Chapter 1-4 Sociology

1.1 WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? 

WHAT ARE SOCIETY AND CULTURE? 

Sociology- branch of the social sciences, scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to a very large group 

Society- a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another and share a common culture 

Micro-level- study small groups and individual interactions 

Ex: look at the accepted rules of conversation in various groups like teenagers or business professionals 

Macro-level- study large groups and societies 

Ex: look at the way language use has changed over time or in social media outlets 

Culture- social norms and responses that dominate the behavior of a population; group's shared practices, values and beliefs, way of life, routine, everyday interactions, social rules; transmitted by symbols, stories and rituals over generations 

Sociological imagination- an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person's choices and perceptions; a way of seeing our own and other people's behavior in relationship to history and social structure 

Constructivism- an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be 

STUDYING PATTERNS: HOW SOCIOLIGISTS VIEW SOCIETY 

[Sociologist are interested in the experiences of individuals and how those experiences are shaped by interactions with social groups and society. Doesn't exist in a vacuum.] 

Cultural patterns- social forces and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another 

[Sociologists try to identify these general patterns by examining the behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures.] 

Social facts- laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life 

[Other sociologists are studying the consequences of these new patterns, such as the way children influence and are influenced by them and/or the changing needs for education, housing and healthcare.] 

STUDY PART AND WHOLE: HOW SOCIOLOGISTS VIEW SOCIAL STRUCTURES 

Figuration- process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior 

1.2 THE HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGY 

CREATING A DISCIPLINE: EUROPEAN THEORISTS 

August Comte (1798-1857) 

• Reintroduced the term sociology from Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès 

• Originally studied to be an engineer but later became a pupil of social philosopher Claude Henri de Rouvroy Comte de Saint-Simon 

• Beliefs 

  • Social scientists could study society using the same scientific methods utilized in natural sciences 

  • Potential of social scientists to work toward the betterment of society 

  • revealing the laws by which societies and individuals interact would usher in a new "positivist" age of history 

• Positivism- the scientific study of social patterns 

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) 

• Introduced sociology to English speaking scholars through her translation of Comte's writing from French to English 

• Early analyst of social practices, including economics, social class, religion, suicide, government, and women's rights 

• Developed the first systematic methodological international comparison of social institutions in two of her most famous sociological works: Society in America and Retrospect of Western Travel 

• Found the workings of capitalism at odds with the professed moral principles of people in the United States 

• Pointed out faults with the free enterprise system in which workers were exploited and impoverished while business owners became wealthy 

• Noted that the belief that all are created equal was inconsistent with the lack of women's right 

Karl Marx (1818-1883) 

• German philosopher and economist 

• 1848 he and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto  

  • One of the most influential political manuscripts in history 

  • Presents Marx's theory of society, which differed from what Comte proposed 

• Beliefs 

  • Societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production 

  • Communism was a more equitable system than capitalism 

• Predicted the inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would eventually revolt and would lead to communism 

• Social conflict leads to change in society is still one of the major theories used in modern sociology 

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) 

• Rejected both Comte and Marx 

• Strongly favored market and societal forces to shape government and economy 

Key Concepts 

• Society: a group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common. Culture 

• Sociological imagination: an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience in the wider culture that shapes the person's choices and perceptions. It's a way of seeing our own and other people's behavior in relationship to history and social structure (1959) 

  • Examples: a person's decision to marry, go to college, etc. 

    • A lot of times social acceptability of your decision plays a part 

• Social facts: laws, moral, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all the cultural rules that govern social life 

• Figuration: process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior 

Industrial Revolution 1750-1840 

• Industrial middle class- owned factories, mines, railroads, etc. 

  • Similar to the French bourgeoisie 

  • "rags to riches" 

• Industrial working class- workers in mines and factories 

  • Many came from farm families 

  • Poor working/living conditions 

  • Tenements- crowded apartment buildings 

Industrial Capitalism 

• An economic system based on manufacturing 

• New social classes emerged known as the Industrial Middle Class who built factories, bought machines and organized trade and markets 

• Industrial working class who worked in mills factories and mines for 12-16 hours a day 6 days a week with almost no breaks. Their work was dangerous and low paying. Women and children were paid far less than men 

Emilie Durkheim (1858- 1917) 

• Focused on sociological study of objective social facts 

• Such studies could determine the health of a society 

• Studied social ties that led to social solidarity 

• Also wrote extensively on deviation from social solidarity, which will be covered in the chapter on deviance and crime 

