SCEB Reflection Sheet

Group E6
Date 23th Jan,2017

Arushi Jain
Swarnima Dora
Harshwardhan
Nitish Kandpal
Sneha Kapadia

As we move towards the end of the course with just one session left, today, we
were asked to start the class discussion by reflecting our views on what we found
useful and what we did not find useful about this course.
Useful:
The sessions are interactive. We get to exchange our thoughts and views
on a wide range of topics. It allows us to look past the course material
discussions and into the real world where the scenario is very different.

Not so Useful:
The sessions are usually not related to the course materials.
We do not get to know the applications of the course. The implications are
lost after the discussions.

Then we went on to discuss how social norms influence our lives. We listened to
the readings where many cases of deaths due to these norms were listed- The
banker who committed suicide in 2014, the 24-year old guy who had a cardiac-
arrest (his blog posts revealed that he was working too hard). From this, we can
see that these norms are becoming a way of being accepted in the society. The
deaths of these people are due to them being too much engrossed in their works
and not because of mere unemployment. These social norms have made it seem
permissible to not take leaves, to stay back in offices and work rigorously without
breaks. It is affecting our lives adversely.

Numerous norms direct our lives. The work-life balance is completely disrupted;
people put a lot of pressure on themselves to outshine others. Also, expectations
from people set us in another path and we work hard to accomplish those. But of
all these, the most common norm that we fall prey for is the fitting in the
society aspect. People tend to give up their dreams because of this. It has
become a social bondage.

Another factor is money. It has been socially accepted that the amount of respect
for a person is directly proportional to his/her salary. People become aggressive
towards work to be the star of the group or the organization and to be the
person who is recognized by all.

Another interesting point that came into light was that apart from these norms
there is one more driver for people to work hard towards achieving their goals:
Passion. A person who is passionate about a thing will even try to work his/her
way outside these social norms. One of the biggest examples is given in the
movie Dangal.

Lastly, the example of the shrink and the teacher was brought in to light. They
are also motivated by these norms. They tend to mold a person or a child in a
way that they think is socially acceptable. Teachers play the vital role in shaping
the behavior and the thought process of a child and it is very evident that
teachers are bound by these norms and impart the same knowledge to the
children.
We ended with the note that, when people go out of the norm and tend to do
something, they are shamed or are abashed. Beyond a point, people are made to
think that they are inferior to others. Peer pressure is also one of the most
commonly used social norms to outcast people.