Our Awareness Controls Human Destiny Margaret Mead Summary

Public anthropology commissions its audience to look beyond the entrenched boundaries of the discipline. Adjusting refined issues to that of broad concern in hopes to engage public interest of both scholars and those of non-academia. Thus, the emerging trend of public anthropology grapples with the ability to communicate anthropological insights to the mass public. In the decades of her work, Margaret Mead was of the minority of anthropologists that had such interest and the capability to do so. Mead is at the forefront of understanding various oceanic cultures and correlating such findings to that of other cultures, namely, American society. Her biggest contributions revolve around the notion of “cultural configuration”, indicating that cultural

Mead initiated the study of “socialization”, stressing the idea that the things we are taught, the frameworks of societies, both evolve from an individual’s culture. In the original This I Believe series published by the National Public Radio (NPR) website, they have included Mead’s “Our Awareness Controls Human Destiny” essay in which she states that primitive cultures have the ability to learn and perpetuate the same standards of living as other civilizations and it is the innate potentialities derived from how individuals are raised that has implications for their future self. Moreover, that greater understanding of a culture emerges from their inclusion as a part of the entire world, and not as isolated infrastructures. The essence of Mead’s work has provided an alternative explanation to the biological theory of innate characteristics, it can be said that developmental stages are not fixed but rather contingent to what an individual has been encouraged to learn. The focus of her work has enlarged cultural awareness of both oceanic society and of American society regarding the diversity of the roles of gender and sexuality. In her book Coming of Age in Samoa (2001: 136-161) she theorized that gender roles are created by societal influences. She indicates the different means of civilization between the two, noting Samoan lifestyle embodies simplicity and a calm way of life, compared to the American lifestyle which is dependent on freedom of choice and how one should present themselves. Therefore, the Samoan adolescence marks a developmental staged flagged with physical changes, whereas the Americans adolescence is a time of emotional and mental maturity. Thus, Mead’s research implies it is the pattern of culture that instills tension as an individual attempts to fit in with their own social environment that influences one’s responses and moreover, their