Since the beginning of time it has been human nature to seek community and inclusion, over isolation and separation. We as a species have a need to belong, and it has been theorized that we are fundamentally pack animals. However our ideology of community can harm the individual, putting them at risk of becoming a drone for “higher ranking” members of the group. Lacking free thinking, and only reviewing choices or decisions as a group, limiting the individual's liberal cognitive functioning. But the group as a whole is also at risk of becoming biased, viewing other groups with different ways of thinking, life, or even as simple as skin color as inferior. This correspondingly will lead to the unfair treatment and bigotry of others, and
Also, it is natural to search out or relate to that which is "like" or common to us. These ideas form or create the self definition of who an individual is. Cultural togetherness is not a bad thing. However, these ideas have negative retributions when acted upon in extreme degrees. The individuality of a group is wonderful, but not when it causes a cut off from other groups. What segregation brings or prevents is the opportunity for experience of diversity or a wide range of livelihood in general. There is more to the world then just you or just me. This type of separation causes barriers or invisible lines and walls that are rarely crossed by people in our society today. These barriers produce the loss of uniqueness among both a group of people as well as individuals. When everyone is the same or alike, people lose the capability to be special or unmatched ( Myers, 34). Differences and diversity should be celebrated as a chance or opportunity to be able to stand out as well as the chance to educate each other about the creation of man and woman.
It is a well-known fact that belonging to a group can make an individual feel not only accepted, but more powerful that if they were on their own. Whether it is a community, youth group or even religion, belonging is an everyday occurrence of like that many of us do not even realise. Belonging to a group is more influential than belonging to an individual. We can see this in the texts The Crucible by Arthur Miller, 1984 by George Orwell and the listening task. Belonging to a group can give you a feeling of acceptance, but also can help you not to be targeted or marginalised. Also, people who appear to belong to groups, when looked at closer, in truth do not belong. Belonging to a group can also give you more power as a
First, community is reinforced when the phrase “every one belongs to every one else” is said by Lenini, Fanny, and later Henry Foster(Huxley 43, 46). This introduces the idea that the people in the community are a support system for each other. Second, the idea of identity is reinforced by the separation of the classes and the value for intelligence. The higher classes are looked up at because of their intelligence and ability. On the other hand, the lower classes are looked down upon because of their lack of intelligence and ability. Third, stability is reinforced when the Controller says “No civilization without social stability. No social stability without individual stability(Huxley 42).” He stresses the importance of stability of society and goes on to explain that war and unhappiness is caused by an unstable society. Also, he explains how far society has come and the struggle to establish the “perfect
Humans in society are like musicians in an orchestra. Solo, their parts sound odd and out of place, lacking the harmonies mindfully composed for the rest of the orchestra. Humans are interdependent, social creatures by nature. We rely on each other to survive. We rely on each other to do jobs that might require a certain skill set or jobs that we might not have time to do ourselves. We even rely on each other to bring a sense of familiarity and security to our communities just by knowing one another. If we all remained anonymous, then we could not rely on each other to satisfy these vital societal needs. Scott Russell Sanders, in his essay “The Common Life”, states that the more people in a community who prefer to live isolated and reclusive lives, the more susceptible the community is to a division that impedes its ability to live together, interact synergistically, and thrive. He correctly believes that this division can lead to a total “breakdown” in society.
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level. Their beliefs can cause them to attack other groups verbally or in silence and even reaching to the point of violence. All of this occurs because we can’t be seen as a “people”, but rather like “species” that
I learned early on not to judge a Jelly Bean by its color, and that it was an unrewarding practice to group together these individual candies because when not every bean fit into a color category, I forced it to. The same can be said for people. Each and every one of us are unique individuals, and it is virtually impossible to effectively ‘sort’ us into groups - even more so as our society progresses. Identifiers such as race, religion, sexual orientation - even gender - which we once used to group people together, now make up the many cracks in modern American society. It is this action of separating the Red Jelly Bellies from the rest that creates an almost immobile American mindset: you are a Red… you must be a cherry.
