Social Influence

Also see previous installment: Social Thinking

I was always impressed that concepts in Social Psychology were the most relevant to what I perceived life to be. The experiments in this area are obviously very primitive but when considered with a general perspective tend to point out the failures and achievements of society very clearly in terms of process. I did not think the same way about sociology which seemed to be a more descriptive science that while practical was also distanced from any real experimental checks on its high capacity to formulate opinions. I have very strong opinions about economics and social issues but I have no real answers I can depend on as true in some absolute way. However the description of the process of the group dynamics, the importance of the influence of the individual, the concept of bullying and authority, etc. go to the heart of much of the experiences we have in daily life.