Summary & Response Assignment to C. Wright Mills Sociological Imagination: The Promise of Sociology
Introduction
Mills sociological thought reveals the relationship between man and the environment. Sociological environment defines what happens to humans and the steps that are likely to take in solving such issues1. This is the reason why man is encountered with daily challenges that seem to be more complicated as the days go by. The more solutions people obtain for their problems, the more they create other issues. This has become cycles that man will have to go through and make life to me more sophisticated and complicated.
Summary
In this world of technological developments and globalization, mills argument is very relevant. Man has moved from solving issues manually to solving them technologically. All man’s current inventions revolve around technology as man finds it to be the easiest way of having work done. With these technological developments, it is expected that life becomes easier and simpler. However, life is becoming more sophisticated as technology proves to have many more challenges. With every development to enhance human activities, there is the challenge of additional costs involved in installing and managing the venture, security measures where technology is subject to hackers and the need for sophisticated skills2. As man thinks of ways of solving issues that come with cost and security, they are faced with another challenge where the invented technology no longer works because of a newer technology that has been invented.
The changed that come with lifestyle have also transformed people into machines rather than humans. People have become extremely busy that they do not have time to think and reflect. In the process, it has lead to lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, heart problems and organ failure. As people engage in specific lifestyles to manage the changes around them, they realize that a section of their body organs is being strained. They are required to think more and overwork themselves mentally. As this is happening, some of their physical bodies parts are underworked as their movements are confined. There is lack of balance in their lives, which is also causing a strain to vital relationships3. Children have been neglected which affects their moral standing as people choose to interact more with machines.
The advantage of mills sociological imagination is in helping people realize how their engagements and activities are complicating their lives more. This is to caution people against thinking that change will always influence positively in their lives4. The beauty of life lies not in having more but in being content with what a person has. Once they realize that what they have can satisfy them and cause them the joy they need, they will not be excited about change with the hope that it will improve their lives. There is need to appreciate what a person has so that they are not overwhelmed even if they are exposed to change that seems better.
Response
Mills arguments must have been a prediction of what would happen in the near future. He must have observed the trend of men and their sociological activities, which completely changed their outlook. Everyone is seeking after knowledge, which is meant to clarify and approve what he or she had believed in before. As people’s eyes are being opened to reality, they realize how complicated life is. There are sections of people who believe that their ancestors lived better lives because they were not access to many technological developments. This implies that the developments that were meant to make life better are complicating life even the more.
In his literature, The Souls of Black Folk Du Bois looks at the aspect of life’s experiences in relationship to the environment that a person has been brought in. his focus is on the black man and the kind of life he is subjected to do5. He believes that the main reason why the blacks have been segregated in the white communities is the attitudes that have been held against them. Their initial display to the white man was that of a slave which has not been easy to erase. In as much as they take up other responsibilities, the slavery nature in them. They mainly penetrated to America as slaves and will hence be looked at as so no matter how much they try. This attitude has also shaped their lifestyle where they resort to other defensive measures such as drugs and alcohol. Their situation is therefore derived from their circumstances.
Mills, Charles. The Sociological Imagination. London: Oxford University Press, 1959.
