Do you think individual societies breed a certain type of person?
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Shippy (
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April 4th, 2012
I say individual because, although we are a macro society, there are various micro societies operating under the banner of religion, culture, and country for example. I am more interested in country in this question. I understand there is group consensus within a society but I am wondering if for example a violent society could breed a nervous individual. Would this nervousness shape their psyche? How would this impact a person psychologically and a society at large.
In a society with no or little infra structure could this breed a “man for himself”?
I sometimes wonder if lack of simple structures like “calling a policeman” and no one turns up can lead to despair in a person and therefore knowledge that life is pointless
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6 Answers
I think that all different types of people are bred by all different societies. I think that the individual’s own experiences within the society are most important.
I think, to some small extent, societal norms/mores/pressures etc. will form our ideas about right and wrong. But I think how you were raised in your family has more to do with how you turn out.
You did ask if individual societies influence how an individual behaves. However there can be many different individual societies within the same country so this is difficult to answer while narrowing this issue down to nationality alone.
I do think that our peers within a society are what is responsible for shaping the way we think, what we should like/dislike, how each gender should behave, etc. Our peers are influenced in turn by their respective society/culture. People have a major influence on how we behave because most of us want to be accepted by others.
To a certain degree yes, but we are all free agents with the freedom to accept or reject what we do/do not agree/disagree with. This is part of every humans ultimate “work”, to discern what they truly believe in vs. societal mandates and protocol. It is also true that the phenomenon of sociopathology in western culture is much more rare in eastern cultures. One possible explanation is that while sociopathology is more related to nature/brain abnormalities rather than nurture, nurture and cultural protocol, belief may keep a restraining hand on those sociopaths in eastern culture where the focus is on interconnectedness rather than individuality at all costs.
It has been surmised that while sociopaths are born, they are also “made”, and many in eastern cultures may not ever act out with abandon because these behaviors would go against the larger cultures focus on unity. American and European culture breeds a high volume of anti-social behaviors that seem to not exist in eastern culture, or are well concealed if not completely modified.
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The amount a society provides for an individual is inversely proportional to how independent its individual are. We are spoiled and enslaved by our possessions.
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