• Division of Labour in Society 

• Rules of the Sociological Method 

• Suicide 

Max Weber (1864-1920) 

• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 

• The Nature of Social Action 

• Verstehen: a German word that means to understand in a deep way. In seeking verstehen, outside observers of social world- an entire culture or a small setting- attempt to understand it from an insider's point of view 

• Anti positivism: strive for subjectivity to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values 

• Quantitative sociology: uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants. Researchers analyze data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover pattern of human behavior 

• Qualitative sociology: seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interview, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (like books, magazines, journals, and popular media) 

W.E.B. Du Bois 

• Developed and employed highly detailed, empirical methods of research. This stood in contrast to previous methods, many of which did not have rigorous experimental qualities and therefore couldn't be proven or repeated 

• His research in areas of race- using the empirical methods- were accepted as refuting low-quality theories that had provided backing for the biological basis of racism 

• Also was one of the preeminent leaders in the Civil Rights movement 

• Founded NAACP 

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) 

• Focused on the mind and the self and indicated that our identity is developed through interactions with others 

• Significant others: specific individuals that impacted a person's life 

• Generalized others: the organized and generalized attitude of a social group 

Paradigms 

1. Structural functionalism 

2. Conflict theory 

3. Symbolic interactionism 

Structural Functionalism 

1. Within a particular society, there is a great deal of consensus about what values and norms are important 

2. Society is an entity made up of many integrated parts. When one part changes, the other parts change in response 

3. Society tends to seek stability and avoid conflict; conflict is dysfunctional or pathological 

Conflict Theory 

1. Within any particular society there are subgroups of people who cherish different beliefs and have conflicting values and goals 

2. Society is made up of subgroups that are in ruthless competition for scarce resources 

3. Society is never harmonious; conflict is normal 

Symbolic Interactionism 

• Based on the idea that social reality is constructed in each human interaction through the use of symbols- words, gestures, and communicating through language 

• Studying social interaction is key to understanding human behavior 

• Ability of actors to modify their behaviors to meet the needs of the present and immediate environment 

Sociological Perspectives 

• Conflict (Marx) 

  • Society changes as a result of struggles of various groups against each other as a result of inequality 

• Interactionist (Weber) 

  • The world is socially constructed- meaning that we interpret the world around us and act based on those interpretations 

• Functionalist (Durkheim) 

  • The elements of society are understood by their role (function) in maintaining society 

Why study sociology? 

• Ex: The doll test 

• Sociology is supportive of careers and our ability to understand each other 

• Sociology is impactful 

• Studying sociology can provide people with this wide knowledge and skill set that can contribute to many workplaces 

• Sociology helps us understand ourselves 

More terms 

• Dramaturgical analysis- a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance 

• Dynamic equilibrium- a stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly 

• Dysfunctions- social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society 

• Figuration- process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior 

• Function- the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity 

• Functionalism- a theoretical appraoch that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society 

• Generalized others- the organized and generalized attitude of social group 

• Grand theories- an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why sociieties form and why they change 

• Hypothesis- a testable proposition 

• Latent functions- unrecognized or unitneded consequences of a social rocess 

• Macro-level- a wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society 

• Manifest functions- sought consequences of a social process 

• Micro-level theories- the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups 

• Paradigms- philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, the experiments performance in support of them 

• Positivism- the societnific study of social patterns 

• Qualitative sociology- in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data 

• Quantitative sociology- statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants 

• Reification- an effort of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence 

• Significant others- specific individuals that impact a person's life 

• Social facts- the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all the cultural rules that govern social life 

• Social institutions- patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs 

• Social solidarity- social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion 

• Society- a group of people who live in a defined geographical area who interact with one another and who share a common culture 

• Sociological imagination- ability to understand how your own past relates to that of other people, as well as to history in general and societal structures in particular 

• Sociology- systematic study of society and social interaction 

• Symbolic interactionism- theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication (language and symbols) 

• Theory- proposed explanation about social interactions or society 

• Verstehen- a German word that means to understand in a deep way 

SCIENTIFIC METHOD 

1. Ask a question 

   1. Questions should be narrow enough to study within a specific environment, such as a finite time frame or a location 

   2. Question should be broad enough to have value for people outside of the study participants, or (even better) can inform people outside the immediate environments 

   3. Ex: why do people change the tone of their voices depending on who they are talking to? 

2. Research existing sources 

   1. Literature review: scholarly research step that entails identifying and studying all existing studies on a topic to create a basis for new research 

SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH CONCEPTS 

• Empirical evidence- evidence that comes from direct experience, scientifically gathered data, or experimentation 

• Meta-analysis- technique in which the results of virtually all previous studies on a specific subject are evaluated together 

• Hypothesis- testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or more variable 

• Scientific method- established scholarly research method that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing and conducting a study, and drawing conclusions 

1. Ex: if a researcher is doing a study on crime they will find a review records from the courthouse, police database, prison information, interviews with criminals, guards, wardens, etc. 

