Man as a Social Being (A Musing of a Free Thinker)

(Disclaimer:  This is not a talk or discussion made by a psychologist or even a sociologist for that matter.  This is simply a noted musing of an individual while doing his laundry.  Yes, laundry.)

“Man is a social being / animal/ individual / entity / specie.”  Whatever term used, bottom line is man lives and thrives with and for interaction with his fellow man in the basic sense.

With that said, man is known to be sociable despite the exemption on some individuals behaving differently.  Man will always interact in his own way with another individual or even to a specie that may be less in intellect for that matter.  How he interacts is simply a reflection of his communication skills derived from experiences, community, intellect and plain observation.

Some of you may ask as to what or where I am driving this musing to.  I also asked myself that same question when the seed of thought came through while doing your usual act of manual washing and I came to realized why it came about.  The cause of this line of thought is actually a musing on someone’s possible reaction(s) to a response made from a given answer.  Think of it as a query answered by another query.  Not the proper response you may say BUT it may be apt if there is a need of clarification or one is avoiding the direct and obvious way to response because s/he will be placed on a situation that s/he is not  in good light.

Man will react to a stimulus in ways he is comfortable or what he thinks is appropriate to the situation, especially if the stimuli is another individual with the same bodily functions even if the intellectual capacity and level is not of the same edge.  And even if the intellectual level is the same, there is still that factor of having the last or final say just to show his/her edge.  Why the opening thought, you may ask.  The reason behind that is - it is one general idea that reflects man and his interactions despite the numerous factors affecting or leading him/her to that reaction.  Since this is not a psychologist-therapist or a sociologist making the musing, I opted to simply keep it in the confines of plain individual (meaning mine) observation.  The challenge of being sociable is the number of possible doors of reaction that may open based on the stimulus presented. Reactions may be loud, subtle, calm, questioning, judgmental, haughty, elusive, with undertones, with understanding, with patience, irritation and stone-faced for that matter.  Then there is the matter of the answering response to the response given to the initial stimulus.  Still with me (I hope)?

Again, how one is geared to be sociable dictates his/her own way of reacting to any given situation.  The next question is, can you comprehend the possible factors that led to that resulting reaction?  If your answer is yes, then you are one VERY UNDERSTANDING individual.  In the vernacular, walang masamang tinapay para sa iyo.  You are the type who will and would be patient to all.  When I say all, I mean ALL.  If your answer is no, then that is not a fault or a mistake on your side unless things are fairly obvious and you just want to ignore one blaring truth.  Not understanding someone else’s reaction is not a fault and should not be an excused to put someone down . . .though . . .placing someone in his right level and social standing is excusable in some (NOT ALL) situations.

It is easy to accept things if one is understanding or at least made the effort to understand the given situation or scenario.  Now that is a very idealistic idea!  Let us be real.  Not everybody  have the time and energy to fully analyze things to be able to fully comprehend and reach an objectivity level that may lead to a type of reaction that is fair and square to all.  HELLO! Every square frame of your life event or scene is not a courtroom drama wherein you can ponder and analyze things in an even extended time.  You react instantaneously to things!  How you react is a quick processing of your mind to the stimulus, matched to that of your experience file + your training (at home, in school, with your community and even religion) + self-control.  That is the sociable man.

You might say, “I thought it is a communication skill.” (I did mention that on the opening part of this musing).  My response to that is . . . isn’t reacting a way to convey/ show/ express your thoughts to another party and isn’t that a form of communication?  (My claws are quite retracted while I was writing that line, just to let you know. Even my brow is relaxed and not arched in an intimidating way.)

Being a social being, one also has the luxury to simply observe scenarios and watch things unfurls / expose / unfold and even explode and simply learn from the different reactions displayed for viewing and ponder on the great “what if” to make things different.  I repeat, there are a good number of things affecting man’s way of reacting to any given stimulus.  Some reactions may be constant to a good number of individual. While some may slightly differ and there are those that may boggle your mind (may lead to brain stump.  I rather have brain freeze moments, thank you!).  Still it will show man’s need to be sociable and interacting.  I will leave you with one question as I end this musing of mine on this line of thought . . .

“If you get to understand the way how one interacts and demonstrate his social skills and needs would you expect them/others to understand you as your own social being?”