Georg Simmel had a very interesting approach of
organizing society. He developed three levels to help structure our society,
they include, psychological aspects of social life, interpersonal
relationships, and "spirit of the times". The first is more on the
individualistic level it focuses on our own thoughts and perceptions. The
second level is how culture is transmitted through socialization. This is where
our opinions from the first level come to light and are interpreted and
examined by others through conversation. The third level "spirit of the
times" is where the first two levels culminate to create norms and values,
through which all social and interpersonal relations follow. I think this is a
very interesting approach to organizing society, because it goes from one solo
perspective to an entire society.
Due to this categorical structuring
of society, typologies are created in order for organization to maintain. Simmel
stated that this happens through forms and types. Essentially the existence of
human beings is chaotic, so we must categorize this chaos. He calls this type
of organization social geometry, the rules and ways we interact in different
situations. There are two components of this numbers and distance. Numbers has
to do with the amount of people we are socializing with. Simmel noticed
distinct differences between two people socializing vs. three or more. With two
he said there would be even and shared power, whereas with three or more a
hierarchy would start to form and the level of inequality would increase. Also
with two people the distance would be more intimate, vs. three or more there
would be greater distance.
I am really into finding songs that
personally for me help associate themes we learn in class to real life. There
is a song by Nickel Creek that I have listened to for years that I feel
describes Simmel’s concept of the stranger…it even has stranger in the title. I
believe it describes how people on the outside (strangers) make sense and try
to coexist with others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW2r8JRdnDI
I liked your description of Simmel's sociology. I think that this is a really interesting topic. Cool use of music to emphasize your points, and Nickle Creek is the best.
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