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Post by Emily Leung on May 20, 2016 3:08:10 GMT
While reading "The Everyday Psychology of Nationalism" I thought that it connected well with the "Psychology of War". "The Everyday Psychology of Nationalism" spoke of the importance of being part of a group, which I think fuels a lot in our society. There is a lot of truth to the saying "there is strength in numbers"; humans feel more powerful when they aren't alone. Think about all the clubs, societies, etc. that exist in society today. Humans thrive when we have other like-minded people around us.
I think that while they aren't comparable situations, the reasoning behind them both hold. When our home basketball team wins a big game, we feel great pride in our town and where we came from and feel a community amongst fellow fans. Similarly, during the war, we are rooting for our team (our team being the US) to win and when they do, we feel a surge of nationalism that bonds our country. After the war of 1812, America experienced a surge of nationalism when lots of citizens had a growing sense of an American identity.
Evolutionarily speaking, the need for humans to assemble together makes sense. Neurologically speaking, what changes in our brains when we are together in groups? The following excerpt from BrainFacts.org can give us some insight into why groups are important:
"Other research indicates social interactions may be rewarding, especially among women. Neuroscientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan women’s brains while they played a collaborative game. When players cooperated, the researchers observed activation in parts of the brain related to reward — the nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus, ventromedial frontal/orbitofrontal cortex, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Later studies conducted with men had a slightly different result. Their reward pathways were more activated when they had an opportunity to punish players who were cheating. Similar research is examining the benefits and biological underpinnings of the social concepts of generosity, empathy, and social justice both in people and in animals."
To sum that text up, certain parts of our brains are activated with social interactions. What are your thoughts on why groups are so important to society? How much of our sense of self comes from belonging to groups?
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Post by vannahyazon on May 24, 2016 3:49:02 GMT
I feel like groups are soo important to our society because no one wants to feel alone. Being alone and being lonely fuel the feelings that humans don't want to experience the most. When humans are in groups it allows them to rally together in popular sentiment and bond in general. Like we've been describing in past readings, when we as individuals respond to others, our responses morph to other people's opinions etc. These sort of expectancy and conforming habits are what lead me to believe that a pretty profound amount of our sense of selves actually arise from belonging to groups. Sure we do have our own biological makeup and free will, but nurturing and exposure to others really shapes our sense of selves and the way we grow as individuals.
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paola
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Post by paola on May 25, 2016 8:48:49 GMT
This thread brings up some really interesting points, and I agree with vannahyazon ’s above comments about it. The feeling of belonging is an essential human need, and I do agree that humans thrive when collaborating in groups. Although this does not apply to everyone, loneliness is a fear to many. Individuals with this fear do everything they can to avoid being alone. A new mechanism teens have adapted is the use of our phones, tabloids, laptops, etc. to fill that void that’s making us feel lonely. A lot of the time, when you see someone standing alone (let’s say they’re waiting for someone to arrive), they are often on their phone to either 1) make it seem like they have something to do, or 2) to make them feel like they're not alone, and instead, feel like they’re interacting with something - even if it’s not a person. The phone becomes a person to us, and we use it as a means to rid our loneliness. |
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Post by vannahyazon on May 25, 2016 20:30:34 GMT
This thread brings up some really interesting points, and I agree with vannahyazon ’s above comments about it. The feeling of belonging is an essential human need, and I do agree that humans thrive when collaborating in groups. Although this does not apply to everyone, loneliness is a fear to many. Individuals with this fear do everything they can to avoid being alone. A new mechanism teens have adapted is the use of our phones, tabloids, laptops, etc. to fill that void that’s making us feel lonely. A lot of the time, when you see someone standing alone (let’s say they’re waiting for someone to arrive), they are often on their phone to either 1) make it seem like they have something to do, or 2) to make them feel like they're not alone, and instead, feel like they’re interacting with something - even if it’s not a person. The phone becomes a person to us, and we use it as a means to rid our loneliness. OOOOOO! I love what you bring up about using electronics to fill in the void. I could go on about this topic for ages. I feel like its SOO SAD that our generation resorts to using technology to feel less lonely, yet i feel like it's also technology that is facilitating the creation of a new void within humanity which is essentially a void of human interaction and natural encounters which then fuels loneliness again. I just feel like our generation is digging ourselves into a hole once we "get out of the other" but the hole is like the same thing. I dunno. I guess you could just say I'm a strong advocate for face-to-face interaction and quality time without techno;ogy. In my mind it's more valuable than anything. Although i am addicted to Instagram soooo. I can't solve this world problem. #rant |
