Everyday, humans are faced with moral or logical decisions constantly alter the universe that surrounds them. One can assume that these decisions are fabricated based on one’s knowledge or previous experiences, and not influenced by outside factors. However, independence is merely a social construct, designed to induce the feeling of supremacy over one’s actions. Similar to animals, humans live in a society where each member must fulfil a role in the community, follow a pre-established social protocol, and follow the “herd”. Any individual who deviates from the protocol, or disagrees with the general consensus, is shunned by the community and branded as an outcast. It is this common practice that influences one’s decision making process, wondering …show more content…
if what he or she will decide is in consensus with everyone else. In previous centuries, this was common in individuals from nomadic cultures, due to the fear of being exiled from one’s own tribe (Native American Government). However, in recent decades, society has been more accepting of outside thoughts and sentiments, ceasing to banish those who against the majority, but still labeling them as outsiders. As such, society still has an underlying influence over the decisions of others, even though it is considered to be completely independent. This idea, or paradox, is meticulously explained in psychologist Solomon Asch’s article, Opinions and Social Pressure. Through a series of experiments, observing if a test subject would yield to a misleading popular opinion when told to decide whether one line is longer than the other, Asch was able to explain the social phenomenon in terms of conformity and independence. He states that, due to the primitive nature of humans, when one is faced against a majority opinion, he or she may succumb to the majority opinion, rather than defend his or her position (Asch).
Not only does Asch prove that we are still bound to the social conducts that bounded our ancestors, but also that the independence that many claim to posses, is not prevalent when faced against a crowd. Asch’s findings are explained in even simpler terms in Frank O’Connor’s short story, “First Confession”. The story revolves around Jackie, the protagonist, and his misbelief of confession. Influenced by the ideas and beliefs of others, Jackie rues the day in which he must go to confession, believing that he will be eternally damned and confined within the depths of Hell. Nevertheless, it is daunting to believe that a child, who has not entered his teen years, is led to believe that he is destined to enter Hell, if he, or thinks, of breaking one of the Ten Commandments. This fear haunts Jackie, and does not have the courage to go against a popular opinion, essentially conforming to what others believe. Although it may seem exorbitant to believe that one is destined to Hell because of a mortal sin, Jackie’s submission to a popular consensus reflects a prevalent scenario in human
nature. More than often, individuals find themselves agreeing with the masses due to fear of being labeled as strangers, ultimately being castrated from society and forced to live a desolate life. Loneliness is feeling that most abhor, thus forcing individuals to accept trends, decisions, and beliefs that they would not normally accept. Although many claim to be independent of any social constructs that restricts them, Professor Asch points to the contrary, asserting that humans are social creatures, thus, subconsciously value the opinion of others, often, more than their own. Asch suggests that society has a subtle grasp on the actions and decision of individuals; describing this as “social pressure” (Asch). He theorized, “People submit uncritically and painlessly to external manipulation by suggestion or prestige…” (Asch). It may seem preposterous to think that individuals should change their opinions on anything, only because a general consensus contradicts their opinions. However, Asch’s experiment proved otherwise, observing that when faced under group pressure, the minority is more willing to accept the popular opinion. Asch reports, “the minority subjects swung to acceptance of the misleading majority’s wrong judgments in 36.8 per cent of the selections” (Asch). This finding proves that society has, and will always have, an influence on the decision making process of its members. It is per human nature that individuals follow the majority, and deviate from their own assessment. Asch explains this as the occurrence as “[choosing] the path of compliance…” (Asch). To add to this statement, humans choose to comply because they are afraid of the consequences that will follow if they do not. It is not wrong to think that those who face social pressures and fight submission, are then labeled as outcasts from society. This classification is what triggers the brain to forget any preconceived notion and accept the majority’s viewpoint. It is preposterous to assume that any idea, regardless of how insignificant it may be, it completely independent of any outside factors. Essentially, individuals allow themselves to be influenced by society in order to pertain to the community, and not be shunned by it. In a similar manner, O’Connor’s short story, “First Confession”, shares the idea that individuals tend to follow the beliefs of others despite knowing nothing about it. Jackie blindingly follows the notion that Hell awaits those who break the Ten Commandments, with no chance of redemption. Giving his first confession does not make it easier for him, since he believes that he will be damned by the priest thus banished from the Catholic Church. Jackie states, “I must have broken the whole ten commandments…” (O’Connor). This idea was planted by the malicious Mrs. Ryan, the religious teacher. Jackie, being young and gullible, believes every word that Mrs. Ryan, the