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If one pictures the changing of norms as a process that behaves like the shifting of domain boundaries within a magnet, then you could both be right!
by jbay808 6y ago
If one pictures the changing of norms as a process that behaves like the shifting of domain boundaries within a magnet, then you could both be right!
- whimsicalism 6y agoWhy would I have any reason to picture it in that way?
- jbay808 6y agoWell, as a toy model to compare to reality to see if it improves your insight into how societal changes happen, I guess. And if it doesn't, you can discard it. But if you entertain it, it suggests that sudden shifts in culture (acceptance of gay marriage, for example) proceed along the boundaries of social groups, where people are influenced by both their closest friends and family and the prevailing external "field", until they "flip their poles" and align with the neighbouring domain, at which point it becomes more likely that their other friends and family will do the same, and so on.