Speech Comm

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

301--family and the sanctity of the sperm

OK, gang. We've talked about our biological families, and we've talked about families in general, along with the problems that face them. I would like you to be aware that where I'm from, people sometimes shun the sanctity of the sperm and the egg...they cast off all biological ties and create their own family. People latch on to others, that's human nature.

Life can be very hard. Without some kind of family structure, people do not thrive.

Why do we need other people? Why are we not solitary creatures? What does it say about this drive that we will dismiss our bloodlines and pick up on people who offer something we need? And most importantly, how do we communicate this? Is it verbal? Physical? Textual or understood, or perhaps chemical?

Discuss.

Comments

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*brings coffee for CJ, craddling her own possessively*

*as she sits down and listens to CJ start to speak, her eyes widen* She wasn't at the party, no... But you talked to her, didn't you?

*The second she realizes what she did last night is obvious*

Crap

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

[Looks confused] E, is there a problem? You had so many good things to say yesterday, I thought for sure you'd be comfortable talking about family-type social groups...

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*she looks relieved* Okay, not checked her messages yet. That is good

*smiles weakly* Sorry, Professor... it was a bit of a late night last night.

*thinks for a moment*

Neolithic activities were amongst the first examples of initiating communication between social groups. Different tribes would trade plants and animals.

The formation of casual social groups provides a stepping stone in the start to forming a family group... many people meet their future spouses at university, for example. In that case, woman are genetically attracted to men who they believe will provide them with the strongest offspring.

With the modernization of societies, the number of specialized goups not based on kin, such as, ah, churches or political parties, are increasing.

Social interactions are found in all animals, and we appear to have taken it to the next step, with the evolution of speech. It's been proven that a child learns a great vocabulary as it grows up with the more social interaction it gets, either through its family or in a social group, like a nursery.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Firecracker...I knew you'd have something for me. Tell me about attachment to those groups...like church or party...or perhaps cliques. How does the traditional familial ideal apply to these groups?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

It often depends on the mix-up of the group. If the group includes a large median of ages, then there's the potential for paternal and/or maternal figures to emerge. They don't necessarily lead the group, but will help provide emotion support, for example. The group is unlikely to be ego-focused

Sometimes the loyalties in groups such as these, especially in cliques, can exceed the family loyalty people have to their consanguines.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Explain to the class ego-focused E, for those who didn't do the reading.

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Ego comes from the Greek, meaning "I"

Ego-focused is used to describe a kindred, meaning that each individual is in the center of his or her own set of relatives.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Relatives implies blood family. How does it work in socially created families...chosen groups?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

It depends on the type of group. A large group, for example, the Democratic party, is focused predominantly around the presidential candidate. Obviously, he doesn't know everyone involved personally, but the reason that this group has gathered together, or even just perephally involved, is to get him elected.

But then you have a smaller scale, like, say, my dorm-mates and me. We all know one another, and the relationship isn't all based on solely one person.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Right. The candidate is the dominant force in that particular example...and extrapolating, most large groups have a central figure.

And in the dorm group you mention...is someone dominant?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*thinks*

Jack tries to be, but it doesn't really work so well because it doesn't say Colonel on his uniform anymore. I wouldn't say any of us our particularly dominant

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

[Looks over at O'Neill] Why am I not surprised? So do you feel that you'r a more communal family group, rather than one with a dominant patriarch or matriarch figure?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

We're a very incestous family group

*nods* Definitely more communal; we'll defer to each other on his or hers particular expertise, like if Janet told us to go to the clinc we'd probably listen to her.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

I see. Often, that relationship is common when people come together as an ethnos [points to the board], everyone has a special talent the others value, and in given situations, each has their turn at dominance. It's quite Utopian, do you agree?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Yes, ma'am. It doesn't always work, but we do try.