Some of what we accept as "normal"
e.g. clapping, coffee dates, taxes, dress codes, funerals, flags & more
Why do we clap our hands?
Sure, it can be seen as a way to let others know we like what they do. But then, why do we clap at the end of a movie when the performers can’t hear it?
I get it that the practice allegedly began in ancient Greece but doesn’t it seem random that rhythmically slapping our palms together is universally accepted as normal?
The same could be said for “coffee dates”:
Off the top of my head, here are more accepted norms — of all sizes and magnitudes:
Drinking alcohol and getting dangerously drunk
Believing that “the customer is always right”
Holding beauty pageants (especially with children)
Allowing tipping culture to thrive instead of demanding restaurant owners pay their employees a proper wage
The obsession with and worship of celebrities and wealthy people
Food additives, processed food, junk food, etc.
Adhering to a dress code (especially ties!)
Only half an aisle’s worth of the products in the typical supermarket is considered “natural”
Becoming emotionally and financially invested in professional sports
Putting old people in nursing homes
Hanging flags everywhere
Buying an engagement ring as a precursor to getting married
Drinking another animal’s milk into adulthood
For-profit healthcare, prisons, schools, and more
Women are expected to shave their bodies but men aren’t
Middle names
Hunting as a “sport”
Balloons
Funerals and the funeral industry
Everything about banks, the stock market, the insurance industry, and the whole financial scam
Women have to work and be “productive” during their period
Saying “cheese” before a photo is taken
Having highway speed limits that result in thousands of deaths
Pornography and prostitution
Being expected to get along with family members, no matter what
Food waste, homelessness, and epidemics of preventable diseases
Delegating our mental and physical well-being to self-appointed “experts”
Agreeing that men shouldn’t show emotions
Small talk
Paying taxes
Working at a “job” until we’re old
Having kids without much planning or deliberation
Did I say balloons?
I could go on and on… and on. But the point here isn’t what’s on the list and whether or not we agree with what’s on the list. The point is to reflect on how much we accept without any analysis.
It can serve as a form of social control to keep humans obeying a wide range of arbitrary expectations — even when they seem benign.
Reminder: Anyone who creates a standard must assume the burden of proof of that standard’s validity.
The more comfortable we get with the default setting of reflexively questioning “norms” (big or small), the less vulnerable we are to the type of mass conditioning that dominates modern culture.
You have free will thus, you can disobey whenever something offends your soul.
P.S. What else (big or small) do we collectively accept as “normal” with little or no inquiry?
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Always be willing to ask "why"
Why is asking why not a reflexive action, except for children, if we all allegedly have free will? Is it trained out of us? Fear?