Here one may ask: is man completely determined by his social environment or does he have an essential character which is his own and which distinguishes him from other animals? It is doubtful whether this question can ever be answered fully. Several theologians and psychologists have maintained that man’s understanding of the outside world – physical and social – is instinctive and universal. There is a true, a real and a fixed nature of human beings. Whether we understand it well or not is a different story altogether. Thus in theological and evolutionary perspectives, development of man is seen as a unique event of the history. Man has a body (matter), a life and a brain (superior to animals). Laws of man are unique to man, not always in conformity with the simple laws of matter and life.

To quote Deem (2010):

Humans are unique on many fronts, including creativity, personality, abstract thinking, and moral judgment. In what sense is man unique? Unlike other animals man is not merely conditioned by his environment, he also shapes his social and physical environment. He wants to understand and change the laws of nature. He is not satisfied with what he has inherited from the past. Contrary to this essentialist view, Haralambos (1990,2) argues that man depends more on learned behavior than on instincts. He has no instincts and “man’s genetic code does not contain specific instructions to behave in a particular way.” The implication of this position is that the conditions of his existence define and determine him almost fully.

The interaction of man with others through which he acquires knowledge of social rules and for which sociologists use the term socialization, provides the link between man and society. During socialization man acquires the values and norms of society. Here the term value refers to standards of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, desirable or undesirable, true or false, and the term norm refers to rules of behavior. With certain reservations it may be said that values are part of culture and norms are the part of social structure. In a typically middle class family in India, you learn the value of success and you also learn that to succeed in life you ought to do well in studies. Early in life socialization occurs in family. Then in the company of friends. It is not unlikely that some of the things one learns in the family are to be abandoned in the company of friends. And this process of socialization continues throughout life. New socialization would occur every time a man joins a new organization – school, work organization, a religious or social service organization – or enters a new phase of life cycle. Even in the old age he is learning new things when he undergoes old age socialization. For example, if someone is to join an old age home he must learn new ways of thinking and behavior required to live in old age home peacefully. Through socialization we learn to adapt to environment. Our ego joins the social ego. Our happiness and unhappiness are linked with society.