Those of us who watch television are probably familiar with the game show where elementary school kids try to help adults answer questions that a fifth grader should know. I watch now and again, each time because it’s one of the few game shows where I think I can win, yet each time I don’t. And even more amazing than my ill-fated confidence is that I’m actually re-learning some profound aspects of our existence, and in turn, myself.  

Social Institutions was a recent topic. How easily to forget, I thought, and who really cares. With lives racing daily at high rpms; workloads increasing and incomes not; parents parenting without the other; and all of us spinning too many plates, why should Social Institutions hold any interest? 

One compelling reason maybe the fact that our patterns of beliefs are developed because of Social Institutions. Okay. That seems to be pretty important but once again, with more important things to do like pay bills; buy groceries; take care of kids and elders; and oh, let’s not forget about trying to find time for fun; who really cares? 

Then I was taken out of my own little world and reminded that we are part of a much larger world, and to our knowledge, it’s the only one like it around. We can’t just trade it in like an unwanted car and since Social Institutions are the very glue that keeps humanity together, we better recognize them as true collectibles, keepsakes, something we want around. But just like everything else that’s valuable in our lives, we forget their significance sometimes, and for good reason.  

A Social Institution is invisible. There aren’t museums to go see one and you can’t find one at a physical address. But their impact is everywhere, woven through everything we know, touch and feel from government, family, human language, universities, hospitals, business corporations, and legal systems.  Whether we like it or not, we’re part of them and they’re the reason we live the way we do. 

From a practical perspective, here’s one way a Social Institution currently affects us. The environment. Although it’s not an institution, the environmental movement is being taught through the Social Institution of Education. When I was a kid, the only thing I learned in school was don’t litter. Now, littering is just a tick on the long list of responsibilities to keep our environment green, not only in the way we live, but also in the way we die. For example, largely due to environmental concerns, we are now less inclined to bury our dead than to keep their cremated ashes in new types of memorials, cremation urns or cremation jewelry. Believe it or not, it’s a trend and one that was born through one of our institutions.

So back to the original question—why should we care about them? One reason is that it’s mentally refreshing to understand the very fabric from which we’re cut. Another is to recognize that we can change Social Institutions for the better by getting more involved through expressing ourselves whether formally or informally. In other words, we should all get involved in a cause and especially in times like these, it’s a nice way to gain new focus which helps put our current challenges into perspective.

Remember, we are but a tiny fragment of time on the evolutionary clock so we need to make it count. Even if you don’t get up off the couch today to effect a Social Institution, that’s okay. There mere fact of a new thought is a seed of an idea to not only pass valuable lessons from this generation to the next, but also to learn something about ourselves.