1. Formulate a hypothesis 

   1. Hypothesis: testable educated guess about prdicited outcomes between two or more variables 

   2. Independent variables: variables that cause changes in dependent variables 

   3. Dependent variables: variables changed by other variables 

2. Design and conduct a study 

   1. Operational definition: when forming basic research questions, sociologists define the concept in terms of concrete steps it takes to objectively measure it. The operational definition identifies an observable condition of the concept 

   2. Reliability: how likely research results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced 

   3. Validity: how well the study measures what it was designed to measure 

   4. Accuracy: using a tool that makes measuring prcise every time 

      1. Ex: measuring cup 

3. Draw conclusions 

   1. Tabulate and analyze the results in an organized fashion that will make sense to others who want to either learn about, evaluate, repeat, or build on the experiment/study 

   2. Decide if the research supports or does not support the hypothesis 

   3. If it does not support it, consider why: 

      1. Is the hypothesis wrong? 

      2. Was something wrong with the study? 

      3. Did something occur that you didn't account for? 

4. Report results 

INTERPRETIVE FRAMEWORK 

• Interpretive Framework- sociological research approach that seeks in-depth understanding of a topic or subject through observation or interaction. It seeks to understand social worlds from the POV of participants. This approach is not based on hypothesis testing 

• Generally more descriptive or narrative in its findings 

• Rather than formulating a hypothesis and method for testing it, an interpretive researcher will develop approaches to explore the topic at hand that may involve lots of direct observation or interaction with subjects 

• This type of researcher also learns as he or she proceeds, sometimes adjusting the research methods or processes midway to optimize findings as they evolve 

RESAEARCH METHODS 

• Primary source collection- researchers obtaining data directly, such as through survey, interviews, observations, etc. 

• Secondary data analysis- data collected by others but applying new interpretations 

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION 

• Surveys- collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire 

• Population- group serving as the subject of a study 

• Samples- small, manageable number of subjects that represent the population 

• Random sample- study's participants being randomly selected to serve as a representation of a larger population 

• Quantitative data- research collected in numerical form that can be counted 

  • Number based, surveys, observations, experiments, and interviews 

• Qualitative data- information that is subjective and often based on what is seen in a natural setting 

  • Text-based, interviews, written documents, observations 

• Interview- a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject 

FIELD RESEARCH 

• Field research- gathering data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey 

• Primary data- data collected directly from firsthand experience 

• Correlation- change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable, but doesn't necessarily indicate caution 

• Participant observation- when a researcher immerses themselves in a group or social setting in order to make observations from an "insider" perspective 

  • Ex: a person studying the way that restaurant diners treat waiters may become a waiter for the study 

ETHNOGRAPHY 

• Ethnography- observing a complete social setting and all that it entails 

  • Immersion of the natural setting of an entire social community to observe and experience their everyday life and culture 

  • Focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a social group 

    • Ex: monastery, amusement parks, nursing homes, etc 

• Institutional ethnography- extension of basic ethnographic research principles that focuses intentionally on everyday concrete social relationships 

  • Ex: a male dominated society 

SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS 

• Secondary data analysis- using data collected by others but applying new interpretations 

• Nonreactive research- using secondary data, does not include direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people's behaviors 

• Content analysis- applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned from secondary data as it relates to the study at hand 

MORE TERMS 

• Experimental Group- group that is exposed to the independent variable 

• Control Group- group that is left alone without any changes being made to it 

• Hawthorne Effect- study subjects behave in a certain manner due to their awareness of being observed by researcher 

ETHICAL CONCERNS: VALUE NEUTRALITY 

• Max Weber- personal value should not shape the design or interpretation 

• Value Neutrality- the obligation to remain impartial while collecting, analyzing and reporting results 

