My Culture In Barbara Myerhoff's Wisdom Sits In Places

As a white American, my culture has never been questioned because I am a part of the majority. Before social- cultural anthropology, I hadn’t taken time to take a close look at other’s point of views and how it differed from mine. Keith Basso immersed himself into a culture very different from his own. What really struck me from “Wisdom Sits In Places,” is that this grown man was a child in another’s culture. Basso’s perspective of the world didn’t match the Apache’s worldview, and required explanation of simple ideas. As Basso immersed himself into a strange culture, he brought me with him and I began to see from an outlook different than my own. My self-centered bubble popped, and I was able to see how different cultures are beautiful, and add a diversity that makes the human experience beautiful.

Barbara Myerhoff demonstrated the joy that

I switched back and forth between loving the Lee’s and agreeing with the doctors, which was frustrating for me because I had a strong faith in medicine and it’s power to heal. However, as I followed the story, I had to admit that although the doctors tried their best, medicine couldn’t fix everything.

Not only did Fadiman’s book change how I viewed my future profession, but also, she changed how I view cultures different than my own. The Hmong culture is the most different culture that we have studied in our course, and I haven’t had the chance to interact with any of the Hmong. Going into this book, I thought their traditions were very strange. However, as I progressed through the pages, I agreed more and more with their perspective. I hadn’t expected to come out of this course passionate about another culture that originated halfway around the