There is a belief among people like me that there exists a social barrier between the intelligent and non-intelligent people in western culture. This barrier can be seen in children more than anywhere else through bullying and isolation. Take Albert Einstein for example; as a child, he rarely played with other children because they deemed him to be too different because he enjoyed learning and gaining a general knowledge about everything. This shows how Albert Einstein was an intellectual child who was rejected by his peers, because he was "different" which I believe is the key word in defining such a barrier. Another factor in this curtain of opposition is anti-intellectualism. The most common place that you will ever find this type of sentiment is within a religious text. Take the Book of Mormon for example; it basically says that all learned people in this world shall be sent to hell for opposing the theory of creation. This shows that anti-intellectualism is ingrained in the minds of creationists which greatly adds to the size of the social barrier. You can also see how discrimination follows into this precarious subject. Those on the non-intelligent side of this argument watch constantly as the intelligent stereotype, classify, and look down upon people like themselves. Take a drug addict for example, intelligent people would stereotype this individual to be just like other drug addicts and then display these facts through various media outlets. This shows that discrimination is inflaming the already enormous social barrier. Clearly through bullying, anti-intellectualism, and discrimination, there is a social barrier between the intelligent and non-intelligent in western culture.
Conformity
By Mark Groen
It's everywhere. No, I'm not talking about Oxygen but rather conformity or more commonly known as peer pressure. It is when you change your normal behaviour, consciously or sub-consciously, to match the behaviour of a group. This is spawned from the need to fit in to a group and leads people who wouldn't , for example, normally bully, tease, and harass others to fit in. The saying "if your friends jump off a cliff, would you?" is a way to try and break people of Conforming to group behaviour. A whole branch of Psychology is devoted to studying group behaviours mainly because of conformity which is Sociology. Conformity acts on such a sub-conscious way that most people don't realize they are doing it until someone points it out to them. This behaviour actually benefits people by making lines to enter somewhere. If someone asks you to form a line (teacher maybe?) , you don't form your own line, you go into a big group until you can organize a line. The amount someone conforms is based on the person they are. Leaders are less likely to conform than followers (which makes sense). This natural urge to conform makes social rejection a big deal (to most but not everyone). This allows others to get people to do what they want if they have a big enough group. Think about it, if one person went up to you and asked you to do drugs, (like cocaine and LSD) would you? Probably not even if they are a good friend. Conformity alters your way of thinking because we as humans want to feel a part of something. This want is something that gets people into trouble even though they didn't want to. So even if conforming is tempting, try to do things because you want to, and not because a group wants you to do it.
The average Internet user spends 68 hours on the internet per month. There's no escaping it. The invention of wireless internet through 3g and 4g networks has made the internet an ever present source of information. In the past, to acquire information on a complicated source, you had a couple options; you could ask a specialist, or you could go to the library and research. In this age, you can be a genius for the small price of thirty dollars a month. You could fail every class you’ve ever taken, and still carry around a source of nearly unlimited information. In 1993, the internet became popular, thanks to the mosaic web browser. Since then, the internet has revolutionized just about everything. The way we communicate with our friends has completely changed, now, with websites such as facebook and twitter, there is hardly any reason to leave your home. Jobs are another great example, thousands of jobs have been created along with the internet, whether it be related to website creation, tech support, or working in the assembly of the computer. The internet is one of the biggest things in our society right now. It’s how people spend their time, it’s how people communicate, and it’s a very useful tool that makes access to any information a very simple reality. The internet has become a social trend, and I doubt it’s a trend that we will ever grow out of.
Social Trends in Religion
By: Zach Deemert
When people think if religion, things that come to your mind include turbans, Burqas and Yarmulkes (Yamekas). But if you step back 50 years, the majority of Canada would be thinking of the Sunday morning church services that they attend, because most of Canada was a member of the Christian church. Today, your average person may claim to be religious, but does not practice it. Statistics say only 16% of people are non religious, but when you think I about your average environment (School, work etc) you hardly see anyone who claims religion. In this day and age, religion is not so much something openly practiced. It's something that most people think of as ridiculous people, or a waste of time. Or its a disguise people use as an attempt to impress your girlfriend's family. Religion in Canada is not nearly as common as it used to be. It is no longer trending. And in Canada, the Nation is becoming more promiscuous, and proper etiquette has been degrading. Coincidence? It is up to you to decide.