Sociological imgination

Sociological Imagination
Social imagination allows us to understand and predict other people's behavior, make sense of abstract ideas, and to imagine situations outside our own everyday lives. If we were to think sociologically it would teach us that we are free to make our own decisions, but that the society in which we live can have an opinion on why we make those decisions. Sociology imagination is important because it can helps us to evaluate the world that we live in, which in turn, makes it possible for us to pursue our goals more effectively. Thinking sociologically also allows and helps us to understand our diverse world and the choices people make. The sociological imagination can also help us to predict what each of us will probably do under specific conditions. Having sociological imagination is critical for individuals and societies to understand. It is important that people are able to relate the situations in which they live their daily lives to the local, national, and global societal issues that affect them. Without the ability to make these relations, people are unable to see social issues that affect them and are unable to determine if these issues require change to better their everyday lives. For example, imagine there is a girl who wishes to look thin and fair but somehow she cannot achieve this look. Now this girl then goes into a depression. She believes in order to be thin she becomes anorexic. She then faces some severe health problems. When we apply sociological imagination, we would realize that it's the obsession of society in general for the fair skin and thin body that has indirectly affected this girl. In the media society portrays beautiful and desirable girls as thin and fair. There are many girls suffering from this similar problem and it’s a social issue where stereotypical attitude towards women and social media needs to be scrutinized.
In history different societies and nations have obtained different levels of social imagination. The societies that have not obtained it or that have lost it are usually within nations that have suffered ongoing persecution, poverty, and social injustice. The societies that have obtained it and thrived on social imagination are usually within the nations with the most freedoms and with the most diverse cultures. Nations such as Japan and the United States of America obtain social imagination and it has inspired enormous changes to the culture and way of life. In America men and women have equal rights, slavery doesn’t exist, religious freedom is a reality, and the ability for poor people to change their outlook is also a reality. This is primarily due to the people of the United States embracing sociological imagination after the countries revolution and recognizing the effects of our nation.
Sociological imagination explains why we are the way we are, and how has the society in which we live subconsciously influenced the decisions we make in our everyday lives. When we learn to think sociologically, we can begin to understand how our society's culture influences and ultimately helps shape our own personal life experiences. This "sociological imagination" is a way to look at a society's culture and see general social patterns that can affect an individual's day-to-day decisions. Additionally, it helps us to reach beyond the individual to try to understand how the society in which a person lives help shape them as individuals and how society influences their behavior and the decisions they make.

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