consistency and society

This is what happens when you think and study something a lot.  You see it everywhere.  I went and talked to a friend's high school class two days this week and I was trying to get them to think about how we internalize 'social stuff' and then that gets generalized over all our interactions so that our 'social worlds' are much more consistent and predictable.  This all happens unconsciously, seamlessly, and nearly instantaneously.  

Yesterday I was driving home from my impromptu office for the day at a coffee shop and was waiting at a stop light next to a fast food restaurant.  A guy walked out, wearing a shirt and tie underneath a somewhat over-sized sweater.  He was carrying a file folder with him, and as he left he crossed himself.  It caught my attention, because, I thought to myself, why would one cross their self as they leave a fast food joint?  Hope they don't get sick?  Nah, I bet he just applied for a job there.

At that point I stopped.  I think I was right, but the fact that I may be right about some random dude I have never seen or met is amazing.  Think about it.  I noticed him because he crossed himself, basically, in a setting that is not typical for that symbol.  This in and of itself takes an amazing amount of generalized social experience.  That is, I have accumulated a certain amount of experiences in my past that I noticed it, knew it was out of place, and potentially figured out what he was doing at that moment.  And that knowledge was unconsciously applied, without thought, to make sense of a new experience.  

I had to know what it means to cross one's self.  When, where and why crossing one's self usually happens, and that fast food is not the primary association for it.  Knowing what crossing one's self means in the right setting, I am able to figure out what it may mean in this setting.  Additional 'cues' were that people do not usually carry file folders with them, wearing what he was wearing, which was obviously not his typical clothing.  

All of this nearly random background information is instantaneously merged together, without thought, to give meaning to this experience.  Our ability to internalize 'society' brings consistency to my world.  It decreases unpleasant surprises or the feeling of being 'lost.'  It literally makes the world a meaningful place for me (yep, and you).  In other words, my expectations for what will happen is what brings meaning to my life.  Without our ability to 'expect' things and link the past to the present we would be unable to have the experience of a life characterized by coherence and consistency.