Assimilation
My thoughts on the human social 'hard-wiring'...
Isaiah Peeples
Professor Ms. Kremens
ENG 101
Assimilation
Since humans have evolved into sapiens we have been social creatures, in which we are currently in modern day and always will be. Millions or years ago being social was a beneficial capability that favored towards survival: communication, group support, and other things of that nature. In modern day the need for survival is nearly non-existent as agriculture, technology, and a more pre-set way of life continues to endlessly develop. This renders human social activity from being a beneficial survival factor into a mere leisure luxury. Also the social aspect in humans vary among different and distant groups on a global scale, thus resulting in many cultures consisting of varying social structures.
In present day these social differences, from a personal perspective, are more of a nuisance rather than something to be respected. Every social group has its own individual specific "norms" and rules which can sometimes lead to social unrest between people on a general basis. Culture and social groups have always been a sense of identity for humans worldwide and can sometimes cause friction when these clusters of various "norms" attempt to converge and/or interact. Also in the individual's personal goal of seeking an identity some people will do what most would label as "fitting in" or assimilation. The very definition of the word reveals the intent of a person attempting to be absorbed into a new culture or social group, and in order to do so one will go so far as to change or alter one's personal identity.
Such an act can be either self-administered or a result of peer-pressure and fear of not "fitting in" and being rejected by a social group of that person's choice to assimilate with. From a personal perspective, being a part of a social group is inevitable and impossible to avoid unless you as a person are living in a hole somewhere isolated from the world. Every single individual you associate yourself with creates a basic social group - cluster of more than two persons bonded by social association and an alike ideology. I personally believe that "fitting in" is a human need that we have had for millions of years and will never abandon it, and either the social immaturities it brings along with it.
I also believe that it is not always important to assimilate with a post-popular social group or people who cause you change your self beyond all recognition. A person should allow their own individual essence flow and allow those who are most compatible with how the person is as a human being to become a part of their social group and not vice versa. Humans assimilate unconsciencly regardless of the person's conscience choice because we are literally hard wired to judge a person by their outside appearance and facial structure as a result of our past being in the wild as early humans where judging someone or something as friendly or harmful was a matter of life or death. Though we live with this certain quality of us now and forever we continue to increasingly expand the vast global human network - judging, assimilating, building personal relationships and briefly entering another's life. The need to find purpose and claim an association in which to fulfill that - assimilation.