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paola
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Post by paola on May 26, 2016 2:51:14 GMT
vannahyazonI agree that technology is creating a whole new form of human interaction, which has, in some ways, created wonders. But, like I said, it’s also caused individuals to become more virtual and more addicted to their electronic devices. Like you, I am a strong advocate for face-to-face interaction. I’d say that I’m okay with being alone, and have come to really enjoy my alone time. Yes, sure, it’s nice to have someone with you, but must someone always be with you at all times? I feel like there is this expectation that one must always be with others, or in constant interaction, and if they're not, they’re considered lesser or weird - and I feel like that’s why people resort to always being on their phones - so they look “less” lonely.
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Oliver Micklewright
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Post by Oliver Micklewright on May 26, 2016 19:02:20 GMT
I definitely agree that a sense of self can develop from belonging to groups but it is also interesting to consider whether war can also help develop a person's sense of sense. Since conflict might be something that can develop a person's sense of self, its possible that people have a need for conflict. This would explain why conflict is prominent in human history and maybe it could also explain how different countries that have had success/failure in war have different cultures and different senses of self.
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Post by emmajessicalin on May 27, 2016 0:28:02 GMT
In response to your question "how much of our sense of self comes from belonging to groups?": I think we'd all like to believe that we're original or bring something new to the table, but what if all we are is a combination of the people closest to us? I've found that a lot of ideas floating around are just recreations of something else. It's really difficult to distinguish what parts of you are influenced by others or come from a group identity and which parts are really you. Maybe they can't be separated at all? Maybe all the subgroups you're in (think family, varying friend groups, campus organizations, races, geographical location, etc.) combine to create you, and maybe its a unique combination, but none of the separate parts are original or unique at all?
I think we all try to find the different subgroups we fit into because we want to feel like we aren't unique sometimes. It can be comforting knowing you're entirely average or that there are people out there exactly like you. But we also like distinguishing ourselves as unique and we want to know that we're our own person. It's funny how most of us seek to be average and unique at the same time.
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Post by petekk on May 29, 2016 7:30:11 GMT
I think most of our sense of self comes from our affiliation with groups. Even though we don;t bring it up everyday or even explicitly state that we are a part of group we tend to think of ourselves as a part of something whether this is family, nation, hobby group or anything else. It would be an interesting thought experiment to imagine someone without any affiliation to a certain group. Keep in mind that this means the person cannot have nay family religion, nationality or any social group. The fact that this thought experiment is so hard proves how strongly one's identity is based on group identification.
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Post by Emily Leung on May 29, 2016 22:34:27 GMT
I like the idea you bring up, Emma, about just being a combination of the people closest to us. I definitely pick up habits and behaviors of the people I am around the most.
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Oliver Micklewright
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Post by Oliver Micklewright on Jun 3, 2016 23:03:48 GMT
I don't think we are just a combination of the people we are closest to, but I do think as humans we have the ability to adapt and self improve. We see qualities, nuances and traits that we envy and try to incorporate into out own lives. But this is not just limited to people we are close to, it could include seeing someone hold the door open for someone or see someone doing something that we think is cool. However I also think that people have a natural sense of self that has been moulded from our upbringings - maybe family, close friends, environment etc.. I think humans can constantly adapt but we can also recognise admirable qualities that we don't wish to incorporate into our lives - be interesting to explore the emotions and psychology behind the reasons we don't ask on some qualities we see as significant.
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