• Title/Summary/Keyword: ecological anthropology

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Evolutionary Model of Depression as an Adaptation for Blocked Social Mobility

  • Park, Hanson;Pak, Sunyoung
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.1-8
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    • 2022
  • Objectives In regard to the social competition hypothesis, depression is viewed as an involuntary defeat strategy. A previous study has demonstrated that adaptation in microenvironments can result in a wide range of behavioural patterns including defense activation disorders. Using a simulation model with evolutionary ecological agents, we explore how the fitness of various defence activation traits has changed over time in different environments with high and low social mobility. Methods The Evolutionary Ecological Model of Defence Activation Disorder, which is based on the Marginal Value Theorem, was used to examine changes in relative fitness for individuals with defensive activation disorders after adjusting for social mobility. Results Our study examined the effects of social mobility on fitness by varying the d-values, a measure of depression in the model. With a decline in social mobility, the level of fitness of individuals with high levels of defense activation decreased. We gained insight into the evolutionary influence of varying levels of social mobility on individuals' degrees of depression. In the context of a highly stratified society, the results support a mismatch hypothesis which states that high levels of defence are detrimental. Conclusions Despite the fact that niche specialization in habitats composed of multiple microenvironments can result in diverse levels of defensive activation being evolutionary strategies for stability, decreased social mobility may lead to a decrease in fitness of individuals with highly activated defence modules. There may be a reason behind the epidemic of depression in modern society.

People within the Forest, People outside the Forest : A View from Ecological Anthropology (숲속에 사는 사람, 숲밖에 사는 사람 : 생태인류학적(生態人類學的) 관점(觀點))

  • Chun, Kyung Soo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.79 no.3
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    • pp.330-342
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    • 1990
  • One might have a retrospect on the relationship between the forest and human being from the viewpoint of ecological perspective. It is no doubt that most of the fossil humans should have lived on the forest and the latter provided foods and shelters for humans from their beginning stages, Since the so-called agricultural revolution, humans have extensively started to exploit the forest which had beer, their cradle. The industrial revolution has created another situation against the forest in terms of the quality of ecosystem. These two revolutions have set up the so-called civilization which seems to have been based on the sacrificial oblation of the forest. The cradle for human being has been kept exterminating for the shake of "economic development and miracle." This might be a synoptic history of relationships between the forest and human beings in a sense. designates the behavioral aspects of human being against the forest and people consider the forest only as exploitable resource in this context, and the latter means that people live on the forest and strive to adapt the order of forest ecosystem. The resourcism has developed a strategy of colonialism to exploit the forest and provided a winner's position for the human beings against the forest, This idea and behavioral perspective seems to have started the backfire against the exploiter who is the owner of the civilization. However, there are different philosophies and ideas to view the relationship between the forest and human beings. People within the forest who are mostly considered as "primitives" still keep their idea of the ontology of the forest. There is a theoretical assumption of the "socionatural system" to look into the ecosystem. The forest could be viewed in the above frame of analysis. There are five variables : environment, resource, technology, organization, and ideology. Ideological aspect of the forest can be explained in the context of belief systems. Forest has a meaning of religion and rituals and people within the forest should admire it in anyway of religious reasons. This aspect of the forest cannot be separated from the environmental aspect of the forest. People within the forest acknowledge and practice the above idea. People outside the forest have lost the idea, however, at the cost of acquiring the civilization. They have expelled themselves from the forest and divided the socionatural system of the forest by way of colonialism. The efforts like agroforestry and social forestry would be strategies for recovering the idea of ontology of the forest as well as the sense of community including the forest and human being. People within the forest will be a prospective model for the future socionatural system of the forest for the people outside the forest. At this point, an ecological anthropologist can work with the forest specialists.

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The Evolutionary Medicine of Birth Decision: Psycho-Socio-Ecological Explanations (출산 의사 결정의 진화의학: 정신-사회-생태적 설명)

  • Jihyun, Ryou;Jain, Gu;Hanson, Park
    • Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.99-111
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    • 2022
  • Akey factor in evolution is reproduction, which is also a major concern in medicine. Evolutionists have proposed many theories and hypotheses to explain the low fertility rates of modern industrial societies, which are contrary to maximization of biological fitness. Given that childbirth is the most significant factor affecting reproductive fitness, it is likely that a variety of psychological modules related to childbirth behavior and intention evolved over time. Several evolutionary psychological modules have been proposed in relation to reproduction, including sexual desire, status-seeking, a need for nurturing, and the desire for children. Previously adaptive psychological modules may now be expressed maladaptively due to the discrepancy between the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) and the environment of modern industrial society. Several evolutionary ecological factors influence childbirth intention in modern society, including individual personality factors, childhood life history experiences, and socioecological factors throughout reproductive life. By focusing on mental, social, and ecological factors, this review examines several hypothetical models relating to evolutionary psychological factors and childbirth decisions in modern industrial society, as well as a possible explanation for the low birth rate.

