The Reasons Why Sociologists Give for Studying the Reproduction of Inequality - Assignment Example

People resist questioning and changing the ideas that are shared by society’s members because that would mean going against the norm and established way of thinking.  Going against it could mean a social setback that ranges from admonishment, being socially ostracized to outright violence.  It is also the tendency of people to be comfortable with the status quo.

1. Identify one socially shared idea that you once believed but then questioned and abandoned. How did you learn to embrace this idea? What influenced you to reevaluate and abandon this idea? Why do others continue to believe this idea?

When I was a kid, I used to believe that my God or the manner I worship my Supreme Being is the only true way of worshipping.  When I grow up and became better educated, I realized that people vary in the manner they worship their gods and that asserting that one’s religion is the only true god causes conflict.  So I learned tolerance and respect for how people worship their gods.  I did not abandon or questioned my faith.  I just learned how to keep it to myself and learned to respect the faith of others in the same manner that I expected them to respect my own beliefs.

I learned to become more tolerant because of education and exposure to a lot of people.  People differ and that includes their faith.

I reevaluated my previous perspective because I happen to keep in touch with a lot of good people outside my religion and realized that people can still be good even if they have a different faith.  Also, I realized that intolerance and extremism cause conflict and that it is better to respect each other’s faith to live harmoniously.

2. Why do people resist questioning and changing the ideas that are shared by society’s members? (Choose another issue that people resist)

People, in general, resist change because they fear the unknown.  This is particularly true when it comes to ideas where the tried and the familiar are already comfortable.  More especially if the established idea is supported and sanctioned by authorities that questioning it could be detrimental to the one who asks.  More so when one wants to change it that could even endanger one’s lives.  There are several classic examples of this on how people in authority could go extreme when established ideas are challenged.  The stories of Copernicus who challenged the idea that the earth is not the center of the universe, Galileo who prove that heavy and light objects have the same gravitational pull were shunned by authorities where Copernicus and Galileo were persecuted.