Another one of the first ideas instilled into my mind as a Sociology student is that we, as humans who form a part of greater society, often view the world in terms of binaries. What is a binary? A binary is simply: consistingof,indicating,orinvolvingtwo. If you think about it, our conception of a lot in the world is dependent on understanding things based on their binary relationships to other things.

When we think of hot, we immediately think of cold. Man to woman, smart to stupid, tall to short, homosexual to heterosexual, liberal to conservative, we associate many definitions with what we perceive to be their opposite.

In the field of sociology, while we note the unproductive nature of these overly simple conceptions (which is something I'll address at some point), there are several binaries that dictate our academic view of the world.

The first one is: the individual and the society. Micro vs macro. As a sociologist, you have to have something to say regarding the individual's relationship or role in society. There is no black and white answer to how the individual plays a role in society. Through different analysis techniques and methods, different social theories offer us different ways to understand society and social interaction.

The next dualism presented by the field of sociology is that of agency and structure. As a sociologist, you have to consider the action of the individual as a product of his own will, but also that his action can be down to broader social structures that influence that individual. For example, did Betsy tell on her brother who stole her crayons because of her inner moral compass, or did she learn that stealing was bad in social institutions like school or at church?

The last one I will touch on is social integration as opposed to system integration. This one is a bit more complicated but is useful to consider. Social integration refers to how or what relates other members or individuals of society. An example of institutions that increase social integration would be: sports teams, workplaces, Soul Cycle classes, school, church, etc. Basically, what organized forms of activity do we do that relates us to other people and makes us feel as though we "belong." System integration refers to what relates and connects different parts of society.

In other words, you could say that looking at system integration entails considering what holds together government, healthcare, religion, education, our private lives, personal hobbies and activities aka the systems of society.

I will leave you with a question that I don't know who to attribute to so I'll give credit to my professor Dr. Webber. "How do we reconcile the cult of the individual and the fact that everything we do relates to social structures?" What this means is how do we balance the fact that our society is so individualistic, so centered on the self, with the fact that so much of what we do and how we live is shaped by broader forces around us?

Take a look at yourself, is what you do on a day to day basis dependent solely on your individual will, or are you operating within certain ground rules, expectations set for you by your peers, your family, your superiors, your society?