ASA CODE OF ETHICS 

1. Maintain objectivity and integrity in research 

2. Respect subjects' right to privacy and dignity 

3. Protect subject from personal harm 

4. Preserve confidentially 

5. Seek informed consent 

6. Acknowledge collaboration and assistance 

7. Disclose sources of financial support 

THE TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT 

• End of experiment 28 men died directly from syphilis 

• 100 dead of related complications 

• 40 wives infected 

• 19 children born with congenital syphilis 

• Was supposed to last 6 months; it lasted 40 years 

TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY 

• Complications and death rate double in patients 

• Penicillin available but subjects were not informed and treated with it 

• Continued till reported in press in 1972 

• An enquiry was held 

• President Clinton apologized profusely to all concerned in 1997 

• U.S. government still pays millions to surviving subjects and families 

HENRIETTA LACKS 

• Mother of 5 who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951 

• Researchers discovered her cells reproduced at a rapid rate and survived long enough for extensive study 

• They became known as "immune" cells because they could be divided repeatedly without dying; made them extremely rare and extremely valuable 

• Cells were quickly mass produced and sent around the world for research; used in the polio vaccine, AIDS research, DNA research, gene mapping, and many other studies 

• Lacks and family didn't know about experiment and didn't consent to the major biological discoveries of the 20^th century 

PRISONER #8612 

• Less than 36 hours into the experiment, prisoner #8612 began suffering from acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying and rage 

• After a meeting with the guards when they told him he was weak, but offered him "informant" status, #8612 returned to the other prisoners and said "You can't leave. You can't quit." 

• Soon #8612 "began to act 'crazy' to scream, to curse, to go into a rage that seemed out of control." 

  • It wasn't until this point that the psychologists realized they had to let him out 

OTHER ETHICAL LAPSES 

• Stanford Prison Experiment: students played roles of incarcerated people and correctional officers; some played their roles too well; several later admitted they were coached or weren't acting authentically 

• Milgram Shock Experiment: students believed they were administering pain to subjects, and were pressured to keep administering the pain; lead to extreme distress among some of the research subjects 

•  

STANDFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT 

• 70 volunteers selected 

• By flip of coin, half are chosen as guards, other half as prisoners 

• Participants make up their own rules; not pre-determined 

• Each participant was paid $15 a day 

STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT: RESULTS 

• Prisoners staged a rebellion on the second day 

• Guards stepped up their harassment and treated rebellion "ringleaders" differently than the "good" prisoners 

• Prisoners told they couldn't leave; many became anxious 

• Guards increased bullying tactics as they perceived prisoners to be a real threat 

• Everyone took on the role to which they were assigned- they experiment became very realistic (self-fulfilling prophecy) 

• Experiment ended after six days instead of two weeks 

• Prisoners had lost their identity 

• Experiment: 

  • 70 volunteers selected 

  • By flip of coin, half are chosen as guards, other half as prisoners 

  • Participants make up their own rules; not pre-determined 

  • Each participant was paid $15 a day 

THE MILGRAM SHOCK EXPERIMENT 

• In 1963, Stanley Milgram created an experiment to see if participants would follow orders even when the requested behavior went against their moral beliefs or good judgement 

• A researchers asked the participant to administer electric shocks to a test subject when he answers questions incorrectly 

• The test subject is an actor, who makes noises of pain when he received the shock 

• The participant is made to believe that each shock is stronger than the last one 

CULTURE SHAPES 

• The way we think 

• The way we interact 

• The way we communicate 

• The way we transmit knowledge to the next generation 

CULTURE 

• Culture- shared beliefs, values and practices 

• Society- people who live in a definable community and who share a culture 

• People are social creatures. Living together, people formed common habits and behaviors from specific methods of childrearing to preferred techniques to obtain food 

• Almost every behavior, from shopping to marriage, is learned 

• In the US marriage is seen as an individual choice made by 2 adults based on mutual feelings of love. In other nations and in other times marriage have been arranged through the intricate process of interviews and negotiations between entire families 

TYPES OF CULTURE 

• Material culture- objects or belongings of a group of people 

  • Examples: flag, clothing, homes, etc. 

• Nonmaterial culture- ideas, attitudes and beliefs of a society 

  • Examples: language, music, religion, way of cooking, etc. 

