Friday, January 21, 2011

Book Reading #2 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 1: Introduction

Summary:  In this chapter the author questions whether problems faced during adolescence are the result of adolescence itself or of civilization. Since there are too many variables to hold a typical scientific experiment, the author decides to take an anthropological approach and study adolescent girls in Samoa.

Discussion: I enjoyed her explanation of why the scientific method was an inappropriate way of discovering the cause of adolescent problems. It felt as though she undervalued the complexity of primitive cultures such as Samoa, but perhaps she only meant complexity in terms of technological progress.

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