Are we hardwired at birth to be socially inferior to "normies"?

[Social_Monstrosity]

I was philosophizing about our condition from a social standpoint earlier, and this thought came to me. By definition, we are "Betas". We are not dominant Type-A personalities in any sense of the word. On the social ladder we are servile and submissive to the "Alphas". In our lifetimes we will earn lower pay, have far fewer sexual encounters and relationships, and generally be held in disregard compared to our more gregarious brethren.

So I was thinking...maybe it's just meant to be this way? Perhaps I'm crazy but it makes sense for not all of us, as a species, to be alphas. Even after we get "cured" of SAD, I can confidently assert that most of us will still have a Beta outlook on life as a whole.

 

[AsTimeBurns]

I don't think so, I believe it's mostly a nurture thing as opposed to nature. Sure some people will be born naturally shy for example, but it's how their upbringing goes that determines what kind of person you are going to be.

 

[JamesSmith]

I was philosophizing about our condition from a social standpoint earlier, and this thought came to me. By definition, we are "Betas". We are not dominant Type-A personalities in any sense of the word. On the social ladder we are servile and submissive to the "Alphas". In our lifetimes we will earn lower pay, have far fewer sexual encounters and relationships, and generally be held in disregard compared to our more gregarious brethren.

So I was thinking...maybe it's just meant to be this way? Perhaps I'm crazy but it makes sense for not all of us, as a species, to be alphas. Even after we get "cured" of SAD, I can confidently assert that most of us will still have a Beta outlook on life as a whole.

You are right on point. This is what I've been preaching in these forums for a while. I'm not a doctor so I can't give you a perfect explanation, but I can tell you that we are born into shyness. It is passed through our genes. Just like how tall parents often have tall children, shy parents often have shy children. The worst combination someone can get is to have two parents who are anxious and anti-social like my parents are. They both are successful at what they do for jobs, but both have anxiety. So yeah, we are programmed to have anxiety.

I'm not a fan of the whole alpha vs. beta personality thing. When people say that it's like telling us that we are the weak losers, which is not a fair thing to call us considering we didn't choose to have an anxiety disorder. But yeah, we do have less personal relationships, less sexual encounters, and lower wage jobs usually. But, if we were to get rid of our SAD, I believe that we would be just as normal as anyone else. It is the anxiety that is bringing us down, and if that were to be eliminated, we'd probably be even happier than people who have always not had SAD because it would be something that we aren't used to and we'd appreciate the absence of anxiety more.

 

[***deleted***]

I don't care so much about being "ALPHA". I know dominant people who are so fixated on being dominant it comes off as being insecure. It's really sad actually if know people like this, they are so focused on dividing the world into the weak and strong that they can't recognize true strength in a person.

 

[BlackPuma]

I don't think we are ''hardwired'' as such, but perhaps more likely to have some sort of social problems due to being less assertive in certain natural traits that sets of a butterfly effect that COULD (rather then ''has to'') lead to social phobia eventually. I think the mere reason of social phobia being such a common problem is because we've alienated our natural habits and environments.

To my understanding, humans are pack animals, and aren't meant to be crammed in areas with relative little space that has such high densities of other people. Not to mention most people (in rich countries) live a very unnatural life by tradition. We buy our food instead of finding it, and we life to make money, instead of living to live. Survival has become a secondary goal, as we take it for granted to be alive tomorrow.

We're taught, or ''programmed'' if you will, from the age of 4+- by various schools to become compatible with our own society. As far as our natural think goes, this has got to do a certain amount of damage to it. Our natural habits are (almost completely) gone, while our primal urges remain. Causing confusion and such. Lust being mistaken for love, anger mistaken for another feeling and of course the biggest of all ''denial'', the human form of ''does not compute''.

All these changes make it the more likely that we develop differently then we ''normally'' would. While it works for some, as you may have noticed, it doesn't work as well for others. I don't think we're condemned to be anti-social from birth. Because even Beta's are social to a certain degree. As such, if we really were/are Beta's, then even we should be able to be sufficiently social.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I believe that there are genetic factors that predispose someone to anxiety but that doesn't condemn them to a life of solitude and low income.

 

[philly2bits]

I don't believe we are hardwired to be socially inferior. We only happen to be lower on the social ladder because the problems in our heads manifest mostly in social ways.

 

[Kiwong]

Yes, I was born with sensitivity and shyness, I agree with that proposition, which everyone is born with to some extent. It was my high school experience of bullying and teasing that turned into a anxiety disorder, so for me it was more nuture rather than nature.

The rest of the propositions I don't agree with and they certainly do not apply to me.

I don't earn lower pay, I am respected by those that matter to me, I am confident at the things I am good at. I am not servile to anyone, I speak my mind, stand up for myself and am happy to disagree to the point of being outspoken. I don't think I am socially inferior at all.

I think I have actually done better in life than the alpha type bullies at high school who didn't even graduate to university. The people who have bullied me and misrepresented me I have no respect for at all.

 

[Minty]

I don't know. See, being beta means I let people control me but it's not that way at all. I think a lot of betas socialize by sucking up to alphas. I'm a very independent person who doesn't like being controlled. Working in a group environment, I have a tendency to pull away, do my chunk of the work then present it to the group. I don't sit by to get told what to do. I hate groups and would prefer to work alone. I'm actually a control freak in that way. And an absolute perfectionist, hallmarks of a type A personality.

And honestly, none of my siblings have SA but I'm dominant out of all of them because I can deal with confrontation and they're all passive. They respect me because they know if they go to me for help, I'll do something about it. But that's with my siblings who I'm comfortable around.

 

[Cynic]

By definition, we are "Betas".

Omegas actually. The betas are enforcers for the alphas to keep the omegas down to maintain social order.

I don't know. See, being beta means I let people control me but it's not that way at all. I think a lot of betas socialize by sucking up to alphas. I'm a very independent person who doesn't like being controlled. Working in a group environment, I have a tendency to pull away, do my chunk of the work then present it to the group. I don't sit by to get told what to do. I hate groups and would prefer to work alone.

Yeah, I very much prefer to work alone than depend on a gang of stuck-up gimps who think they have the mandate to push me around. When in groups, I maintain a distance from others to keep friction to a minimum.

 

[R3K]

chemicals, brain patterns, environmental effects, traumatising experiences... all these things can kind of "hardwire" a person at a young age into being a social phobic.

i always think of the social arena as a jungle in africa. you got the lions running around in packs dominating with their strength and size, always getting the kills first. then you got the shy little foxes hiding in the bushes, waiting till the lions have had their fill on a dead zebra then running in to snag a few bites. the lions are the social people and we're the little foxes hiding in the bushes all day long.

 

[madmike]

I disagree, i'm swinging more in favour of the nurture theory. I remember going through many phases myself, although i was born shy, i have gone through many phases of confidence until i became aware that i had SA. I think it's due to my family moving around a lot when i was younger (although my brother and sister weren't really affected like me). I think some people are predetermined to develop conditions like SA, but it's your environment that actually decides in the end.

But who knows...

 

[Anomaly]

Depends on whether you consider social phobia to be a condition or an integral part of one's personality.