• Cultural Univeral- patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies 

  • Ex: music, laughing 

ETHNOCENTRISM AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM 

• Ethnocentrism- practice of evaluating another culture according to the standards of one's own culture 

• Cultural imperialism- deliberate imposition of one's own culture values on another culture 

• Culture shock- an experience of personal disorientation when confronted with an unfamiliar way of life 

• Cultural relativism- practice of assessing a culture by its own standards 

• Xeno centrism- belief that another culture is superior to one's own 

VALUES AND BELIEFS 

• Values- culture's standard from discerning what is good and just in society 

• Belief- tenets or convictions that people hold to be true 

• Ideal culture- standards a society would like to embrace and live up to 

• Real culture- way society really is based on, what actually occurs and exists 

• Sanctions- way to authorize or formally disapprove and certain behaviors 

• Social control- way to encourage conformity to cultural norms 

TYPES OF EXAMPLES OF SANCTIONS 

NORMS 

• Norms- visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured 

• Informal norms- casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to 

• Formal norms- established written rule 

SYMBOLS AND LANGUAGE 

• Symbols- gestures or objects that have meanings associated with them that are recognized. By people who share a culture 

• Language- symbolic system of communication 

• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis- the way that people understand the world based on their form of language 

TYPES OF CULTURE 

• High culture- the cultural patterns of a society's elite 

• Popular culture- mainstream, widespread patterns among. Society' population 

• Subcultures- groups that share a specific identification, apart from a society's majority, even as the members exist within a larger society 

• Countercultures- groups that reject and oppose societies widely accepted cultural patterns 

INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY 

• Innovations- new objects or ideas introduced to culture for the first time 

• Discoveries- things and ideas found from what already exists 

• Inventions- combination of pieces of existing reality into new forms 

• Culture lag- gap of time between the interception of material culture and nonmaterial culture's acceptance of it 

  • Ex: technology and older people 

DIFFUSION AND GLOBALIZATION 

• Globalization- integration of international trade and finance markets 

• Diffusion- spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another 

PREINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES 

• Hunter-gatherer- societies that depend on hunting wild animals and gathering uncultivated plants the survival 

• Pastoral societies- societies based around the domestication of animals 

• Horticultural societies- societies based around the cultivation of plants 

• Agricultural societies- societies that rely on farming as a way of life 

• Feudal societies- societies that operate on a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection 

INDUSTRIAL SOCIEITES 

• Marked by rapid invention and methods 

• Emerged during and after Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and 1800s 

• Included major changes in areas such as: 

  • Power production (steam) 

  • Manufacturing reduced production time and volume 

  • Rise of urban centers (change in population distribution) 

  • Change in wealth distribution 

  • Emergence of sociology 

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIEITES 

• Information societies, postindustrial or digital societies are based on the production of information and services 

• Industrial societies are rooted in the production of material goods 

EMILE DURKHEIM AND FUCTIONALISM 

• Collective conscience- common beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society 

• Social integration- strength of ties that people have to their social groups 

• Mechanical solidarity- type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture 

• Organic solidarity- type of social order based around an acceptane of economic and social differences 

• Anomie- situation in which society no longer has the supports of a firm collection consciousness 

KARL MARX AND CONFLICT THEORY 

• Bourgeoisie- owners of the means of production in society 

• Proletariat- laborers in a society 

• Capitalism- way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products are owned by individual people and companies 

• Alienation- condition in which the individual is isolated and divorced from their society, work and the sense of self 

• False consciousness- condition in which the beliefs, dieasl, or ideology of a person are not in the person's own best interest 

• Calss consciousness- awareness of one's rank in society 

MAX WEBER AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM 

• Rationalization- belief that modern society should be built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition 

• Iron cage- situation in which an individual is trapped by social institutions 

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF REALITY 

• Habitualization- idea that society is constructed by us and those before us, and it is followed by a habit 

• Institutionalization- act of implanting a convention or norm into society 

• Thomas theorem- subjective reality can drive events to develop in accordance with that reality, despite being originally unsupported by objective reality 

• Self-fulfilling prophecy- idea that becomes true when acted upon 

ROLES AND STATUS 

• Roles- patterns of behavior that we recognize in each other that are representative of a person's social status 

• Status- the responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences according to their rank and role in society 

• Ascribed status- status outside of an individual's control, such as sex or race 

• Achieved status- the status a person chooses, such as a level of education or income 

• Role-set- an array of roles attached to a particular status 

• Role strain- stress that occurs when too much is required of a single role 

• Role conflict- a situation when one or more of an individual's roles clash 

PRESENTATION OF SELF 

• Role performance- how a person expresses their role 

• Looking-glass self- we base our image on what we think other people see 

  • We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation