Applications of Social Meaning

An individual has social meaning once he becomes part of an institution or organization or simply, a recognized group with social standing.  He will be remembered, henceforth, as a person with identifiable characteristics obtained by virtue of his association with that institution or organization.in a certain society.  These yielders of social meaning are readily known, so that in this item, I need simply mention some prominent. The list cannot be inclusive, since any society is ever-changing.

(Membership is not enough designation; and hence the term social meaning.  An individual may belong to some institution which little prominence in the greater society.  He will gain little  in social meaning, himself, because the organization has little to give.  One must talk of societal evaluation of the worthiness of the organization before one attains the concept of social meaning.)  The idea ingrained in the concept is that an individual gains the prospect to be remembered long after he has died.  But this prospect can only occur, I contend, when there is an institution to which he has contributed by his work and devotion and so is worthy of social meaning, himself.

Ways to gain in social meaning

1.  The family. Simply by being into the Kennedy clan, one attains social meaning.  Lineage is a source of social meaning.

Yet, I am said to be a descendant of the King of Poland in the Seventeenth Century, Jon Sobieski.  Nobody in this part of the world has ever heard of him; and so I have no more social meaning derived from my ancestry than a black man whose parents were slaves in the South! That is to say, I will not be remembered because I am a descendant of Jon Sobieski.  It adds nothing to my social meaning quotient.  And, there is no institution that perpetuates the memory of Sobieski worthy of note in America.

2.  Religious affiliation or membership.  It is said that during the war in Afghanistan a native could gain prominence should he convert to Christianity, thus being aligned with the American troops.  Immediate cash-in value of social meaning due to religious membership.

Similarly, being a Muslim in the US, can have negative value, especially in rural America, where if you're not Christian, even Fundamentalist, you don't belong.  The neighbors won't accept you; and the Christian churches rile against you.

3.  Political party affiliation.   Belonging to some Tea Party organization, a citizen could be shunned by one of the major parties.  Nevertheless, being a member of one of  major parties is unlikely to add to your social standing in the community.

4.  Holding a job or becoming a professional, including doctor, lawyer, clergyman; engineer.  These occupations yield social meaning in the life of a community.

However, being an artist, except in the music field, provides little social meaning and may even be evaluated negatively.  The great artists are usually acclaimed through the museums and art galleries that attest to their greatness long after their death.  Also, true of the great classical musicians.      

5.  Coming up with creative and innovative ideas that herald new technologies, sciences, etc. yields much social meaning among the professionals in their scientific fields.  Of course, Rockefeller, Ford and other business geniuses have reached their pinnacle of greatness in modern society to this day; and have enormous social meaning in the annals of our society. 

Lessons from these applications 

The point to be gained from this cursory examination of social meaning is that we everyday people should limit our attempts to gain social meaning to institutions in our community and locale where we can be remembered by those who will live and work where we lived and worked.  We become the progenitors of our way of living and our values housed in the institutions that we became apart of.  

We are truly "victims" of our own time and place in this world.