Why A Social Impact Assesor/Social Planner is an Anthropologist (continuation)
She meant of course “sympathetic resonance”, the feeling that the other person was making sense because it was meaningful and understandable. Juergen Habermas would say that communicative rationality was achieved, and even earlier, Weber would be nodding his head and saying that there was intersubjective and meaningful interpretation. Understanding from the emic point of view is what the anthropologists excel at. They have the sense, the gut feel, the sympathy and intuition, sometimes bordering on telepathy at what “aliens” are trying to say; they cross cultural boundaries in their minds and go to the guts, to the heart of the "target" group, and make sense of what they essentially are: persons who have feelings, intentions and thoughts, although they may speak totally outlandish sounds and make weird gestures at first impressions. Tell me that quantitative and positivist sociologists do that. Like you can tell your great grandma. So as a sociologist who often works at...