Social Construction of Reality--The Reality of Everyday Life

In this section of their book, Social Construction of Reality, Berger and Luckmann share their thoughts on the sociology of knowledge in everyday life.  The authors explain that, “everyday life presents itself as a reality interpreted by men and subjectively meaningful to them as a coherent world.”  Knowledge of the world is nothing but what man has interpreted it to be.  We study light, rocks, sounds, etc. according to how we perceive them to be.  Like religion, we explain things in a way that makes sense to us.  As a race, we have no being to tell us what things are or how to live.  We have holy writings that help us understand our world, but these were written as interpretations of the men who wrote them. 

Upon development of language, man declared that a rock was hard, but what is “hard” in the word itself.  Interaction between man and his environment ignited a fire to understand and conquer the surroundings, to overcome that which he could not yet explain.  Now, man believes he understands everything.  What great epiphany did man have between the time of cavemen and the intellectual thinkers of today?  Man can look back at the early writings and beliefs of other men, but is that knowledge?  Is discovering more about the world actually learning?  Or is it just more to be in wonderment about?

The quote mentioned above states that life is “subjectively meaningful.”  From birth, we are given standards to base our life on.  This is supposed to be our reference point with which to compare the meaning and purpose of our life.  Social constructions may hinder us from following our path of knowledge, of the truth.  Preconceived notions of what is right and wrong are forced on unsuspecting victims.  I do this myself to my own child by teaching him about Christ.  Is this wrong?  Despite what I have just said, my own convictions about life, knowledge, and the truth tell me that I should help my son see the reality of how life is.  However, if I were to be honest, I would have to admit that this is my reality.  It would pain me for Mason to reject Christ, but the Bible commands us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  

I think it important to include a point that was discussed in my religion 400 class.  For those who believe in Christ and the plan of salvation, can one make a conscious decision to follow Christ whenever they choose?  This refers to the concept of knowledge.  Men believe they have all the answers to life and its creation.  They have calculated the world to be an exact formula.  However, I realize that the truth is that human beings are not perfect in any way.  If I had only the reality of man to rely on, to put my ultimate trust in for eternity, I would be of all men most miserable.  I believe a God greater than anything imaginable created our existence and everything concerning it.  I cannot, by my own feeble mind, choose to save myself.  I believe I must be led by the feelings in my heart to choose that which is good and right (for me). 

Knowledge is construed to be something it is not.  Knowledge is not knowing, but rather acknowledging that we don’t know.  We can only explain things we have an understanding of.  Things we have explained to ourselves.  I am mystified by the depth of the human mind and heart as well the far galaxies and planets.  To describe all this solely in the capacity of words would be to reduce the effect as well as the importance of those very things which make us, human.

Plotting Your Path

Ricoeur defines identity in two parts: Ipse and Idem.  These parts explain the temporal and permanent human nature which exists in us all. 

Through the Ipse, we experience the world through changing situations and emotions.  We think about ourselves in the moment, through things happening now.  This part of human nature deals with surprises and changing events in our life.  Every day, hour, and moment brings new things to our senses.  We see new faces and places, and we feel differently about all these things.  Our mood shifts with each new environment.

The Idem can be defined as the soul or mind.  It is the sameness within our being that makes us who we are.  I am Ashley Elise Bennett Burleson today and I will be tomorrow too.  This is the part that turns experiences into memories.  It chooses the experiences that are retained and leaves behind the rest.  This is the essential building block of all knowledge.  Learning is a process that would not take place without the Idem.  The learning that takes place shapes us and determines our traits.  It holds those things used to describe us.

Ricoeur argues that the Ipse and Idem come together through plot.  We replay our experiences over and over until we can move past them.  Professor Custer stated that each time we do this, “it hurts a little less and means a little more.”  We seek to derive meaning from things that go on around us.  Behind everything is a purpose.  Even hanging out with friends has meaning.  It is a way to relax and let go of some of the stress we carry around. 

