• deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    These constructs are often based on something concrete at their core as well.

    Money, or currency in general, is a social construct that was built on top of the basic idea of trade or exchange. Reciprocity is a very basic behavior found in all kinds of animals, especially us primates.

    Likewise, social constructs like “crime” tend to be tied to ethics, another social construct, but that too can be tied back to some basic ideas like harm, which, again, is something animals often form their social norms around.

    So, yes, social “constructs”, but that doesn’t in anyway mean society constructs them out of thin air.