Since this article was rather long and full of meaningful and important information, I am going to focus on one section that was especially interesting to me, which was '#8. You are not who you think you are'. This section of the article discusses the idea that we, as individuals, are not "free" selves, but are rather shaped by society into what we "should" be like. I completely agree that this is truly the case. As much as I would like to think that I-and only I- created my unique personality, morals, and overall way of life, it is just not true. We are all shaped by society in one way or another. It all goes back to norms, which was discussed in the beginning of the article. Society, in general, wants us to act and behave in a certain way. We are to go to school, graduate from college, maintain a decent job, grow a family, follow the laws, and stay out of trouble. Like the author states, we like to think that these are our honest choices, but let's be real: If it wasn't expected of me, I wouldn't necessarily exactly want to go to a job for eight hours a day, Monday through Friday. But that is the norm and that has further shaped me into who I am today.
I found the mention of Sigmund Freud very interesting. He observed that his dreams had motives that came from his unconscious mind; in his unconscious were feelings and thoughts that were too inappropriate in everyday society. I definitely agree with this thought. I have had some dreams that I believe came from deep unconscious feelings that I has just pushed out of my mind because they seemed like unrealistic or unnatural thoughts that I should not have been having.
When reading about instincts, it made me think of the young children I deal with at work. As adults, we have many urges and instincts, but we control these drives in order to be civilized (and possibly to avoid breaking a law or getting in some sort of trouble). I thought about the 2 year olds at work, who do almost everything based on instinct, without any thought. Someone took your toy? You bite them. You don't want to clean up? You scream at the top of your lungs. Simple- they do what they feel like doing. This made me think: what if we all acted upon our instincts, without giving any thought to how we ought to behave in society? It would probably be total chaos, but the idea made me laugh a bit.
Overall, it is interesting to think about how society shapes us. As an individual I like to think that I contribute to society, but looking at it from a different perspective, SOCIETY really contributes more to ME, shaping who I am as a person. I can't help but wonder how different of a person I would have ended up being had I grown up in a completely different society, say a different country. It's a mind-boggling thought, but it really opens up a whole new window of perspectives for me. Am I really OK with society making me the person I am..? Or should I resist that influence and go against society, like some people choose to do? As for now, I think a little soul searching is in order.
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