Why Do We Have Social Constructs?

I feel a little bit like I’ve been going crazy lately. So many different things are happening. So many different changes in the world; so many surprising things that are turning out to be the exact opposite of what I thought they would be at this time. I feel so alone with this experience too, but at the same time, I know I am not; I know there are lots of people that are starting to feel the same way. It’s starting to feel more and more like a dystopian science fiction film, and less like reality. What we thought was real, or what we thought was the way things are, is turning out not to be true. For decades, for centuries, humanity has prided itself on seeking and finding knowledge, learning the history of this planet, and then making it the goal to teach this one way and put that in the textbooks.

You ever wonder WHY we always have to maintain this consistency about history across the world in history books. Religion makes it a little bit more variable among cultures and geographic locations, but there seems to be an overaruching consensus about the way the world is, how it came to be, and what the structures in place in this society mean. Have you ever wondered WHY that is? Why haven’t there been more arguments about what history is? It makes me think there is a reason the world has to stick to this one narrative; that we all have to be in agreeance about the way the world is. It’s weird. I think everyone’s experience in this world is different. Cultures, countries, race, religion, all make these experiences unique in some way shape or form for the individual person.

But I often wonder WHY we teach, we educate, for everyone to learn the same things, in the same manner. Have you ever wondered why there is less emphasis on exploring the unknown, or making up your own ideas about how the world came to be, in education? Why can’t we all make up our own histories of the world? What would happen if we all had a different timeline about what happened in the world? Would that impact society? Would it change things? Would it make the world more or less confusing?

When I think of this, it makes me think of Native American tribes, that are still around today, who teach their experiences and their understanding of the world on the reservation. Then, as adults, if they travel off the reservation (which most people will at one point or another), they have to learn the construct that the rest of the world and society has created. It’s something they have to adjust to and make themselves know and understand when they are in the outside world. Within the reservation, life, the way things began, the way things are, the purpose of life itself, is very different. There are some other groups around the world that live this way, not just Native American culture, but I felt that was a good example that a lot of people can understand.

Think of it this way; in the Amazon, there are tribes of people who have NEVER known or seen this modern world, who have NO idea what our history is, who know NOTHING about technology or the news or anything, and yet, they survive and they live in peace in their part of the world, not needing to come out of that world and interact with us. They are perfectly fine living and dying thinking and knowing they are the only humans out there, and that their way is the only way out there. Or maybe, they have a mystical view about us, someone has told them unbelievable stories that spook them to the core, make them think and wonder about what’s out there. Maybe to them, we are this weird paranormal reality.

If groups of people are able to create their own histories, their own realities within this world, and still live and die the way we do, it kind of makes you wonder WHY the rest of the world has made this history, and why the focus is on world leaders and power structures. Did you ever think about how government and countries can not only be defined as distinct cultural and political systems and structures, but also ways of controlling large groups of people? Think about it; structure in the classroom, in business, in formal settings, is the way we control how people act and behave in certain environments. Laws, the legal system, these ideas are created to help CONTROL the population. To achieve what we perceive as a peaceful existence, by punishing or getting rid of anything that goes contrary to what we have created.

I’ve heard some mystic like Youtubers call these “constructs”. I’ve heard the term “social constructs”. It just makes me wonder why we have them. The thing is, we aren’t the only animals on this planet that create this structure and specific way of being. Fish swim in schools. Wolves have “packs”, birds fly in specific clusters in specific times of the year…people talk about the way the moon “controls” the tides. The sun coming out is our instinct to wake up and do things, because we associate daylight as the time to get up and work, while we associate no sun and darkness with sleep, with putting ourselves in this unconscious state for a while. Why is that? Who first came up with the idea that we must work in the day and sleep at night? WHY is that the way we operate?

I find myself ending this post with more questions than answers, and maybe that’s my point. I often wonder to myself why humanity hasn’t explored these different ways of understanding, of being. Why we all have to live our life in this similarly structured way, why all of our ”goals” that have been pushed on us since birth are to find a partner, settle down, and have kids. All of these social constructs that are not only meant to help us navigate our lives and create culture, but also help CONTROL the world around us and how it operates every single day. Humanity focuses a lot on trying to control things. Maybe the answer to all of our problems, however, is that we need to let go, let nature take its course, let things simply “be” and let go of trying to control the outcomes of the world. I wonder if then, we might achieve a higher sense of self, a state of peace and harmony within this chaotic world.

What do you think?