The Importance Of Symbols

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When humans interact, everything they do and say is based off of symbols. With the absence of symbols, no one would know to react or read the context of a situation or conversation. Cues would not be read correctly or even read at all. According to the Symbolic interactionist theory, society is socially constructed and that “truth and reality are determined by the context in which they are practiced”(O’Brien, 6). This helps explain that even if we do not realize it, we base our actions and even our responses on the cues and body language of those around us. Without these cues and symbols, our reactions would not be the same as they would be with the cues. We would not know how to react or respond to certain things and this could offend others …show more content…

When children are very young, they have not learned these social cues. They will say whatever comes to their mind, no matter how rude or inappropriate it would be. They wouldn’t know that what they are saying or how they are acting is wrong until they are taught by society that they are. They are shown and taught these symbols through the reactions of others, which help them know who they should be and how they should act. Imagine having everyone act like children. It would be a complete mess. No one would would know how to act and since no one would be able to read the symbols in our everyday lives, we would not be able to communicate …show more content…

Just like our eyesight or hearing are pieces to our body and life. When people lose their eyesight, their way of living changes and has to relearn they way of life without being able to see. Without these symbols, we are going to have to relearn the way of communicating and how we act. When we have all the pieces, life is easier. When missing one of these pieces, life becomes more difficult but we are able to adapt and that is what will happen if symbols were taken away. But if we were born without these pieces, we would not know any different or what we are missing out on. If someone is born blind, they never know what it is like to see and because of that, they do not know what they are missing but they are able to make it work and still live. Same if we were to be born when there are no symbols, we would no know what we were missing and would be able to still live. So I believe that just because there are not any symbols, we would be able to adapt and live a life that would not need symbols or we would find another way to learn these

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