expert, says. Much like Asch’s theory, Jackie, the test subject, will most likely conform with the majority opinion, due to the social pressure exerted by his religious teacher (Asch). This notion creates the illusion that he will burn in the eternal fires of hell for eternity, an exaggeration that he accepts. Furthermore, being tormented by the constant abuse by his sister, Nora, does not alleviate the fictitious concern that Mrs. Ryan created. In fact, she serves a reminder that doom awaits him and there is no escaping it. However, once faced with a priest in a confession box, Jackie realizes that even priests commit sins once in a while. While hearing Jackie’s confession of almost injuring his sister and planning out his grandmother’s murder, the priest states, “Between ourselves, there’s a lot of people I’d like to do the same to, but I’d never have the nerve” (O’Connor). It is at this point that Jackie no longer becomes the minority, and instead, has a companion to accompany him. This changes his viewpoint about being destined to go to Hell and states, “I knew now I wouldn’t die in the night and come back, leaving marks on my mother’s furniture” (O’Connor). It can be said that Jackie, like individuals conforming to the general consensus, is part of a culture in which Catholicism is considered the norm. Throughout the story, Jackie’s fears are not only procured by Mrs. Ryan and Nora, but it is created by his Irish culture. Not only does Jackie fear eternal damnation, but he also fears being excluded from society. This causes him to accept his damnation without question. It can be said that “First Confession” and Opinions and Social Pressure reflect one another; where one proves a theory in a controlled environment and the other in a realistic scenario. Both literary works show human nature in its primal state, accepting social influences and conforming to the opinion of the majority. Although it optimistic to believe that decisive decisions are free from any exterior factors, this is simply unrealistic. Humans are social creatures, meaning that they rely on one another to a certain extent, thus when one “individual” separates him or her self from the community, he or she will have a tendency to go back so as to not live in isolation. As a result, true independence, while seemingly existent, can never be achieved.
In “Options and Social Pressure” Solomon E. Asch conducts an experiment to show the power of social influence, by using the lengths of sticks that the participants had to match up with the best fit, Asch then developed different scenarios to see how great the power of influence is, but what he discovered is that people always conformed to the majority regardless of how big or small the error was the individual always gave in to the power of the majority. In his conclusion, Solomon states “ …those who participated in this challenging experiment agreed nearly without exception that independence was preferable to conformity.”(Solomon 30) What Solomon and all the participants of the experiment agreed that it was better to have been independent knowing that they made their choice themselves than to have stood with the majority
Psychology attempts to provide insight on our lack of self-belief; however, the studies are mostly to no prevail. Subjectively, I believe our subconscious represents a more complex function than what is often portrayed. After all, it acts as a defense mechanism that has been pre-built into our neural network. As such, the capabilities of such a feature are near endless, though difficult to comprehend. To better understand our subconscious, we often simplify it through symbols - most commonly, heaven and hell. Studied throughout the text, symbolism of such representation is easy to interpret as it is presented through distinct quotes from the primary speaker - such as: “I heard sounds from Heaven and I heard sounds from Hell.” Incidentally, the quote also marks a set crossroads on the protagonist's journey of choice as he chooses which side to listen too - guilty or innocent. As expected, his later continuation in the text to commit heinous acts such as assault and murder, solidify his standings with the rebellious side of his conscious - as well as supporting the continuation of heightening the challenge presented by lack of self-trust. In support of this, renowned academic leader Douglas Horton is quoted speaking: “Conscience is the window to our spirit, evil is the curtain”. However, in select cases, the
The world roughly hold about seven billion people. People from different backgrounds, nationality, race, but there is a high percentage of people in this world that struggle to make moral decisions on their own because they are scared of becoming an outcast, an enemy. In addition, this cycle causes people to be controlled by the society and not make decisions that would possibly better them but rather turn them into the society’s robot. In essays such as, “‘Repent Harlequin’ Said the Ticktock Man” and “Shooting an Elephant,” written by Harlan Ellison and George Orwell, respectively, each character faces a conflict with themselves by not using their own moral sense and getting faced with challenges. In the essay “Civil Disobedience,” written
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis suggests that choices made on earth have a consequential effect towards our acceptance into heaven or our plummet into hell. In this book pride manifests itself in a hundred subtle ways as souls whine about perceived injustices or irrational motives. Thankfully, a few tourists do humble themselves, become transformed into marvelously real beings, and remain in heaven. But most don't, about which the great Scottish author George MacDonald, Lewis' heavenly guide, says, “They may not be rejecting the truth of heaven now. They may be reenacting the rejection they made while on earth”.
