Does society tame or corrupt the human being?

[The Observer]

An interesting discussion in my English class. We all know society isn't perfect. It has many flaws and many positive points. But does society tame someone into a 'proper' human being or does it corrupt?

 

My apologies if it's already posted. I just don't have a lot of time right now, so just did a quick search.

[Jakerdang]

Organized society is what is the key to taming humans. Think of the world if there was no organized government. Killing and raping would become as common as watching television. :blink:

[Giordano]

Organized society is what is the key to taming humans. Think of the world if there was no organized government. Killing and raping would become as common as watching television. :blink:

I believe he means society as in socially. Our culture, so to speak. The traditions, customs, methods, ways of life, etc, instead of civilized society as a whole.

[Jakerdang]

Oh, I see. Well. I have no comment then, haha.

[Abc1230]

Society only influences those stupid enough to have their opinions swayed that easily :/

[Alg]

Probably both. Focuses it towards an acceptable form of either tameness or corruption.

There's knowing right and wrong, and there's knowing what you can get away with.

[Slayer_Jesse]

society does neither. we are still who we are. all society does is add law, witch serves to control out less desirable instincts.

[Lenticular_J]

It's a mind-boggling concept. Society as a whole represents everything and nothing of humanity. Our thoughts, ideas, hopes, emotions, all poured into a world of paperwork, radio waves, concrete and nonsense. Taking a walk down a beautifully landscaped walkway brings remarkable feelings of gladness. Seeing a young gentleman assisting an elderly woman across the street brings about hope. Watching that elderly woman spitting hatred at homosexuals makes one sad. Seeing the young gentleman paint hateful paintings of his enemies chokes us up.

 

As with every concept we try and wrap our minds around, society eludes any true definition. The word is thrown around in ridiculous attempts at both modesty and pompousness. Society brings about castes and slavery; democracy and freedom of the press. It is greater than human beings or our creations.

 

Society will outlast all. It is as unending, unreal and unescapable (technically inescapable but [bleep] that noise - I want repetition) as evolution. It happens, we're just too stuck in our own perspectives to notice it. Whales have song; dolphins have women; monkeys have wine. The circle continues.

[The Dark Lord]

Ultimately, society works by one group of individuals strongly influencing the thoughts and behaviors of the vast majority of its inhabitants. In other words, society is strongly anti-intellectual. It corrupts the human being so that the human being will become tame. Intellectuals, on the other hand, typically question society's mores and morals and then make decisions so that they may be tamed. However, one could argue that intellectualism is ultimately dangerous to society because it breeds anarchy.

[RpgGamer]

Our society spits out disgusting excuses for human beings. But I blame human nature. Not so much society. But bottomline: it corrupts.

[Giordano]

Lots of hate against society...what society are you guys talking about?

[Celt23]

All people start out as hedonistic monsters, but society tames them into being more mindful.

[Myweponsg00d]

Society corrupts by definition. Without society, man cannot commit any evils. He is like an animal in the wilderness, living in the moment, concerned only with doing things to aid his survival.

 

When you put man in a society, you arbitrarily define what things are "right" and "wrong".

 

I suppose it tames too, though. I would say that without society, man cannot be tame OR corrupt. With society, man can become both.

[Range_This11]

Society is a way of repressing our unique animalistic, biological urges. Those who follow the rules and play nicely, get rewards. Those who don't, go to jail. The idea of society does not really tame anything. The people are the ones that do the taming; parents, teachers, communities, etc.

[Vyleo]

Organized society is what is the key to taming humans. Think of the world if there was no organized government. Killing and raping would become as common as watching television. :blink:

 

Killing and raping is only immoral because society deems it as so. I'm not saying I endorse either of the aforementioned, but society constructs its own definition of civility wherein if others do not follow, they are shunned. While this seems harmless and constructive, there is no threshold on a definition. What is rape and murder now could be anything later, ranging from blatant dis-functionality, to obscure idiosyncrasies.

[Giordano]

Organized society is what is the key to taming humans. Think of the world if there was no organized government. Killing and raping would become as common as watching television. :blink:

 

Killing and raping is only immoral because society deems it as so.

That may actually not be true. Society or not, us dying or a loved one dying seems unfair. Morals are in place to manange the unfairness so it doesn't happen. I once saw a group of monkies or chimps mourning for the death of a fellow monkey when he got swallowed up in the river. Elephants also return to the site of their loved ones death. A cementary of sorts. So is society man-made or an evolutionary process of living things?

