Why does society exist?

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debbie264
Why does society exist?Why do nations exist?
What is there aim ?

Jackie Malfoy
The only person that knows the answear to that is our creater god.I have no idea what his plans are for us or the world but I guess we may never find out.JM

KharmaDog
Becuase man is a social animal perhaps? This really is not a philosophy question is it?

Bardock42
Yes it is, I go with Hobbes. because Huimans fear death and in societies we have better chances to survive.

Secondly societries are created because of so called morals which basically are just the self interest of particular humans, and because many humans have similiar interests they gather in society to make sure their selfishness is protected. And they can force it on weaker groups yes

eleveninches
Society exists for the protection and mutual benefit of the individual.
It is so that the whole of people working together in a society is greater than the sum of it's parts. In particular, so that each member of society is able to specialise and focus in one area only, therefore becoming more proficient in it and making life better for all concerned

finti
because humans are social creature that are flock bound, only some goes out to be hermits/loners/social rejects or philosophers as we also can call them big grin

KharmaDog
LMAO laughing out loud

WindDancer
Society exists because we depend on each other for survival. Example: A shoemaker knows how to make shoes. A breadbaker knows how to make bread. The shoemaker needs bread to eat and the breadbaker needs shoes to wear and walk. So the breadbaker and the shoemaker create a social contract and they trade the products to each other. Thus we have commerce. smile

Bardock42
But thats jsut for things above the surviving level WD.
We can survive on our own, its just hard and scary, what you stated is the idea of commerce like ricardo put it, I believe.

WindDancer
Yes, we can survive on our own. That most likely would be for the individual that doesn't have a family to support. The family man does need to depend on others for commodities (sp?) A man can have different skills, but different profesions? No, a carperter can't be a fisherman at the same time. Nor can he be a roofer or a brick layer. When a man and his family live in a community he depends on the products of others to support his family. At the same time the community depends on his productivity. There is no way a man and his family can do everything. Is a task too demanding.

Bardock42
Well but you think on too high of a level, its aboot human nature, think if there was no society no technology and all, and then, Why do societys start to exist?

lil bitchiness
WD, I understand what you're saying, but you're giving an examle above of the already established society.

A shoemaker whouldnt be that in a non existant society, no?

Bardock42
The Sith-girl is right yes

WindDancer
But when humans come together and form a society there is bound to have some sort of technology develop. Is basically natural for humans to work together. Look back at the caveman for example. The great hunters form large parties to kill a bigger beast. Thus providing food for the entire tribe. A single hunter trying to kill a large beast wasn't susceful.

Clovie
i know answer, but i have no idea how to translate it confused

WindDancer
I don't quite follow you on this. confused Setting aside survival, and community and depending on others are you speaking for individualism? The shoemaker skills aren't as important as his own personal interest? That would really affect the community. If he were to set aside his personal skills to pursuit his own interest is a bad idea for the community. He has to abide to interest of the community if he wants to be a part of it.

lil bitchiness
No no no no...you misunderstood.

I think the thread starter wants to know WHY society exists in the first place, rather what it needs in order for it to function. Theres a differance, and I think you're answering the question of HOW the society functions and the important roles of individuals, rather than WHY it exists in the first place.

eleveninches
It started when people stopped living as nomad hunters, and started to live together in larger communities. THey created a heirarchical system (with a king-figure at the top) and had set jobs for each member of the community

WindDancer
Oh I see what you mean now. Well, it is a rather hard question to answer "Why society exists in the first place". But personally I think that it stated earlier that people are a somewhat social animals and I kinda agree with that. The origins of a society are rather diffulct, but the results of a society tend to be quite clear.

lil bitchiness
Absolutely. I think we are social animals and i think society came natrually for us...if that made sense confused

Bardock42
No no it doesn'T, we created it, well actually it makes some kind of sense, since we naturally fear death and stuff.

lil bitchiness
We are a social animal - thats why we differ from other animals. Most animals have some kind of society of their own, far more inferior to ours of course.

edit - omg what the heck is up with my spelling blink

Bardock42
No actually we are not much more social than other animals (of course not all) but because we can think we see the positive sites of a community that are stronger than the bad sides.

lil bitchiness
No, I disagree (as do many sociologists)

We ARE a social animal, thats why we are able to create the society - if we are not more social than other animals, then we would be in the same position as them.

