Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Power of Social Standards

As university is coming to a close to me, I'm starting to realize more and more how social standards have such power over someone's behaviour. It's amazing that when a common way of thinking has been established in a group of people, it is so difficult to deviate from that common way of thinking. This is especially true in larger groups.

It seems strange that people in groups can form consensus of a certain way of thinking. When someone influential is a part of the group (this can be personally influential people such as your parents), these groups can grow.

But what I find most interesting is how one's thoughts deviate when they do not have the input of significant number of others for a long time. In these cases, as I have been experiencing in the past few weeks due to end of the semester projects, you start developing your own view of the world that when you sit back and look at the larger picture, realize that everything is shifted out of balance. For example, I have been very narrowly focused on school, and I feel like I am in a trance, with the singular goal of finishing the semester well. Because of my focus, I can't think of anything else, and I can't even see an end to all of this work. I am also extremely stressed by it. But when you sit back and think about it, everything is just a social construct.

I find it interesting that when people settle on a set way of thinking, it is very difficult to break out of that cycle. This may just be an evolutionary leftover, since it is easier to follow in the footsteps of successful people than to bushwhack your own way to success. I think it is of the highest importance that people should regularly just sit back and think about what they are doing. What are the ideas that you take for granted? Where are these ideas from? What practical reasons do you think these ideas were formed from? How do these apply and/or not apply to our current lives? Things change fast in the modern world, so we all need to learn how to adapt both our bodies and our minds to these changes.

It is also interesting to note that people tend to shun others who think differently than they do. Many people, who are very used to the way they think and hang out only with others that think like them, are even less willing to accept other points of view and other ways of thinking. I get the feeling that these people can't see themselves thinking in a similar way to the people they shun and because of this, they develop ill feelings toward the people who think differently then they do. This also needs to change. People should try viewing the world from all perspectives. Of course, there are perspectives that may cause harm to others, but even they should be considered, although with some caution. Only by thinking like others can you understand what they truly feel and how to help everyone else.

The question that I have been asking is, if everything is a social construct, why should we tie our emotions and desires to what the rest of society wants? Why should we care about being rich? Wouldn't we just all be happier if we just decided we were satisfied with what we have? After all, according to many studies, some of the poorest countries are the happiest countries in the world.
Well, perhaps I should write about measures of success in my next post so this post doesn't ramble on for too long.