ANALYSIS OF "THE SOCIOLOGICALLY EXAMINED LIFE" (part 40)

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Visible Origins of Invisible Resources

by

Charles Lamson

Where do invisible resources (continued from last article) come from? Even strength, which at first seems like a genetic matter, is affected by culture and experience. Without proper nutrition and exercise, people who are destined to grow tall and wide do not necessarily become very strong. And even small people can develop their strength to the point where it excceds that of others who are twice as big. Much can happen, by choice or by accident, to shape our bodies in certain ways and not others

Other kinds of resources that reside in the body depend even more on experience and training. No matter what our potential might be, we always depend on others to teach us how to do things, to give us problems to solve, and to help us correct our mistakes. Differences in skill and problem-solving ability (what some people call intelligence) thus arise out of social life. We like to be rewarded for what our bodies and minds can do. Unfortunately, many people never get the chance to learn to do what is valued by those who can dole out rewards.

We can see that social experience conditions our bodies to react to the world in certain ways. Suppose you looked up from this blog right now and saw a wizened old man with bulging eyes and flecks of spittle on his chin coming at you with a knife in one hand and a rattlesnake in the other. What would you do? You might shriek, run, freeze, cower, or throw your smart phone or tablet at him. In any case, you would certainly have a bodily reaction---your heart would pound, your chest would tighten---and this reaction would be a result of how your body has been conditioned to respond to scenes you interpret as threatening.

This odd example serves to illustrate the point that our bodies, not only our minds, react to the world in ways that result from how we have been conditioned to react. Recognizing that these responses are conditioned is important, for it reminds us that we do not control all our reactions to the world. What is important to see is that some ways of responding to the world are more valued, more useful than others, and more likely to lead to inequality.

Imagine that you are invited to give a public talk about sociological mindfulness. The talk should be about an hour long and is set for a week from today. Your family, friends, and teachers will be there, along with most of the leaders of the community in which you live. You can expect an audience of about 1,500 people, not counting reporters and photographers. When you speak you will be representing not only yourself but all the people and groups to which you belong. If you do well, you will receive more honors and probably several job offers.

The prospect of giving such a talk would make many people extremely anxious. They would worry about looking unpoised, about saying the wrong thing, about embarrassing themselves and others. A person who has reacted this way might think, "I am so nervous I can't think straight. I can't prepare adequately in just one week! I know I am going to blow it. My heart pounds when I imagine getting up in front of all those people. I can't do this!" This sort of reaction might make it hard to do a good job, thus leading to the bad performance that is so feared.

Another person chosen to give the same talk might say, "Thank you for this honor. A week will be plenty of time to prepare. I'll get to work right away and do my best." Then, brimming with self-confidence, this person brushes up on sociological mindfulness, and studies the speeches of great orators throughout history. S/he then writes a first draft, revises it, gets comments from others, revises it again, practices giving the talk, revises some more, and then launches a brilliant career.

Why might two people react so differently to the prospect of giving a public talk? It is not much help to say, "Some people are more comfortable speaking in public than others." That is an observation, not an explanation.

Being sociologically mindful, we would ask what experiences led one person to be so confident and the other to be so anxious and afraid? How did one person learn to have faith in his or her abilities, and the other person not? We would try to understand how it happened that these people learned to feel so differently about their abilities and about the challenge of using them.

We should always be mindful that ways of responding to the world, the ways that are conditioned into us, are patterned. Some types of people are likely to be conditioned to respond to problems with calm faith in their own abilities and worth. If you are white, male, and upper middle class, you will probably have more experiences that nurture your talents, affirm your sense of worth as a person, and give you confidence that you can do whatever you set your mind to than if you are a black woman growing up in poverty.

Obviously, this is not true in every case. Some white men from rich families can be plagued by self-doubt. And there are many women of color, from all kinds of backgrounds, whose families and communities instill in them tremendous abilities and pride. Yet, on the whole, on the average, the pattern holds, as it must in a society that is run by and privileges whites, males, and those with wealth. In general, those who are born with more visible resources have better chances of acquiring the inner resources that lead to further advantages.

*SOURCE: THE SOCIOLOGICALLY EXAMINED LIFE, 2ND EDITION, 2001, MICHAEL SCHWALBE, PGS. 179-181*

END