[Sam]

The human mind is easily corrupted by society. There are so many influences that's it's hard not to succumb to them all.

[Will H]

It corrupts the individual human being, but we aren't just individuals that have nothing to do with each other between interactions. Part of being a human being is that of shared ideas, and those shared ideas come together to form a society. Society doesn't corrupt the human being as a whole, it defines it.

[magekillr]

We're social beings by our evolution, and we couldn't have survived without society. I do not believe that society is corrupt, it's just that humans who only have an individualistic mindset all of the time who are corrupt. "What's best for me? How can I benefit from this?" etc. This isn't the case with all societies, as most Asians think in the form of the collective. Still, in nature, I think humans are barbaric, and would do anything possible to survive or take advantage of their fellow persons. Society keeps some order, with a few outliers. We're social beings, it's the way we have evolved, it's who we are, and it's the way we shall stay.

[Furah]

I'm going with corrupts. Without society we would be raised by our parents, who want us to be good people. We would be taught to not hurt another, without society whispering in our ear saying if we don't fight, it's a sign of weakness. We would be taught to love all, without society whispering in our ear that these people are savage barbarians wanting to take our women from us. We would be taught that it's ok to not be similar to everyone else, without society whispering in our ear that if we don't conform to these things we are a nobody.

[Giordano]

I'm going with corrupts. Without society we would be raised by our parents, who want us to be good people. We would be taught to not hurt another, without society whispering in our ear saying if we don't fight, it's a sign of weakness. We would be taught to love all, without society whispering in our ear that these people are savage barbarians wanting to take our women from us. We would be taught that it's ok to not be similar to everyone else, without society whispering in our ear that if we don't conform to these things we are a nobody.

Wait, what? There's parents in America being too drunk to care for their child, much less teach them good values. There's parents in Iraq telling their kids to hate Americans and run around with grenades, there's parents in India who sell off their kids for money. Parenthood does not equal instant love and compassion.

[Alg]

I'm going with corrupts. Without society we would be raised by our parents, who want us to be good people. We would be taught to not hurt another, without society whispering in our ear saying if we don't fight, it's a sign of weakness. We would be taught to love all, without society whispering in our ear that these people are savage barbarians wanting to take our women from us. We would be taught that it's ok to not be similar to everyone else, without society whispering in our ear that if we don't conform to these things we are a nobody.

Wait, what? There's parents in America being too drunk to care for their child, much less teach them good values. There's parents in Iraq telling their kids to hate Americans and run around with grenades, there's parents in India who sell off their kids for money. Parenthood does not equal instant love and compassion.

Likewise societal values are in place out of general acceptance. The system's there because people as a whole agree that it's good. For that reason society's values are usually the ones that parents teach their kids.

 

Societal values serve to focus people in a way that benefits the society in question. This includes parents and their kids.

[Furah]

I'm going with corrupts. Without society we would be raised by our parents, who want us to be good people. We would be taught to not hurt another, without society whispering in our ear saying if we don't fight, it's a sign of weakness. We would be taught to love all, without society whispering in our ear that these people are savage barbarians wanting to take our women from us. We would be taught that it's ok to not be similar to everyone else, without society whispering in our ear that if we don't conform to these things we are a nobody.

Wait, what? There's parents in America being too drunk to care for their child, much less teach them good values. There's parents in Iraq telling their kids to hate Americans and run around with grenades, there's parents in India who sell off their kids for money. Parenthood does not equal instant love and compassion.

Now, why is it that those parents think it's good to go get drunk, or tell their children to hate others? Society.

[Will H]

I'm going with corrupts. Without society we would be raised by our parents, who want us to be good people. We would be taught to not hurt another, without society whispering in our ear saying if we don't fight, it's a sign of weakness. We would be taught to love all, without society whispering in our ear that these people are savage barbarians wanting to take our women from us. We would be taught that it's ok to not be similar to everyone else, without society whispering in our ear that if we don't conform to these things we are a nobody.

Wait, what? There's parents in America being too drunk to care for their child, much less teach them good values. There's parents in Iraq telling their kids to hate Americans and run around with grenades, there's parents in India who sell off their kids for money. Parenthood does not equal instant love and compassion.

Now, why is it that those parents think it's good to go get drunk, or tell their children to hate others? Society.

 

If that was true, then most people would think that it's morally good to get drunk and tell your children to hate others. That clearly isn't the case.

[i_love_burritos]

I don't think it's possible to condense the sum of human consciousness into to two opposing camps of "good" and "bad". So unless people cut down on the generalizations, this question is a crock of [cabbage]. =)