Short answers, pulled from the story.
The concept of society dates back to at least 1513, emerging from the 12th-century French word societe. This term was derived from the Latin socius, meaning fellow or ally. The etymological journey reveals that the idea of society was born from the concept of alliance and friendship.
Renowned entomologist E.O. Wilson categorizes humans as eusocial, placing them in the highest level of sociability on the spectrum of animal ethology. This classification places humans alongside ants and suggests that the underlying sociability required for the formation of societies is an evolutionary adaptation. This trait has allowed humans to thrive in diverse and often harsh environments.
Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim championed functionalism, which views society as a separate level of reality. Karl Marx argued for conflict theory, positing that societal change has been driven by conflict between laborers and those who own the means of production. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how individuals use shared language to create common symbols and meanings.
Ibn Khaldun conceptualized social structures as having two fundamental forms: nomadic and sedentary. He argued that nomadic life has high social cohesion, while sedentary life is marked by secularization and decreased social cohesion. He understood society, along with the rest of the universe, as having meaningful configuration with hidden causes.
Hunter-gatherer societies usually form small groups such as bands and tribes with fewer than 50 people per community and reach decisions through consensus. In contrast, agrarian societies are especially noted for their extremes of social classes and rigid social mobility. The landowning strata in agrarian societies typically combine government, religious, and military institutions to justify and enforce their ownership.
The concept of information society has been discussed since the 1930s. In the present day, it is almost always applied to ways that information technologies impact society and culture. A knowledge society emerged at the beginning of the 21st century to generate and share knowledge that may be used to improve the human condition.