Function

It seems a natural impulse for a person to define and establish their presence in life*; who they are, how they view the world, where they fit in and what their purpose is. For many a foundation is built on religion and early childhood conditioning, augmented with personal beliefs (which are not always consistent with the former) and eventually a political perspective is drawn. Opinions vary greatly from person to person and shift rapidly in and out of coherence. Far more tangible is a person's actions; what they do.

func-tion (n) 1. the kind of action or activity proper to a person, thing or institution; the purpose for which something is designed or exists; role.

In their own capacity, each person occupies a number of functions. People adopt some of these roles while others are implied. You choose what your career is, you don't choose what family unit you're born into ['Choice' may be addressed at a later date]. Taking social views into account one could determine a ranking of these functions based on contribution, both personal and public. In reflecting on my place and purpose in this world, I outline the following:

Default : Human

1st : Student
2nd : Family member
3rd : Employee

Our nature must always be taken into account. What we are affects everything about us. My full-time occupation is 'student.' This coincides with my primary goal right now, which is to achieve a Master's degree. Next I am a son, brother and uncle, which implies a number of charges and obligations. Lastly, I am a part-time employee of a company to which I contribute a marginal amount of time and effort. This is a snapshot of my life at this point in time, the ranking determined by my priorities based on personal development with an overall relatively low amount of public contribution. In 10 years, my list of functions could look like this:

Default: Human
1st: Kinesiologist
2nd: Family member
3rd: Business owner
4th: Writer

At this point I have achieved a great increase in human capital and as a result have a much more significant function by which I contribute to society. I'm still a family member but perhaps a father and husband. I believe there are biological imperatives of "fatherhood" that fall under the human function but "parenthood" requires more active, conscious effort and therefore in part necessitates the family member function. Consider the tertiary and quaternary functions a to-do list.

Brevity is important when theorizing and each function can be expanded or broken down into many components. For example, I consider my default function the charge to eat wholesome food and get regular exercise as well as maintain close relationships and spend a certain amount of time alone. A function list is what I do with a priority for items that contribute to the whole. In essence, my utility.



*I've written about the advent of 'social views' [here], which should be considered along with this post.