WindDancer
I think the Anthropological arguments would out balance the sociological arguments on this one (since the topic deals with the origin of society)

There is not much of a difference between us an the animals. Both can reproduce and adapt to certain enviorements and we also have our form of communication. I think is the way we are shape that makes us different and capable of building stuff.

Bardock42
No shit, sociologist say we are social haha.

Anyway I agree with Winddancer

s|m
Without society, there wouldn't be any languages or civilization, which would result chaos erm. If the no. of individuals of a certain species has become huge, society is a must.

debbie264
Wow...Thanks so much for all the answers,really really useful.Learned alot!!!!

s|m
wtf did u expect?

Bardock42
She might have been serious s|m

Not everyone overuses sarcasm

tengwang
The question we should ask is why some animals live together whereas some animals live alone. In other words, why some animals are social when others are solitary. In fact, many large carnivorous animals, such as tiger, leopard and bear (which is omnivorous) live alone. There are two basic conditions for animals to survive: there is enough food and they are not to be eaten by other animals. For larger animals, their body sizes lead to two inevitable consequences: they require more food, and they face less natural enemies. So, the primary problem for larger animals would be to find enough food. If these animals live together in a group, the problem of insufficient food would be exasperated. As for those smaller animals such as ants, wolves, monkeys and human beings that have to face many natural enemies need to get together, depend on and protect one another from their enemies.

Deja~vu
People exist so we don't have objects named Wilson as best friends. LOL

jinXed by JaNx
Originally posted by debbie264
Why does society exist?Why do nations exist?
What is there aim ?

because we accomplish more as a species when we work and live together.

botankus
Originally posted by Deja~vu
People exist so we don't have objects named Wilson as best friends. LOL

I prefer Dr. Spalding. You know, the one that did that root canal on me that one time.

ATX/UT ND Money
becuase we haven't created an alternative...plus...IT'S ABOUT BEING AROUND HOT CHICKS! cool

ATX/UT ND Money
Originally posted by tengwang
The question we should ask is why some animals live together whereas some animals live alone. In other words, why some animals are social when others are solitary. In fact, many large carnivorous animals, such as tiger, leopard and bear (which is omnivorous) live alone. There are two basic conditions for animals to survive: there is enough food and they are not to be eaten by other animals. For larger animals, their body sizes lead to two inevitable consequences: they require more food, and they face less natural enemies. So, the primary problem for larger animals would be to find enough food. If these animals live together in a group, the problem of insufficient food would be exasperated. As for those smaller animals such as ants, wolves, monkeys and human beings that have to face many natural enemies need to get together, depend on and protect one another from their enemies.

What about animals such as elephants and dolphins? They are often compared to us and I really don't think they face any threat of resources or natural predators. Do animals with more complex emotions tend to gather together?

Bardock42
Funny, was raised exactly 4 years after it died.

lord xyz
Kharmadog's post was the only one in this thread that didn't seem stupid to me.

blink

inimalist
The difference between human society and animal society is memes.

On a larger scale, it boils down to certain neurological systems, language ones probably most importantly, but the ability to assume an others' perspective and understand the motive behind their action (the basis of linguistic communication anyways) is likely one of the most "specific" items.

janey815
its supposed to be the ultimate level of civilization

WhiteWitchKing
Originally posted by draku
Without society, there wouldn't be any languages or civilization, which would result chaos erm. If the no. of individuals of a certain species has become huge, society is a must.

Language exist even in the animal kingdom. That don't need to be a part of a society to communicate. Written language and large vocabs is something developed by humans and help our growth.

Society exist because as everyone else has stated, we are social animals. Unlike other animals, our newborns are slow at development and can not survive on its own for quite some time and therefore need parental guidance. This necessity is one of the reasons human families exist. The dependence of ones immediate family and extended family make up one foundation for a society. Extend that need of survival to those around you (friends and neighbors) and those who are like you and share you interest and you have a society. We live close to each other out of protect, social interaction, and commerce needs (trading goods and ideas).

