Symbol use
...e assume that meaning. Another representation of symbol use is through human self-concept. Humans have the ability not only to assign meanings to physical, concrete things, but to feelings as well. When humans don’t feel well, it is often physically obvious. Through use of symbols, however, humans are able to communicate that we may be feeling sad, lonely, or angry. These feelings would not be fully obvious if we were not able to generalize those feelings to all humans, and then assign them a label. In this way, symbols are abstract (p.23). Not all things are concrete or tangible. Emotions and thoughts are two of these things. By assigning meaning to various things, we can use abstract representations of them, such as angry or sad (p. 23). These socially recognized labels are universal, and can lead to social change, as in the case of the coining of the term “sexual harassment.” Once a term was created, the issue was taken more seriously (p. 23-24). Self-concept is important also for humans to communicate internally. Wood says that many philosophers and academics claim that humans are the only species capable of self-reflection (p.24). We use monitoring, which is a way of managing our own thoughts, feelings and actions (p.24). I believe that humans are one of the only, or perhaps the only species capable of this quality. This must be a learned trait throughout evolution. I think that it has a lot to do with survival of the fittest, and the idea of evolutionary psychology. Not only does this term apply to physical characteristics, but to mental characteristics as well. If humans can monitor how they feel, and how others feel, they can use that information to be the best in a group, or to compete with intelligence. Unlike other creatures, humans do not simply live to eat, sleep, and procreate. I believe that the human race began like that, but has evolved to assign meaning to everyday activities. Humans have assigned special meanings for feelings, like I discussed earlier. We have the ability to love, which I believe stemmed from simple activities of necessary procreation. When in love, we assign marriage as the symbol for that. The symbol for marriage is a wedding band. That band isn’t the marriage itself, but it is a universal construct (p. 23). ...