@longly,
Quote:In my opinion, anthropology is one field where the amateurs are better than the professionals. Those who work in Anthropology, also in my opinion, are under a lot political correctness pressure whereas the amateur is free to think what he wishes since he has no job to lose.
I'm not an anthropologist (my degree is in education) but I did perhaps a dozen anthropology courses at university. I have to tell you that I saw no evidence at all to support your statements I've quoted and I'm puzzled as to how you've reached such a conclusion.
It is the case in anthropology as it is in other sciences or subjects that a theory can become dominant and some supporters reluctant to acknowledge new data that refutes or alters the theory. For example, in the study of the peopling of North/South America, the theory that the Clovis tool-makers were the first to arrive held favor longer than it ought to have given data from Monte Verde particularly. But such mistakes are both understandable and predictable.
Amateurs have definitely contributed to anthropological knowledge (finding fossils, habitation sites such as caves, etc) but these contributions though valuable constitute the smallest amount of knowledge in the field.
My advice would be to study books as a primary means of learning. Choose a specific area that interests you, go to your library and dig in. You can and should augment with relevant online sources but many of these sources are going to be filled with crap, eg evidence of Noah's ark, visitors from space, anti-Semitic and racist tracts, etc.