Theory of Community and its effect on others' expectations

The idea of the generalized other within the sense of community was interesting because it made me realize how much all people really care about what others think of them. Sometimes, certain decisions are made only to maintain a certain image in other people's eyes or because someone else made the same choice. It makes it almost seem as if people do not make their own decisions like we always thought they did. Mead's argument said it best because he explained that those within the community do make their own choices, however, depending on what others are doing within this community, people will make their choices that are aligned with the other individuals within this community. This can be true whether it's buying a new pair of shoes, what classes to pick for the semester, or simply what movie you want to go see. We all tend to make our own choices, but sometimes they are shaped based on what everyone else is thinking, what they're expectations are of us. I found this theory particularly interesting because even though we all partake in this form of communication and decision making, I don't think we realize that we are doing it. I think that even though we make some of our decisions based on what others will think of us, or to fulfill a certain expectation, we are exercising our independent thinking by making that choice to do so. We do not have to make our decisions to maintain a certain image in other people's eyes, or based on what the latest fashions are. I think with a lot of the theories that we are learning so far, it seems like it would be common sense, but it is amazing to think that we all actually behave the way that these scientists have been watching us behave.