Analysis Of Solomon Asch's The Transformation Of Man In Society

Our participation in the social world as human beings is influenced by multiple factors. We are social creatures and live and experience life through interacting with others. Through this, we can examine the benefits and consequences that are attached to our experiences and the journey we take through life. We can either use these experiences to progress and grow, or hinder growth. In Solomon Asch’s “The Transformation of Man in Society,” we see that people within societies across the globe undergo an almost universal process of social development. Asch argues that
“The paramount fact is that men come into relation not alone with the objects of nature but also with other men, and that in this encounter they are transformed …show more content…
Ultimately, our development as social creatures influences how we think and react to certain situations and environments we are put in. In the absence of interaction, we are seemingly “inhumane,” lacking in social development. Another point Asch uses to demonstrate our need to be social is: “Men are not completely dominated by the needs of the moment. Because they can look forward and backward and perceive causal relations, because they can anticipate the consequences of their actions in the future and view their relation to the past, their immediate needs exist in a field of other needs, present and future. Because they consciously relate the past with the future they are capable of representing their goals to themselves, to aspire to fulfill them, to test them in imagination, and to plan their steps with a purpose” (Asch, pg 121). Here, Asch proves that people use their past experiences to think ahead. In turn, we see that our cognitive development as social creatures serves as an adaptive use of life – withholding this knowledge essentially prevents us from facing any harm or threatening situations. Asch also analyzes humans and their self-awareness, and compares emotional standings to those of chimpanzees. “Because he is conscious of himself and capable of reflecting on his experiences, he also takes up an attitude to himself and takes measures to control …show more content…
Mumford writes, “The even more rapid advances in exploiting coal and steam and automatic machines overshadowed these human gains, for they conveyed the notion that mankind’s improvement could be brought about by the continued invention of ever more powerful man-displacing mechanisms” (Mumford). This is a major theme reflected in the film Dr. Strangelove. In Dr. Strangelove, technology is portrayed as being the turn of the century. However, the film shows technology to be the driving force towards our own destruction. The technological advances in the movie, such as Dr. Strangelove’s mechanical arm and the Doomsday Machine symbolize how we fall victim to our blinding hopes and what we consider “progress.” Constant reliance on technological advances can however harm us, as seen through both Dr. Strangelove and Mumford’s text “Reflections.” Mumford points out the very important fact that in the end, “Only mammalian tenderness and human love have saved mankind from the demented gods that rise up from the unconscious when man cuts himself off from the cosmic and earthly sources of his life” (Mumford). Through analyses of both of these sources, we can then come to the conclusion that if we fail to gain control of our technological advances, we will essentially wipe ourselves out - human civilization, and the world itself. We should not allow this to happen, but instead learn to