Jianfa Tsai’s Input
Thesis: There’s a sliver of wisdom to learn from people you deemed inferior or vile. If the middle class, poor people, those of low intelligence, criminals and those who engage in vices do not have their own way of survival or society’s need for their existence or services, such cultures would have been eliminated by evolution or the passage of time. Yet these social classes have endured for more than 5,000 years.
Simple Explanation
Sometimes we look down on certain groups of people, like the poor or those who make bad choices, but the fact that these groups have existed for thousands of years means they have found ways to survive or that society actually relies on them in ways we might not notice. Just like every animal has a role in nature to keep the forest alive, every group of people plays a part in how human society functions, meaning we can find useful lessons and clever survival tricks from anyone, no matter who they are.
Functionalist and Sociobiological Perspectives on Social Stratification
The persistence of diverse social strata and behavioral archetypes over millennia can be explained through sociological functionalism and evolutionary biology. Functionalist sociology posits that social stratification and marginalized groups persist because they serve hidden, necessary functions that stabilize the broader social structure (Merton, 1938). For instance, the presence of low-income workers fills essential, low-status economic roles that sustain infrastructure, while the definition of criminal behavior helps society clarify its moral boundaries and reinforce collective values (Durkheim, 1893/2014). From an evolutionary standpoint, diverse cognitive strategies, behavioral variations, and even risk-taking vices can be viewed as adaptive traits that offer selective advantages under fluctuating environmental pressures and resource scarcity (Wilson, 1975). Therefore, the long-term endurance of these groups indicates that their survival strategies and social roles are deeply integrated into the mechanics of human civilization.
Action Steps for Personal, Academic, and Professional Growth
- Practice Perspective-Taking (Personal Life): Cultivate cognitive empathy by actively listening to and analyzing the survival mechanisms, resilience, and problem-solving strategies used by individuals from marginalized or vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Investigate Systemic Dynamics (Academic Life): Conduct research utilizing academic databases to examine how socio-economic stratification and deviant subcultures interact functionally with dominant societal institutions, focusing on historical endurance rather than moral judgment.
- Enhance Inclusive Leadership (Work Life): Apply diverse problem-solving insights in the workplace by recognizing that unconventional perspectives or grassroots operational strategies often hold practical efficiencies that traditional corporate hierarchies overlook.
Date
Tuesday, June 2, 2026, 6:31 PM AEST
Authors
Jianfa Tsai (https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1809-1686) in collaboration with Gemini AI Pro.
References
Durkheim, E. (2014). The division of labour in society (W. D. Halls, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1893).
Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084622
Wilson, E. O. (1975). Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Harvard University Press.