The interactionist perspective suggests no grand theories of society, since "society," "the state," and "social institutions" are conceptual abstractions, while only people and their interaction can be studied directly. Sociologists like G. H. Mead (1863-1931) and C. H. Cooley (1846-1929) concentrate upon this interaction between individuals and groups. They note that people interact mainly through symbols, (language) which include signs, gestures, and most importantly, through written and spoken words. A word has no inherent meaning. It is simply a noise; it becomes a word when people reach agreement that this noise carries a special meaning. Thus "yes," "no," "go," "come," and thousands of other sounds became symbols as a meaning is attached to each. Al-though some meanings can be exchanged without words, as all lovers know, most meanings are exchanged through spoken or written words. People do not respond to the world directly; they respond to meanings they impute to the things and happenings around them: a traffic light, a lineup at a ticket window, a police officer's whistle and hand signal. An early sociologist, Thomas (1863-1947), coined the phrase, definition of the situation, noting that we can act sensibly only after we decide what kind of situation it is. If a man approaches with right hand extended, we define this as a friendly greeting; if he approaches with clenched fists, we define the situation differently. A person who misdefines a situation and tries to make love, or vice versa, is a stock comic. But in real life, failure to define behavior situations correctly and make appropriate responses can have unhappy consequences. As Berger and Luckma state, society is an objective reality, in that people, groups, and institutions are real, regardless of our perceptions of them. But society is also a subjective reality, in that for each person, the other persons, groups, and institutions are what-ever that person perceives them as being. Whether most people are pretty nice or pretty nasty, whether the police are protectors or oppressors, whether corporations serve common interests or selfish interests—these are perceptions which persons form their own experiences, and these perceptions be-come "the way it is" for persons holding them. This does not mean that all reality is subjective—that it exists only in the mind. There are objective facts in the universe. The sun, moon, and stars are real, and still would be "out there" even if there were no humans to see them. Human beings are real; they get born and they die; they take actions which have consequences. But a fact has no meaning of itself. Meanings are given to facts arid human actions by human-beings.` The symbolic interactionist perspective concentrates upon what meanings people find in other people's actions, how these meanings are derived, and how others respond to them. The interactionist perspective has brought a great deal of insight into personality development and human behavior. It has been less helpful in the study of large groups and social institutions.

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