Ethnography: Emic Perceptions

Reality and Perception (from http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/001200.html)

People who say "perception is reality" should stop saying it. Perception is a reality, in the sense that it's something we have to deal with. But perception isn't reality itself. In fact, perception is often demonstrably false. {CHECK OUT OTHER PERCEPTIONAL TESTS}

OK, the following test works better if you hear these instructions rather than if you read these instructions.

That said, here's the test:

1. Look around the room you're in.
2. Now, close your eyes.
3. Answer this question: Is the room still there?

Posted by Ara Rubyan on April 23, 2003 at 8:02 PM

For the conversation of race, how do you describe/identify a diverse group of people without talking to them about their race/ethnicity? Does it mean anything that you describe them a certain way ultimately? How does our enculturated view of race shape our views or perceptions of race? Does it change and how when you learn that race was learned as a social construct?

The science of anthropology -- ethnography -- is not about getting rid of things. It's about assessing different views of life and comparing how we view life. You could come to the conclusion that ANYTHING is possible rather than things don't exist. I'll talk more about this the last day of class.

It's hard to see the world beyond ourselves.
It's even harder to see the world beyond our clan, our country, our religion . . .

It's hard to see justice.
It's easy for blind bigotry to backfire.

UNTIL WE
DEVELOP THE NEEDED
PERCEPTION, WE DO
NOT "SEE."

"The more we learn and understand, the more we realize that most of the universe is, in fact, outside our understanding -- like most of the electromagnetic spectrum is outside our perception. Much -- and likely most -- of that "outsideness" is in ways, in dimensions, that we find hard or impossible to grasp (see falter points)." Might ethnography be essential to us?

Everytime instructors communicate, new concepts compete with preconceived ideas of the listeners. All students (in classrooms or of life) hold these ideas but they are unaware of their private theories or universes. Ethnography is a conduit to awareness (think Josh Klein's interviews in college). It is our job as enlightened beings to discover how to free ourselves from the private universe we were born into, raised in, taught by others and accepted as if the only or right truth or reality. An important conduit is not "knowing" but "not knowing" being willing to let go of being right or wrong.

By doing ethnography, you may discover we are all inventing taxonomies, rituals, and beliefs or myths we live by.