Deja~vu
Companionship. So, get it together and be friendly. big grin

WhiteWitchKing
Originally posted by Deja~vu
Companionship. So, get it together and be friendly. big grin

Nah, I prefer forced breeding.

occultdestroyer
Society exists for the benefit of the individual.
It is also a scapegoat to hide our weaknesses as a human being.
Some sort of cover-up to hide our limitations.
It was solely established so that some of us can take advantage of other people, and make our own set of rules/dogma that pertain to the belief of the majority.
The minority, we leave to fend for themselves. They are outcasts.

Captain REX
Originally posted by debbie264
Why does society exist?Why do nations exist?
What is there aim ?

People are social creatures. They like to bond. Nations exist because people bonded over geographical location; they were all in the same area, might as well all be in the same group.

As for aim... heh. Good question. Improving itself seems to be a popular one.

Nephthys
Because you touch yourself at night crackers

Captain REX
That is so not why society exists. crackers

LordFear
To torment us and make our existences less substantial

inimalist
Originally posted by WhiteWitchKing
Language exist even in the animal kingdom. That don't need to be a part of a society to communicate. Written language and large vocabs is something developed by humans and help our growth.

symbolic/gestural communication is seen in the animal kingdom

language is uniquely human

LordFear
Originally posted by inimalist
symbolic/gestural communication is seen in the animal kingdom

language is uniquely human


Actually, there is no definitive proof of that statment. Dolphins for example are thought to have quite the elaborated system of communication which is language in a sense

inimalist
Originally posted by LordFear
Actually, there is no definitive proof of that statment. Dolphins for example are thought to have quite the elaborated system of communication which is language in a sense

lol

language is not "complex" communication. Also, there are no "languages in a sense", unless you want to just redefine things for the ability to say such.

at the very least, there is no evidence that shows dolphins have a grammatically generative system of phonological symbols. Such evidence may be produced in the future, but it does not exist now and there are very serious caveats to consider that make the entire process of trying to find animal analogs to human language seem futile.

Here are the wikis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#Animal_communication

the most important statement being: "While proponents of animal communication systems have debated levels of semantics, these systems have not been found to have anything approaching human language syntax."

I'd look up more "academic" stuff, however, few journals would feel it necessary to publish a paper entitled "Other animals don't have human language".

Nephthys
I had to read the Bible pretty carefully but, Yeah it is. crackers

CATMANEXE
to research and find better ways to rape and maim each other.

Deja~vu
Companionship

Wild Shadow
society exist to protect the weakest members of our species even though it kinda goes against our nature because we also attack those same weak members.

thats how all these geeks and anti social misfits have managed to stay alive with their personality and behavior by hiding behind laws, morality and those in power.

jinXed by JaNx
I think society exists so people can make internet forums like this.

Wild Shadow
i'll tell you what if it wasnt for society i would have killed all the ppl that have back stabbed me to get ahead in business and in personal life.

Symmetric Chaos
Society isn't stopping you from doing that, but it will probably punish you after the fact.

Wild Shadow
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Society isn't stopping you from doing that, but it will probably punish you after the fact.


yeah it hasnt stop me from doing it, but i have to be very careful with evidence and make sure i havent had a dispute with the person in front of other ppl who can lead them to me. it still doesnt get the point to other ppl not to screw with you, which doesnt solve future problems.


any of you guys ever had that kid at school or an a$$hole at a bar who talks smack to you because a teacher or police officer is near by and he knows physically they are no challenge to you.

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by Wild Shadow
any of you guys ever had that kid at school or an a$$hole at a bar who talks smack to you because a teacher or police officer is near by and he knows physically they are no challenge to you.

Yup, I ended up trying to choke him to death with enough force that it left bruising on his trachea.

The Scribe
To control you. evil face confused

Wild Shadow
Originally posted by The Scribe
To control you. evil face confused

so the smart ppl can get ahead and not be killed by the jocks, but now they run everything and think they are the jocks. confused

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by The Scribe
To control you. evil face confused

Me specifically? I must be super extraspecial.

The Scribe
Originally posted by Wild Shadow
so the smart ppl can get ahead and not be killed by the jocks, but now they run everything and think they are the jocks. confused

Maybe.... confused

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Me specifically? I must be super extraspecial.

Extra special Ed. wink

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