muscles in the dead to spasm, opening the door to the possibility that reanimation was possible. It was in this frame of mind that Shelley began “Frankenstein”. Shelley puts forth questions that has been repeated over the centuries by many people (1) Do people have the right to play God?

The four fields in American anthropology are usually classified as physical, cultural (or ethnology), linguistics and archeology. Cultural Anthropology deals with the aspects of human lives that are learned. It examines the way different groups keep societal control, delegate responsibilities and other such learned behaviors. Physical Anthropology studies the way humans have evolved over time and how different environmental and cultural influences affected human evolution. Archeology is the study of things humans have created in the past.