COMS 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: George Herbert Mead, Symbolic Interactionism, Herbert Blumer
20 Apr 2016
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Individuals can acquire identity only by interacting with others. Thought that symbols were the basis of individual identity and social life. Mind, self, and society" (1934: students collaborated to create book based on his lectures. Mead believed that @ birth, humans have neither minds nor selves, acquired by interacting with others. No way a 4-week old baby to share ideas w/ others. Once a child learns language, he/she can communicate meanings w/ words. Once a child understands language, others can communicate ideas to him/her: a parent can issue a verbal warning, if you throw your food, you"re going into quiet time . Mind is the ability to use symbols that have common social meanings. Doesn"t exist at birth, developed through interaction with others. The views of us that others communicate you"re smart, you"re dumb , are the basis of our initial meanings for ourselves our understanding of who we are.