We illustrate the use of plot when a death occurs in our circle of friends or family.  Fond memories are recounted in honor of the life the person lived and shared with those around him.  Plot is used in everyday life all the time.  Just today, my friend Padie and I were joking about things our husbands do.  We tell each other stories all the time of crazy situtations or things that have happened.  This is how we connect with each other.  Sharing memories and experiences in life help us to better understand each other and ourselves.    This is the social aspect that Custer described.  Ricoeur’s explanation of narrative identify requires this aspect as well as that of fiction and imagination. 

Fiction is used as a means to re-write our story.  Most people are handed a script.  We are born into a certain household and community where we are expected to dress and act a certain way.  While some do overcome their circumstances, the wealth of our family defines the material things we will have in our lifetime, at least in our youth.  This may mean the grade schools we will attend, vacations we will go on, the clothes we wear, and the college we attend.  Money is a very restrictive asset in today’s world.  It is the ultimate gateway for most opportunities.  Again, some can overcome this obstacle and work their way out or find funding, but some are confined to their place because of this. 

Those who can rise above this barrier, as well as social and religious barriers, are able to use their imagination to fashion their own story.  This is a hard task, but it can be done.  It is a choice.  For those who want to escape their situation, they must take a risk and change directions in their plot.  It is almost like the books where you can choose the next step.  I think that God does know what will happen to us, but we don’t; we can’t just sit around and let things happen.  God gave each of us a will of our own and a brain to think for ourselves.  We must use them.  The Bible tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  We cannot let others dictate our lives.

In a seperate article, Ricoeur, speaks of forgiveness and justice.  He says that forgiveness is between people while justice is an act of the state.  This applies to our government whose job it is to get justice for the people.  It cannot grant forgiveness to individuals for the crime they have committed.  Only victims can forgive their abusers and release both parties of the pain they feel.  This will not free them of the pain that only time can heal, but holding on to forgivness only prolongs recovery time for the victim.  Also, justice is not always served in punishment.  An eye for an eye does not show love to a criminal who needs to know what was done was wrong and change his mind about the act.  Though not a great analogy, when I discipline my son, I have to let him know that I do so because he has hurt someone by his actions; I also make it clear that I do not enjoy punishing him, but it must be done for him to remember not to repeat his actions.  Criminals must receive their punishment, but they must also rehabilitated through kindness and understanding.

Seeking Immortality

While reading chapter 9 of McAdams’ book, the first thing that stood out to me was the regeneration of life.  Although the human life has a beginning and an end, it is part of the larger life of the universe.  A life comes into being from molecules that existed within the parents.  That being is constantly changing and being renewed throughout its life, and when the body can no longer survive, its parts become one with the environment.  We have only an allotted time on this earth to make an impression or impact the world in some way.  When we’re gone, we no longer have that opportunity.  Many people will argue that the death of an individual has greatly shaped their lives, but I would like to argue that it was their life that made their death so meaningful.  

McAdams also points out that humans like to replicate by having children.  This gives them a sense of immortality in that they will leave something behind.  I suppose this is true, but we also want to expand our “self.”  I believe we want to have a connection to something, someone who is like us, much like good friends.  We associate with friends who are either like us, or who we want to be like.  We have partners because we want intimacy with someone we can relate to, who can back us up or challenge us in ways that will make us stronger.  Our children are further divisions of this connectivity.  A friend and a partner are two-fold.  A child is three-fold; it strengthens your connection to the person you already care deeply about.  This is why I believe pre-marital sex is wrong, although I too am guilty of this.  Marriage is a commitment not to be taken lightly.  It is a bond that you are forming with your partner.  Those who have sex are responsible for the offspring they may produce, and should not brush off this responsibility.  When a relationship does not work out, a child is left with missing pieces.  The links are broken and life is never as full as it could have been.

