Individuals, groups and the nature of nature

One of my previous blogs was about groups, what a group is and what groups we would put ourselves into, and today I have been thinking about to what extent does our behaviour depend on these groups of which we are part of?
We are social animals, the cultures, groups and families of which we are part get 'under our skin', they become part of the way we think, feel and behave, from the attitudes we hold to the way we view ourselves.  The tendency to behave in groups in ways that can seem 'out of character' appears to be very much a part of our character.

People's behaviour in groups clearly differs qualitatively from their behaviour when they are alone.  In another sense, we are never actually alone at all.  We are always living with mental representations of the people who matter to us - people we love, admire, hate and interact with every day.  
We are always in the presence of real or imagined others.

Cultures that get 'under our skin' and so powerfully influence everything we do are so rapidly changing.  In the twentieth century, we witnessed the most momentous period of social change in human history, as the vast majority of the world's people shifted from agriculture, nomadic or hunter-gatherer societies to industrial nation states.  Not since the rise of agriculture thousands of years ago has the structure of human society changed so dramatically, and never as rapidly as the present epoch.  A century ago, most people lived with their extended families and believe in the values of their parents and ancestors.  Within a few brief generations, traditional values and beliefs have broken down and technology has advanced beyond anyones wildest predictions.

People cope with social change in many ways.  Some embrace new ideologies, technologies and values.  Others, coping with spiritual unease or feelings envy, inferiority and hatred of the dominant cultures that swept away their traditions, search for the future in the past, embracing fundamentalist ideologies that rigidly define good and evil, eliminating ambiguity and offer a 'blue print' for how to live.  
Another strategy for coping with social change is to combine the old and new, to preserve a continuity with the past while somehow mooring one's identity in the future, as was Gandhi's path.

These responses to the social and political realities of our age lie at the intersection of our brain, behaviour and culture.  The aggression that fuels conflicts between nations.  We all share a core of human nature rooted in biology.  But the way that nature develops and expresses itself is as diverse as the cultures and individuals who populate the globe.