On page 30 Trenholm exclaims, "This [the social constructionist perspective] points out that most of what we know and believe about the world comes to us through communication rather than through direct experience. If everyone around us talks about the world in a certain way, we are likely to think of the world in that way and fail to question whether we are seeing things accurately."
One concept in particular came to mind as I was reading our first posting prompt and that was the concept of individuality. Not only is the culture of the United States very individualistic, but the beliefs I was raised on further emphasized the concept of "everyone for themselves." I'm not saying that my parents were selfish or didn't care for me, but there was always that understanding within my family that if you want to get somewhere in life you and you alone have to make it happen.
This idea of taking personal responsibility for your life has proved successful so far; I work hard to get what I want but also try not to step on too many people to get there. As far as happiness, I wish people would help each other out a little more. Although I'm first to admit I'm usually looking out for #1, I wish I lived in a place where everyone would help each other and no one selfishly took advantage of it. I know that sounds like Communism but we all know how well that turned out...
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I think you are right when you talk about the "individualism" that is promoted in our western culture. I think it may be a different mindset in the eastern countries where communication between families is much more the norm than it is in the United States. They typically are more family-oriented whilst having larger families, while we have smaller families and lean on that "everyone for themselves" ideal you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI think these two different mindsets really breed two different kinds of communication. I wonder if there is more self-dependency in our culture than in the East, or if their family support structure results in more self dependency than ours.
Nonetheless, I agree with you that individuality is definitely as a concept of our culture, and that is does tend to shape the way people view the world.