Without the use of a dictionary...?

Question

How would you describe the word "social"? I have to write a 3 page paper on its definition and I wanted to gather the ideas of different people.

Thank you all for your responses! I honestly can't pick one as the best answer because I took something from all of your responses and you guys have made my paper a lot easier to write now (I was dreading it before). Thanks again!

Answer 1

social=outward, direct human interaction

anything that people do together in a group:
traditions and passtimes
love and war
sports and hobbies

Your teacher may be looking for you to touch on the fact that people are getting further away from face to face social interaction. They are replacing social activities with technological ones.

Good luck with your homework,
Sierrasurfer3

Answer 2

The word Social is derived from the Latin word "socius", Although the term "social" is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. An added difficulty is that social attributes or relationships may not be directly observable and visible, and must be inferred by abstract thought.

Some different definitions
In the absence of agreement about its meaning, the term "social" is used in many different senses, referring among other things to:

attitudes, orientations or behaviours which take the interests, intentions or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour);
common characteristics of people or descriptions of collectivities (social facts);
relations between people (social relations) generally, or particular associations among people;
interactions between people (social action);
membership of a group of people or inclusion or belonging to a community of people;
co-operation or co-operative characteristics between people;
relations of (mutual) dependence;
the public sector ("social sector") or the need for governance for the good of all, contrasted with the private sector;
in existentialist and postmodernist thought, relationships between the Self and the Other;
interactive systems in communities of animal or insect populations, or any living organisms.

Answer 3

SOCIAL : Living together in communities.

Of or relating to communal living.
Of or relating to human society and its modes of organization: social classes; social problems; a social issue.

Living together in organized groups or similar close aggregates: Ants are social insects.
Involving allies or members of a confederacy.
Of or relating to the upper classes.

Inclined to seek out or enjoy the company of others; sociable.
Spent in or marked by friendly relations or companionship.
Intended for convivial activities.
Of, relating to, or occupied with matters affecting human welfare: social programs.
Social
Latin root meaning
The term social is derived from the Latin word socius, which as a noun means "an associate, ally, companion, business partner or comrade" and in the adjectival form socialis refers to "a bond between people" (such as marriage) or to their collective or connected existence.
GOOD LUCK¡¡¡¡ with the paper

Answer 4

Being social is the act of associating with people. A socialite is someone who associates with people, so, for your paper, you will need to concentrate on the act, not the personality type. You should provide different examples of being social, as a filler.

Answer 5

Social stems from epistemological position - not an explanatory theory. It is an approach to psychology (and other bodies of knowledge) which focuses on meaning and power. It focuses on meaning and power because its epistemological position dictates that meaning and power are all that we really can claim to know about. It is called ‘social constructionism’ because it aims to account for the ways in which phenomena are socially constructed. For example, consider the various constructions of ‘war’ which are currently in dispute. We can see that there are multiple ways of constructing what a ‘war’ is and what it would mean, that these are often mutually-exclusive, and that they are developed from various ideological and political interests (i.e. power). For constructionists, all phenomena are like this. (Note that this is different from a ‘social theory’ - it does not say that a behaviour like ‘aggression’ can be explained by social variables; it says that ‘aggression’ itself is a social .

Answer 6

having to do with people

Answer 7

Similar, same-minded, same likes and dislikes i guess ..
Aliens man .. everyones an alien .. and the next step from alien is social .. man = social .. woman = social .. alien = not so social .. lol
cheers.

Answer 8

events, gatherings, drinking, drugs, cook outs, conversation, dance clubs, hospitality, holidays, friendship, a lot of things. just use what people do normally and anything that brings people together.

Answer 9

Interaction between people.

Answer 10

with people in a large setting