We are, essentially, society itself. Without us humans, society on such an intellectual level would not exist. Society on a basic animal scale, perhaps, would.
As intelligent beings that are able to make judgments, decisions, and place blame – we have an extraordinary ability to drive a population by a majority vote. We bring to pass these ‘rules’ or restrictions, that people tend to abide by, even with the presence of many a reason why they should not, or should not have to.

These popular beliefs, rules, restrictions or taboos, have a defining point in the past. A time (or times) in which modern man decided that these things were described, or thought as such. We know this, of course, as each culture on earth has its own general beliefs, and their own attitudes towards different ways of life.

These developments of ideas and taboos can be described the terms of Darwin’s theory of evolution. The theory argues that the reason we still have such a wide array of Apes on earth alongside Humans (which are said to have evolved from apes), is because groups of Apes live within different circumstances. Each and every ‘group’ or species of Ape have existed in different conditions which have encouraged several kinds of evolutionary paths.

I compare it to such a theory, because of the sheer similarity of the two cases.
If each culture within society grew with different surroundings, different attitudes, and different people – then we can understand fully, now, why there are so many ethical differences. These differing attitudes, that were present from the start, were also of course random and dependent on free will.

I f a culture did not exist before hand, an attitude and thoughts of an individual would have relied solely on their own mindset. This could also imply that modern ideas originate from few, if one, mind that was present in the distant past - and this idea grew more and more complex as time progressed.

My question is this. Is this thing that we take ever so seriously, that we battle against every day, and often complain about, even real? Is it something we should acknowledge as existent, and why is it such an importance? Is it an importance?
In order to say that something (or indeed, for something to in fact be something in the first place, with the lack of a conscious mind to observe), it has to exist. It has to be something. When I say this, I mean it needs to be a physical thing, something that affects or acts like a physical thing, or something that contains a physical thing. I.e., it needs to be matter, energy, or space-time. Anything else that we consider to be something, but does not fit these criteria, most definitely is not.

Language fits this idea (almost) perfectly.

To billions of intelligent, conscious minds, language exists. It’s used by them everyday, and their lives would be ever so different without it.
In the sense that is has definition, and tat it affects peoples’ lives, it exists. It would be absurd to say that it doesn’t, as you’d essentially be saying that the effects brought about by the affecter (language), are not effects at all, due to the fact that language doesn’t exist. There can be no effect, if the affecter is non existent.

One also needs to consider this in, not a logical sense, but instead a scientific sense. Is language anything other than just a series of sounds? Of course, language can take upon the form of sign language, and written words.

This establishes language as a physical thing – it’s something we do, perform, create. The only real substance is takes is energy, not matter. This energy, indeed, exists, but as nothing more than exactly that. It means something only to those conscious beings that can decode it, and make it mean something, when in fact; it doesn’t mean anything at all.

It seems that language, old and new, exists as something in the universe, but exists only as a meaningless form of energy. It means something, only to those beings that are able to recognise said energy as something more significant.

Society seems to be in almost the same class as language. It is something that we recognise as humans, but has no physical substance. It seems to be but a thought. A thought amongst many.

We control this society. It’s something that we seemed to enforce upon each new
generation, as a real thing. It doesn’t really pass through the minds of the average person, in the average day-to-day circumstance. We just seem to follow the rules of the society or culture in which we grew up in – written or not.
These laws may be written, or acknowledged, but nobody have the right to enforce them.

Another suitable example would be Government.

There are two reasons we accept Government to be our higher powers, and superiorities.
The first being, that a vast majority of our civilisation, believe that the intention of Government is good and that society would fall to its knees without it.

The other reason is fear. Any form of rebellion, would simply lead to the person concerned being imprisoned, or killed.

Government has no real position (though they have advantage in force) to control anybody, nor does it have its ‘superior’ position, because it’s the ‘law of the universe’. Think of Government literally, and in the sense that we are all just organic matter in space, the realisation that Government is nothing becomes apparent. We only do what they say because they have created laws on the basic understanding of how society should be.

Government is a clear violation of human rights, and freedom. They may portray themselves of enforcers of human rights, when they rather often do quite the opposite.
But this is all down to culture, society, and beliefs. Depending on society, government acts differently. If society was but an organization of fiery, angered and psychotic recluses, then Government would have been brought about with different intentions, and would proceed to enforce other rules.

It’s our human compassion that keeps Government and the enforcers of justice, running as it is. Of course, there are exceptions, when it comes to other more difficult Government.

So again, we humans have created a whole course of justice, and a whole organization of good doers, enforcing what is mostly considered right. It’s something else that only exists in the presence of a conscious mind.

To almost everybody, society is just the presence of taboos, culture, and logical ideas, in the minds of those within said society.
It is an incredibly precious thing. Society is something that only we, as humans, can recognise and appreciate – and any intelligent bystander would not perceive it as we do, that is, if they recognise it at all.
Would a conscious/aware God be able to understand it like we do? Could this ‘god’ see why we do things, understand the wrong doers, and appreciate that everybody sees this one thing (society), as something different?
The fact is, whether or not it exists as a physical thing, substance or even energy, it affects us immensely, day to day, and without it we could question the importance of others around us. One could even question intelligence.
Does known intelligence rely on a society?