In the Ted talk, Haidt talks about how people are afraid of being different than other people surrounding them. In the Ted talk it explains, “ It's about culture. There's wonderful work by a political scientist named Karen Stenner, who shows that when people have a sense that we are all united, we're all the same, there are many people who have a predisposition to authoritarianism. Those people aren't particularly racist when they feel as though there's not a threat to our social and moral order. But if you prime them experimentally by thinking we're coming apart, people are getting more different, then they get more racist, homophobic, they want to kick out the deviants.” (Haidt.) It is not hard for one to agree on the Ted talks perspective on this topic. An individual is much more comfortable and confident when he or she is in an environment in which the people around them are just like them. When someone just moved into a new school district, or got a new job, the rest of the school or work atmosphere are more likely to accept that new person if they share the same beliefs and values. However, the school or work will be more likely to shun the new person away if they do not share the same beliefs and values as the rest of the school or
Collectivism is the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual (Merriam-Webster). Those who believe in collectivism think having society working towards the same goal or outcome is the most productive. Supporters of this theory feel it creates harmony and a sense of belonging (Andrews 1). Collective societies tend to be dependent on others in the group or institutions to meet their needs. Members of a collective society expect absolute loyalty to the group and have a “we” mentality (Andrews 1). As Ray Bradbury pointed out in Fahrenheit 451, when a collective society is present, “...they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else.” (31) The individual has no self-identity and is lost to the group. Although aspects of this argument are enticing, it ultimately fails to be a stronger argument because individual responsibility nor moral responsibility is present. There is no incentive for any individual to step up because everyone receives the same reward. Through collaboration and collective thoughts are great tools, we must remember that the original thought was generated by the individual and he or she should benefit from
Few people are going to openly admit to being prejudice against people of other races, gender, and religions. However that doesn’t stop many of us from having unintentional racist thoughts. In 1979, Henri Tajfel, a social psychologist, proposed that “the groups which people belonged to are an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.” This ideal of categorizing and subconsciously labeling ourselves is better known as “Social Identity Theory”. Tajfel continues by saying “In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong. For example, England is the best country in the world! We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views against the out group (the group we don’t belong to). For example, the Americans, French etc. are a bunch of losers! Therefore, we divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups). This is known as in-group (us) and out-group (them). Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image.” We all unintentionally discriminate against others that are in the “out-group”, and by doing this we are excluding ourselves from certain religions, cultures, races, and even genders. This ideal of labeling ourselves can be traced back to childhood and factors such as where we
For years we have been conditioned to think, feel and act a certain way based upon what society deems ‘correct or right’. If we disagree with this way of life or thinking we are often shunned and discriminated against for differentiating from societal norms.
Society can be united in many different ways such as working towards a common goal or being bound together by a like-minded idea. However, the prevalence of societal fractures may cause structural turmoil and the fragmentation of communities. In order to understand the inner workings of an ideal community, societal fractures must be understood and minimized or removed entirely. To accomplish this, several questions must be posed: what are societal fractures and how can we limit them? What constitutes the strongest community? What are the strongest uniting factors in a community? If we can understand how communities work and how we can replicate the ideal community while avoiding societal fractures, working together with others when we have
In truth, we are all humans controlled by ideologies that are socially exclusionary, but this is not a shocking revelation.
Society and its inherent need to have all of its inhabitants fit together as one
It is easier for humans to harm others when the they or the enemy is grouped because a group can be considered for its ideals and goals alone. Grouping removes individualism, and thus removes the identity of those involved. Someone might hate a group, but concede that they do not particularly hate any one person within it, even though by hating the group they are projecting that feeling toward its members. Grouping can give someone the feeling that they are free to act as they please, simply because the other members of their group can support them, no matter how wrong or immoral that action may be. When a group of likeminded people surrounds someone and backs that person up no matter what, that person can consider morals in the perspective of those around him, instead of the way that society governs it. Grouping also intoxicates its members with the idea that they can reflect
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Quoted from American author Ralph Waldo Emerson, this encapsulates the very spirit of a natural human. In our natural state, we humans strive to continue building on our foundation. The foundation is different for each and every one of us, meaning different things will be built upon each of our foundations. This is humanity, what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. We strive to not only survive, but to live. To experience life in our own individual perspective is what makes us unique. In a society discouraging individualism, humanity is stripped away and replaced with synthetic interaction. Simply put, collectivism strips life away. People will not conform to what others think they should conform to, unless it is