On immortality, McAdams writes, “The human mind is associated with the immortality of the spirit, with soaring above nature, and with escaping clean away from the earth.  The body is what connects us to mortality of the flesh.  The mind is reason, and the body, emotion.  The mind is abstract, and the body, concrete.  The mind is represented by the Sky God; the Earth Mother represents the body.  These associations are evident in myths and dreams” (pp. 225).  These associations are used to explain a world in which we are no longer restricted to the imperfections of our bodies.  Because we are all represented in human form, only a perfect God can allow us the freedom we desire.  In attaining our freedom, McAdams writes that we use the concept of heroism, “a reflex of the terror of death” (pp 225).  He also uses Lifton’s strategies to explain the human quest for immortality.  While we all may use several of the five strategies, the religious concept is probably most common.  It looks outside the realm of human existence, to those things our senses cannot encounter.  

McAdams goes on into further details of the psychological nature of the human desire for immortality.  This desire is summed up in five words: We don’t want to die!  It is difficult for humans to grasp the temporal nature of our beings.  Even for those who are deeply engulfed in their strategy for coping, religious or whatever, the concept is hard to accept.  I am not really scared of dying because I believe I will be in Heaven with God, but I do fear the pain of death, and I fear leaving my family.  I would not want my child to have to live without me on this earth, just as I dread the day my own parents will die.  However, this IS an inevitable process that we all must come to terms with in some way, shape, or form.  One particularly memorable line in the Bible states:  “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Contemplating Creation

The mystery of creation has held people curious since their beginning.  Each culture created a myth to explain the event.  The African people of the Kalahari Desert believe they are Kaang’s people.  Kaang is God who lived with all animals and people under the earth, before providing them a way to emerge onto the earth.  This is similar to several other creation stories.

Some Native American tribes believe in emergence/metamorphosis.  Humans started in the “womb” of the world.  Kaang’s people also started in the womb, the inner part of the earth.  

Ex nihilo means something out of nothing, yet the human emergence of man onto the earth before woman, Kaang’s warning to man of the one thing he should not do, and Kaang’s departure to a place of observance all resemble the Ex Nihilo story of creation.

The Kumulipo story has ties to science.  The world was created over a long cosmic night and in two parts.  The organisms came first in the darkness of the spiritual world.  Next came the sun and evolution, as later described by Charles Darwin.

The other myths told a story but not about the creation of human life.  Several were not concerned with the creation of life, but rather about the occurrence of the things around them.  The Mongolian story describes the creation of the elements.  Pandora’s Box describes the beginning of envy, hate, and hope in the world.  The Cherokee myth describes the emergence of the material world: land, sea, and air.

It is interesting that the Greek myths included Gods who made mistakes and had very human qualities about them.  It is my conviction that God is not confined to a description of words.  His character is perfect, flawless, beyond any quality humans can achieve.  His image cannot be put on paper because no one can see God in his perfect form.  We were created in His image, yet we are in temporal cavities that are marred by aches and pains.  God could not have a human body such as ours; what would we have to look forward to if God were in the same shape as us?

Each story is similar in that it wants to say something specific.  Most of the stories, such as the Greek myths, are very explicit about their theme.  Some of the others describe the story and allow the audience to infer its meaning.  The African creation myth uses the scenario to emphasize the importance of obedience and collation with each other.  Creation Ex Nihilo also emphasizes this point, but others as well.  Genesis tells two tales about human origin.  In each, humans are created slightly different and at slightly different points in the time-line.  While some say that these stories conflict with each other, I believe they enhance the meaning behind each other.  The point is not how humans were created, but by whom.  One of the accounts infers that God is loving and personal.  The other shows His omnipotence and authority.  One is not wrong and the other right; the two explain the complexity of God and his ability to be the ultimate “parent.”  

This project was very insightful and yet aided in reaffirming my own beliefs.  I have realized that throughout college I have learned to not only be tolerate of the beliefs of others, but to be confident about my own.  I feel I have gained better insight into Christianity and why it speaks to my heart in the way it does.