Discussion 4- social interaction Essays - Robert K. Merton

Discussion 4- social interaction In researching the courses of World events and how they've played out in Man's collective history, we can observe a plethora of what Robert K. Merton has coined as "self-fulfilling prophecy." If an individual or group entertains a specific perspective on a given subject, they will cater to, and nurture that preconception to fruition. W. I. Thomas' theorem explains this process, and I can think of a long list of self-fulfilling prophecies that were intentionally exploited as a means to a specific end. Call something as inherently dangerous to man, loud enough and long enough, and it becomes factual. Smearing campaigns waged against otherwise innocuous items for the benefit of its counterpart or nemesis, have been a brutal part of society since the dawn of Man. Absinthe, marijuana, and chronic masturbation, all part of a long list of blacklisted items. All products of what I call "encouraged bias realization" (smearing campaigns) and what Merton calls "self-fulfilling prophecy." When a group or society deems a problem a problemit becomes such. Case-in-point: The Transgender Bathrooms Conundrum Five years ago, America, I assume, had roughly as many transgender individuals as the present, yet it was not the social problem it has become today. I think that the popularization of the reality show "Keeping up with the Kardashians", and subsequently Bruce Jenner's transgender transformation encouraged Americans to ask questions that our collective conscience as a society has yet to answer. In closing, I'd have to say that I agree with W. I. Thomas' observations as a theorybut it also exists as a factual part of Man's propensity for bias realizationintentional or unintentional; whether or not I agree with those facts is immaterial.