I think it’s fascinating how people feel the need to belong to smaller groups. I wonder where this stems from. These small groups could be anything from cults to small church congregations (is there any difference?) to people who live and believe they are vampires. It’s like people have some deep inset desire to belong to a small group that somehow feels they are in some way better or more informed then the larger populace.
I guess everyone wants to feel special and needed.
It is somewhat of a point of facination. I myself am victim to much the same, but I try not to limit the people I surround myself with to the ones who look or think like me.
Most people feel the need to be accepted, wanted or needed, even loved from whatever source they can get it from. It’s a very human feeling, and buried deep in human nature. Even those that are anti-social have their moments when they would give anything for someone to come up and speak to them.
It all has to do with wanting to belong…. most cases I have ever covered with obsessive wishes to be in a group or to belong somewhere, or with someone, it seemed that it all came from the fear of being alone. They all seem lost.
But hey, what do I know…. I just went to school for psychology. Haha. Just thought to voice what I knew and my opinion on the subject. =]
@afacelesssin – Yeah I definitely agree.
I just think it’s interesting. Sure there are all kinds of groups, like support groups. Those groups are interesting as those people generally feel inferior to everyone else because of their addiction, disease, whatever. A lot of really good groups and clubs out there. But when I wrote this I had a certain subset of ideas going through my head.
Like why people feel the need to rebel against the general population by sectioning themselves off into small “we’re better then everyone else” groups like cults, terrorist cells, ect. Mostly the negative ones.
But then for instance I have a couple of cousins who are born again Christians and they go to a small close-nit church. It’s not a bad thing, but they started doing their own farming and raising of animals and stuff. So it’s become almost commune-like.
@roxics – I was once in a cancer support group back in the day… and it is true, you do feel inferior…. but the people you meet become your support…. They become like a second family, when yours just does not offer the same help because they do not understand.
Oh, groups like that…. Yeah, I understand. I was almost roped into the close-knit church thing myself…. They apparently saw me as a case they could save or something. When in truth had no idea who I was or what I believed. It becomes much similar to a cult when you cut yourself from the general population and you make it where you belong to a certain group rather than to another. I believe that people who so decide to do this begin to get a thought that runs through their head– as through most of others who choose the same path — that they are above others.
While I do not say your cousins are like this, I am speaking about my family who have decided to join something much the same. They refuse to even speak to the rest of the family unless it is a special occasion. Something got into their head that we are corruption and if we are spoken to, our venom is leaked into them, etc.. etc..
Not all groups are good, and not all are bad. All seem to be based on the wish to be wanted, needed and such…. All of us are guilty. If you have ever been in a relationship, this is also a way to be wanted/needed/loved. It may not be a group, but it is a couple. More than one person sharing beliefs, thoughts, and other things.
Eh, again, I’m rambling my opinion. Haha.
*Aiden
(Hi–followed you from the Datingish blog site.)
In my own personal experience, I’m a really shy person. My theory of belong in a smaller group is that there is a level of comfort, where I can truly just be myself around these few. I was this odd person in school and felt I really couldn’t relate to anyone else. That was until I started doing theatre, where I met most of my friends. (I know a shy person on stage seems inconceivable, but there really is a balance.) I even go to the gym with a theatre person and I do my routine things and won’t vary until she wants to try something and I just follow along.
This is, of course, from my own point of view!