The Influence of the Social Norm
van anh hoang
The Influence of the Social Norm
People constantly strive for normality. From the television shows of the teenager trying to fit in, to the reason why people always shop for the latest trends, they all have one thing in mind: the social norm. Trying to fit this social norm leads people to think a certain way and makes them easily susceptible to conforming to what others are doing. The power of the majority also makes it difficult to stray from what is common. The power of the social norm and of the majority is illustrated in the short story, “The Dead” and the movie Fido. This is why in “The Dead” by Michael Swanwich, Donald is worried about the spread of Zombies as a commodity because so many people would be reliant on the zombies. In the movie Fido, Timmy’s mom was so persistent in getting a personal zombie because it was the social norm. When the majority thinks one way, it becomes harder to go against it and more tempting to give in and follow it. This paves way for the creation of a social norm where everyone is doing what they think is “normal”.
People are constantly trying to fit the social norm. In “The Dead”, the main character Donald is pressured into taking a job that would revolutionize the world. He is hesitant because it would mean a widespread use of zombies as personal servants, or even as slaves. He knows that people will start to catch on with the trend and soon the entire world would be accustomed to the presence of zombies in their everyday lives doing the things that they don’t want to do themselves. However, he is able to see how undesirable this should be. As zombies become more popular to have as a possession, people will start giving them mundane human jobs, increasing unemployment for human beings. They might even begin replacing things within their personal lives with them, just as Courtney, Donald’s friend, did when she stopped turning to him to satisfy her sexual needs but rather to her new zombie, Bruno. She also
The Influence of the Social Norm
People constantly strive for normality. From the television shows of the teenager trying to fit in, to the reason why people always shop for the latest trends, they all have one thing in mind: the social norm. Trying to fit this social norm leads people to think a certain way and makes them easily susceptible to conforming to what others are doing. The power of the majority also makes it difficult to stray from what is common. The power of the social norm and of the majority is illustrated in the short story, “The Dead” and the movie Fido. This is why in “The Dead” by Michael Swanwich, Donald is worried about the spread of Zombies as a commodity because so many people would be reliant on the zombies. In the movie Fido, Timmy’s mom was so persistent in getting a personal zombie because it was the social norm. When the majority thinks one way, it becomes harder to go against it and more tempting to give in and follow it. This paves way for the creation of a social norm where everyone is doing what they think is “normal”.
People are constantly trying to fit the social norm. In “The Dead”, the main character Donald is pressured into taking a job that would revolutionize the world. He is hesitant because it would mean a widespread use of zombies as personal servants, or even as slaves. He knows that people will start to catch on with the trend and soon the entire world would be accustomed to the presence of zombies in their everyday lives doing the things that they don’t want to do themselves. However, he is able to see how undesirable this should be. As zombies become more popular to have as a possession, people will start giving them mundane human jobs, increasing unemployment for human beings. They might even begin replacing things within their personal lives with them, just as Courtney, Donald’s friend, did when she stopped turning to him to satisfy her sexual needs but rather to her new zombie, Bruno. She also