What We Have Created
How far will a person go to fit in to society? Will he change his appearance and act unlike he normally does just to gain the acceptance of his peers? These are two questions of many that Solomon Asch asks in his essay and experiment entitled, "Opinions and Social Pressure". Asch uses a number of examples to state his argument; including an experiment that was performed on college students to test their behavior when placed amongst their peers. Asch states his main question as, "How and to what extent do social forces constrain people's opinions and attitudes ?" Asch continues through his essay to answer the question thoroughly. Asch states that society's influences help shape a person greatly. A person's region and cultural base greatly determines what is socially acceptable and what is not. For instance, a society where cannibalism is widely accepted as a norm wou
His writing is simple and easy to understand. Asch also states that it is important to study in which way humans form their ideas and roles in society. His tone is professional, yet not too professional in a way that would seem pompous. These ideas and the questions they raise are the purpose of Asch's studies and reporting essay. The answer the other college students gave was undeniably wrong, but because this one student was going against a majority he felt outcast, even embarrassed by his answer even if it was the correct one. ld be looked down on by western culture as barbaric and inhuman. Since his audience may be nothing more than the public, I believe the author may have even further proven his point by making and example of himself and conforming to the type of reader this essay is addressed. That is, he does not shut opinion out, but states his essay in a way that is non judgmental, and poses no aggression. " I believe that the author presented his information well. Society is a beautiful machine, and although sometimes society pushes conformity to extremes and oppresses some forms of self expression and individuality, conformity is what makes us a family, a neighborhood, a community, a race and it is what makes us band together as mankind. To state his case, Asch simply gives his audience the facts. I don't believe Asch is trying to argue anything in his essay; I do believe he has a point and is simply trying to state that point in a way that is non biased and easy to understand. Thoughts are powerful and life is played out in a number of notions and given norms that will always be the backbone for the way of life the millions before us have created and the millions after us who will follow that path. Even though he may have felt deviant, according to Asch, the young gentleman was working effectively in society. Conformity will always be in society.
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Acceptance Essays
