Why does society shun those who are different?

Question

Don't get me wrong. I know that sometimes we all encounter people who seem to be mentally unstable, and sadly, we often avoid them, because we're either not entirely sure we can be safe around them or else we find their behavior unnerving. However, there are some people who, while they don't exactly come across as mentally unstable, still come across as being somehow different from most other people. Sadly, these people are often shunned, as well. Why, though? Why does our society pressure people to follow the herd rather than encourage and reward individuality? If anything, individuality should be encouraged, since it's often the nonconformists who pioneer the greatest changes and make the biggest discoveries. (Think of Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison.)

Answer 1

Because people fear that they themselves won't be socially accepted if they agree with an "outsider". Case in point, look at all the people that disagree with Al Gore and his theory of global warming, that he invented the internet etc. etc.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Because it makes people realize that the person is different. There is no other reason that I can think of. People always fear what they don't understand and usually create problems when they try to 'integrate' them into their society, way of doing things, etc. These people just think differently, that's all. It's the same as someone looking at a nude body. A nude body is a natural thing. Some people will become outrage by looking at it, some people will see beauty, and some are just simply perverted. Another example is violence, murder. Some people are fascinated by it, others despise it and some look at it as art or are obsessed with it. The creatures of this planet have been killing each other as means of survival, food and/or for territory which has been a natural cycle of life for a very long time. Now society (headed by the wealthy) have a say in everything because they are deemed at the 'top of the food chain'.

Look at the teen sex issues. For quite some time people in their teens have been having babies because there was a point in time where people didn't live very long. Now since there is a society that is involved, they have the say if someone has the right to have rights as an adult and at what age as well as what they can do with their body. Who is to say a 14 year old is more mentally, physically or emotionally ready to have a child than a 30 year old. It is only more difficult for them now because of society. They 'have' to be in school at that age where in the past they did not.

Society has made people conform to ridiculous ideas. Remember the witch hunts? If she can swim, then she was deemed a witch and was killed? If you look like a model you are gorgeous? If you look like loner you are scary to be around?

People have been controlling other people by using stereotypes (ie. fear). 'She looks like the type of person that would...' 'He looks like some kind of serial killer because he's so quiet' etc...

Answer 4

Humans appear to be the only species where natural selection acts on groups instead of individuals. This would not be possible without dividing the world into us and them. So, its not just society that shuns people who are different - individuals constantly draw all sorts of distinctions that separate us from them - Democrats and Republicans; Christians, Jews, Islamic, etc.; geeks and jocks; even rivalries between sports teams. This seems to be innate. Watch your own behavior and observe how you recognize different groups of people. People choose their identity by affiliating with a particular group through their clothing, behavior, appearance, and even speech. Think how different the world would have been if Albert Einstein had been a Nazi, and Hitler beat the rest of the world to the atomic bomb. Thank god Einstein was one of us.

Answer 5

Newton intentionally avoided people not the other way around.
People are primarily social animals but at the same time they have a heirarchical approach to group dynamics. People who are clearly superior but are socially ineffective get the boot. This is because among the beta elements (thats to say the non dominant alpha elements) heirarchy according to intelligence is unheard of. Generally speaking in beta society people function according to social skills as the primary determinant of how well they do. In alpha society a combination of traits is effective.

Answer 6

Hi Tangerine!
I am a Nurse,whom works in "Mental Institution",so I know the behavior of these people. With the right medications,love and understanding,then their outright behavior can be controlled,and they can respond to normalities,just as well as you and I.
(To answer your question?). Society is afraid of things they don't understand. They would rather catagorize the mentally unstabled as "Crazy". Something happened to these people in the past,or maybe they were born that way. It is quite difficult to deal with them,if they are not properly cared for. There are times when you have to put yourself in their place,to understand what they are felling and thinking,and be able to think quicker!. Society needs to "Count their Blessings". They could never understand,what these people are going through.

Answer 7

It's human nature to often be scared of things we don't understand but our psychological AND sociological conditioning have a lot to do with it. Being judgemental is something we learn before we even understand it. For instance, I am a southern white girl, I grew up prejudiced against blacks. It was sort of an 'unspoken but a given' in my family and I never saw a black person in my school until I was in high school. By that time, running with the crowd I was your basic arrogant redneck, racial slurring biatch. This was simply what I was taught and grew up with. When I moved to Richmond, Va. I had never seen so many black people in one place!! It scared me! As I got older I started questioning my thoughts and behaviors. To date I have been in several interracial relationships (to the horror of my mother!!). I try to live my life not being judgemental and my children have been raised not to discriminate. Again, society and culture as well as family instill our earliest beliefs. When I was in Africa I spent time with a tribe called the Massai. They have their own social structure and racism as we know it is a foreign concept to them. We can't change how anyone thinks or reacts except ourselves. It will never occur to many people that learned behavior can be unlearned, thus changed. My change was brought about through years of drug abuse then years of recovery. The change of my thinking is a blessing which resulted from many years of pain and I just try to be the example today.

Answer 8

I used to like star trek and mcglaughlin group

now i like harry potter and hardball with chris matthews

i used to be wierd
now im normal

people didnt avoid me but the popular kids called me wierd

as an adult aged 30 there is no more popular or wierd

i avoid people who have bad skin thou for some reason, propably cause when i was a kid and had bad skin it was embarrassing

Answer 9

This what you were taught to do since you were young. And it is that you do not want to stand out. It is like taking a child out to eat where there are mainly adults. And become upset if they start to act up. "How dare they act like kids!" It makes you stand out. And others might say something bad about you. You hear this or see this very day. And others gripe about it every day. They don't understand and don't want too.

Answer 10

Socialization/enculturation among primates is competitive sexual selection.
Congregation, socialization, for competitive sexual selection evolved into socialization as competitive sexual selection. (If you don't socialize you don't reproduce.)
The primary, originating, function of culture is regulation of competition. That means, to engage in noncombative contest as opposed to potentially injurious combat is mutually beneficial to the contestants.
So, socialization is inclusion/exclusion, two sides of the same coin, or card, the queen of hearts on one side, an iron barricade the other. Spin the card rapidly and create the visual illusion.