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> It's just the law of nature. Not really, societies aren't natural because they are human constructs.

math_denial 5y ago
The fact that something is a social construct does not mean that it is not important and has not rules by which the members of said society have to live by. Money and democracy are social constructs too.
- andrewjl 5y ago
  I agree that money and democracy are also human or social constructs. Can you clarify what you mean by rules members of society have to live by?
deleted 5y ago
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ivanmontillam 5y ago
Societies aren't human constructs. Bees, lions, ants, meerkats, and many other animals do have societies as well. It just happens ours is more advanced, but it isn't anymore complex than a highly elaborated bee society for instance. What would happen if we'd need to change our Queen Bee Kim Kardashian?
- andrewjl 5y ago
  There is a qualitative difference between human and animal societies. "One morning, working alone in the attic, I came across some boxes of skeletons that had been dug up from a monastery. I was soon to be reminded of a lecture given by the anthropologist Margaret Mead, who spent much of her life studying primitive culture. She asked the question, What is the earliest sign of civilization?” A clay pot? Iron? Tool? Agriculture? No, she claimed. To her, evidence of the earliest true civilization was a healed femur, a leg bone, which she held up before us in the lecture hall. She explained that such healings were never found in the remains of competitive savage societies, There, clues of violence abounded: temples pierced by arrows, skulls crushed by clubs. But the healed femur showed that someone must have cared for the injured person – hunted on his behalf, brought him food, and served him at personal sacrifice. Savage societies could not afford such pity. I found similar evidence of healing in the bones from the churchyard." from Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
tkot 5y ago
What distinction does the word "natural" provide? Chimpanzees use tools, does that make their behavior and societies "unnatural"?
- andrewjl 5y ago
  It is an arbitrary but also a useful distinction to avoid the naturalistic fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy

The fact that something is a social construct does not mean that it is not important and has not rules by which the members of said society have to live by. Money and democracy are social constructs too.

andrewjl 5y ago
I agree that money and democracy are also human or social constructs. Can you clarify what you mean by rules members of society have to live by?

deleted 5y ago

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ivanmontillam 5y ago

Societies aren't human constructs. Bees, lions, ants, meerkats, and many other animals do have societies as well. It just happens ours is more advanced, but it isn't anymore complex than a highly elaborated bee society for instance. What would happen if we'd need to change our Queen Bee Kim Kardashian?

andrewjl 5y ago
There is a qualitative difference between human and animal societies. "One morning, working alone in the attic, I came across some boxes of skeletons that had been dug up from a monastery. I was soon to be reminded of a lecture given by the anthropologist Margaret Mead, who spent much of her life studying primitive culture. She asked the question, What is the earliest sign of civilization?” A clay pot? Iron? Tool? Agriculture? No, she claimed. To her, evidence of the earliest true civilization was a healed femur, a leg bone, which she held up before us in the lecture hall. She explained that such healings were never found in the remains of competitive savage societies, There, clues of violence abounded: temples pierced by arrows, skulls crushed by clubs. But the healed femur showed that someone must have cared for the injured person – hunted on his behalf, brought him food, and served him at personal sacrifice. Savage societies could not afford such pity. I found similar evidence of healing in the bones from the churchyard." from Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

tkot 5y ago

What distinction does the word "natural" provide? Chimpanzees use tools, does that make their behavior and societies "unnatural"?

andrewjl 5y ago
It is an arbitrary but also a useful distinction to avoid the naturalistic fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy