Part III Mock Arbitration – Arbitrator Findings

Part III Mock Arbitration – Arbitrator Findings

3-page paper on “War on Drugs”. Must be APA format. Three pages must be based on the war on drugs and incorporate the movie Traffic and the article, “War on Drugs” from the DEA. This paper is due by tomorrow 8pm.

Anthropology and Language

Language is in many ways the quintessential expression of culture. Language is learned,

shared, and transmitted. All humans have the capacity for language, but the language spoken by

each cultural group is in many respects unique. Just as children can learn any culture, so too are

they born with an innate ability to learn any language.

More than this, however, language is essential to culture. Culture is based on symbols. In

order to learn, to share, to transmit cultural knowledge, we need to communicate. Our

Communication, in turn is based on symbols, of which language is one manifestation. That is,

language forms a subset of a more broadly conceptualized capacity for symbolic expression.

If we want to describe a building, we do not have to show someone a building, we can use

words to paint a picture. If we want to tell someone how to build a better mousetrap, we don’t

need build it in front of their eyes, but we can talk about it. In can describe the mousetrap using

words to build the picture for us.

Language as culture

Language is the quintessential cultural product: it must be learned, it must be shared, and it

must be transmitted. Just as all humans have the capacity for culture, all humans have the

capacity for language. The brains of human young are wired so that they begin to learn language

even before they can speak. And any human child can learn any language ever devised by any

group of people, from Tagalog to mathematics. Yes, anyone can learn math.

Although all humans have the capacity for language, the particular language that you learn

is variable, and an essential element of enculturation is teaching language to the young.

The capacity for language is the product of millions of years of evolution. Our remote

ancestors millions of years ago lacked the capacity for the sophisticated manipulation of symbols

and the capacity for vocalizing the many sounds that go into our spoken language.

Two primary factors led to selection for the ability to manipulate symbols and to speak.

First, the primary selective advantage that our species had over others is th