An Analysis of Conflict

A person’s foot slamming into their desk in the dark is not what would be called a desired effect; therefore it is a conflict between the desk (environment) and the person’s foot. The levees in New Orleans greatly conflicted with hurricane Katrina, and in this conflict Katrina won by a long shot. The outcome of this conflict brought a lot more conflicts to the city of New Orleans on a devastating scale. Although it was a tragedy what happened, we learned and grew from our mistakes to prevent this from happening again. The hurricane and the levee was both a clash of two opposing forces and material substances (bring water in vs. keep water out). This covers the other two definitions, being that the hurricane was a force that brought the substance water against the levee’s structural integrity. We can learn from person vs. environment conflicts by experiencing the outcome of what can go wrong, and learning and building upon the outcome, by building better levees and being careful while walking to the bathroom.

The person vs. society conflict is when one person has and idea or does and action that the majority of a population disagrees upon. This can range from fundamentalist protesters making everyone else annoyed at the remarks they make, to terrorists carrying out a plot to harm an entire population. A person vs. society conflict fits into all four definitions of conflict. It is a clash of incompatible qualities because this person or small group of people doesn’t mix in with the rest of society. They cause annoyance or harm to the rest of the population with protests or attacks upon the rest of society. Impeding the way society would operate normally. It is a clash of two opposing forces; even though one force may be smaller than the other force it is a clash of opposing forces nonetheless. When two forces clash the larger of the forces tend to overcome the other, but it doesn’t mean the smaller force will not make an impact in the other. Galileo was conflicting with the rest of society when he said that the Sun was the center of the galaxy, not the Earth. He was thrown in jail, overcome by the larger force (society). Years later his “insane” statement made an impact when we discovered that he was right all along. This example proves that we need that one person or small group of people to go against what everyone else believes, because every once in a while, they can be right and change the way we see the world we live in (literally).

In conclusion conflicts have shaped the world we live in today, because no progress has ever been made without a conflict that needed to be solved. The entire universe is based on conflicting forces, beings, and ideas that have been solved making the world we live in today. It all started with opposing atoms clashing and fusing together creating a more complex substance, and it goes all the way to the wars we fight in today that shape our future. How we recognize conflicts and address them will determine the future of the human race and beyond.