Many people have trouble being apart of a society. These troubles come from trying to fit in, which is also known as conforming. Another trouble is trying to express one’s own style with one’s own opinion. This is a trouble due to the fact that many people have the fear of being frowned upon when being the black sheep of the group if one’s opinion does not correspond with other opinions. This is where one’s own sense of who they are, individuality, and trying to fit in, conformity, can get confused. A nickname for conformity is “herd behavior” which is the name of an article where the author relates animals that herd with people that conform. Many people have a different philosophy of this topic which will be expressed in this essay. An important
The world is divided up into numerous things: Countries, states, cities, communities, etc. However, when looking at the big scope of things, one can group the vast amount of people into a society. This society is where the majority lie in the scheme of things - in other words, the common people. Individuals do exist in this society, but they are scarce in a world of conformism. Society’s standards demands an individual to conform, and if the individual refuses they are pushed down by society.
Should humans be autonomous or responsible? In other words, should they follow the convictions of their own hearts or surrender their ideals to another power presumed to be superior in its wisdom? This dilemma between autonomy and responsibility presents itself constantly. The struggles over abortion, euthanasia, and drug legalization are perfect examples. In each of these cases, individuals are either pushing for stronger individual rights (the freedom to make decisions regarding their own lives) or a stronger stance on the behalf of their government (to legally prevent individuals from making bad decisions).
Contrarily, Positivisms main principle is determinacy; that all behaviour is a result of circumstances. Therefore, the degree of socialisation an individual has in societal values, leads them to be categorised into conformist or criminal on the continuum. However, this is a problem as it denies the freedom individuals have in making choices. The same tension between instinct and the social self exists in Conse...
Many modern day scientists argue that humans construct the concept of free will rather than free will actually existing. The dialogue on this matter will likely continue for more years. While these scientists devote time attempting to prove their theories on the issue, other scientists research the effect on people when they believe their decisions are pre-determined for them. These studies prove that, regardless of the validity of the idea, people who call free will an illusion have lower moral standards than those with a belief in free will.
Stanley Milgram’s experiment shows that people many times conform to do what an authority figure says or orders. Despite moral apprehensions, a person might continue to do what they know is wrong. Milgram used ordinary people of all different types of life in his experiment and showed that many of them will continue until they are told to stop. It is not a “lunatic fringe” that will go against what is morally right, but it is a majority that will. Milgram says that it is easier going against one’s own principles then disobeying an authoritative figure.
Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience reflecting how this can be destructive in experiences of real life. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid hence useless.
Societies that esteem social conformity view defiance as a by-product of insolence rather than an act of courage. Isolation of individuals that do not abide by the set restrictions is another common characteristic of systems that encourage mob mentalities. As a result, in order to be accepted by peers, individuals often have to function based on societal expectations. Some consider pursuing their own opinions and ideas against the social norms. This often garners backlash and hostilities from other members of society, ranging from physical and verbal abuse to denial of individual’s competence and sanity to complete alienation from society. Although some people are able to champion their freedom of expression and right to opinions over the need
forces in all of our lives. If we can not depend on our own morals and values,
Ever thought about who controls the decisions you make regarding your daily activities? You may think you control every aspect of your life, but some philosophers have questioned such notions. Many schools of thought explain the analogy of free will, and they present the argument of whether we have the freedom to act or other causes and effects determine our destiny. Free will in this context is defined as the freedom to choose and act where there several alternative courses of action. Theologically, the concept of free will is presented as the power to make decisions on our own without necessarily been influenced by external or predetermined courses.
We make choices every hour, every minute, and every second of our lives; whether big or small our choices are slowly putting us in the direction we choose or end up. Many of us do not realize what contributes to the choices we make and why it affects others the same way if affects us and because of this many authors and writers have written stories and articles about coming to terms with making a choice and how to better ourselves when it comes to decision-making for the future.