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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>Anyone ever run into anthro students with strong computer skills?<br>Possible thesis or dissertation projects?<br><br>FYI: I once envisioned a computer simulation of an existing culture (the
Tiv of Nigeria as ethnography described the data in the 60's)
containing lots of feedback loops and variables<br>that could be used as
a classroom aid in cultural anthropology, but it never went very far.
The idea was to have each student pick a person and watch their "life
history" and describe their culture (using anthropological techniques)
as the simulation ran. Since there would be many points of divergence,
each student would get a unique outcome... the POINT of the exercise. <br>A
minority of the selected individuals would have a long and successful
life, some would die in childhood, some would never marry and enter into
a successful "firm", etc.<br><br>Ethnography is a statistical model...
and the program would point this out dramatically. In addition, the
students would be able to make suggestions for adding programming to<br>increase the modeling experience. An idea worth someone exploring?<br><br>Second
FYI: I also played with making an archaeological sampling program,
using several stacked sites that had been 100% excavated... where
overlaying site activities mixed or destroyed underlying data and
earlier and less evident sites may be missed. This as a teaching aid in
understanding the limits of excavation sampling and its effect on
interpretation of extinct social systems. It never went beyond
concepts. An idea worth having someone explore?<br><br>Dr. Leland Gilsen<br>
www.oregon-archaeology.com<br>
www.echoes-in-time.com<br>
<br>
"My glass is neither half full nor half empty because it has a head of quantum foam." (2009 Leland Gilsen)<br>
<br>
"My glass is empty, could I have another please?" (2010 Dale Coleman)<br>
<br>
"All the best ideas are at the bottom of a beer can." (Jim Riggs)<br><br>My motto: "Theory comes and goes, but data are forever. "<br> "However data without information are sterile"<br><br>If stuck with circular reasoning, measure the circumference <br> </div></body>
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