Sociology: The Infinite Onion

In the final lecture for this subject, my fantastic lecturer Andrew Whelan wrapped up "Everyday Interaction" which was a subject that looked at microsociology.

This was my first sociology class, but it's something I have been interested in for a long time. 

From this subject I have mainly taken away that sociology is like an infinite onion.

Someone peels back a layer of the onion, holds it up to you and says "Look, this is the real onion!"

And we all "ooh" and "aah" at the truth hidden under that masking layer.

We finally wrap our heads around one layer, say Marxism, and then someone peels back that layer and says "No guys, if we peel of this layer, THIS is the real onion!" 

Just when we feel like we've torn off enough layers and are staring in the face of truth, Goffman comes along and tells us all the layers are just performances and nothing is real... so we just keep on peeling in the hope of finding something real to look at, but I'm not sure anyone has reached the final layer of the onion yet, if there even is one.

All I can say is that I have only started peeling my sociological onion, and I've found each layer fascinating.  Just when I think I've peeled enough, another layer is peeled off and my mind is blown all over again.