Considerations about Evolutionary Ecological Study of Psychiatry (정신의학의 진화생태학적 연구 시 고려사항)

  • Park, Hanson
    • Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.199-217
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    • 2019
  • Evolutionary research on mental disorders is relatively difficult compared to other medical studies. It is because the cause of mental disorder is unclear relative to other medical diseases, various proximate causations are involved. And it is difficult to distinguish cause and effect and to carry out experimental research. Despite these methodological difficulties, it is possible to establish an evolutionary hypothesis on mental disorders based on constructive reductionism, and to demonstrate actual data on the model based on this hypothesis. In this paper, I will discuss some conceptual definitions needed for applying ecological approaches to evolutionary psychiatric research. We will first discuss the appropriate level of explanations and the scope of the study subjects, then discuss the conceptual definition of behaviour and function, dysfunction and the appropriate level of selection.

Crisis Construction in the Inner Mongolia Grassland and the Controversy of Desertification: The Emergence of Grassland Chicken Farming (중국 내몽고 초원의 위기와 사막화 논쟁 -초원목계(草原牧鷄)가 등장하기까지-)

  • Lee, Seonhwa
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.836-852
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    • 2012
  • Based on a long-term ethnographic study, this paper examines how the propositions and practices for desertification management in Inner Mongolia, China have changed over time. Desertification as an ecological issue cannot simply be treated as a something "natural" or "social," while it is an outcome of the construction made by both human and non-human agents. My research has found that the propositions for desertification management have been involved in the process of defining desertification, particularly by selecting different actors related to the ecological process in this region. Ultimately, the crisis in the inner Mongolia has always been constructed by the ways in which the selected actors and their relationships are differently defined. My study also reveals that although the proposed preventive measures, including afforestation, area protection, and pasturing prohibition, have tried to reconcile the conflicts of interest among the different actors, they have always been faced with certain limitations and failed in dryland management. In this historical context of crisis construction, by introducing a new non-human agent, "the chicken," the project of grassland chicken farming has eventually appeared to be an innovative strategy that can overcome the earlier limitations and coordinate the interests of Mongolian pastoralists who have suffered from economic difficulty.

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A Study on Determinants of the Ecotourist's Satisfaction with Geumgang Birdwatching Destination (금강 철새도래지 생태관광객의 만족에 영향을 미치는 결정요인에 관한 연구)

  • Moon, Chang-Hyun
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.23 no.5
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    • pp.460-470
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    • 2009
  • The purpose of this research is to suggest appropriate directions for the desirable ecotourist attraction management through the investigation of the tourist's satisfaction with ecotourism in case of Geumgang birdwatching destination. This research focus on the identification of the determinants of the ecotourist's satisfaction and the estimated regression model. The results of this study for the tourist's satisfaction with the ecotourism are summarized as follows. First, as a result of the factor analysis of the tourist's satisfaction variables, five factors like 'knowledge information', 'experience', 'ecological value', 'guide service', 'facilities environment' are deduced. Second, as a result of the test of significance, the difference of the satisfaction with ecotourism in aspect of the tourist's demographic characteristics like age and academic background is confirmed to be statistically significant except sex. Third, the tourist's satisfaction with ecotourism appears to be positively correlative with the tourist's overall satisfaction.

Interpretation of Primitive Worship of Maogusi Dance of Xiangxi Tujia Nationality (상서(湘西) 토가족(土家族) 마고사(毛古斯) 무용 원시숭배(原始崇拜)의 해석)

  • Zhu, Yi
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.381-389
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    • 2021
  • Maogusi dance is an ancient ritual dance of the Tujia, a Chinese ethnic minority living in the remote region of the western Hunan Province of China. With characters, dialogues, simple story plots and unique performance procedures, it expresses ancient people's devout worship of nature, totems, ancestors, and reproduction in the uncivilized age. With the advancement of human civilization and the opening to the outside world, many dances of the ethnic minority gradually have faded out, while the Maogusi dance is still popular among the Tujia people and its spiritual symbols have been passed on through the generations. It is recognized by experts in dance and drama circles as the original source of Chinese dance and drama. From the perspectives of philosophy, religion, anthropology and folklore, this paper tries to remove the mysterious veil covering the Maogusi dance of the Tujia to explain how its ancient spiritual symbols have survived and why the original ecological consciousness has been preserved. These aims would help in understanding the deep connotation of this ancient Chinese art with its long history and profound culture.