You'll find that traditional cultures are almost universally quite rigid, prescriptive, and hierarchical about such things. Strict, slowly-evolving, protocols about whom to address by what title, whom to bow to and how low, etc. It's only our modern multiculture that has shed these traditional mores. I'm pointing out that it hasn't exactly resulted in a net win. An environment when no one is sure exactly how direct they can afford to be, and who might take offense to what, isn't a productive one.
Many of these customs have only been shed by American culture very recently. Calling your boss "Sir" or "Ma'am" (with all the associated deference and subordination) and strangers "Mr" and "Ms" was the norm in living memory. Shedding this structure is still very much experimental.
> If a person knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you look down on them
And yet we managed to build just about all of civilization working in deep and rigid hierarchies. You might even say that the construction of such hierarchies is one of the most important enablers of civilization. I'm simply saying we should try to optimize them.
> why the hell should I feel a sense of ownership in something I don't own
> intuitive, or guttural, means of understanding
You'll find that traditional cultures are almost universally quite rigid, prescriptive, and hierarchical about such things. Strict, slowly-evolving, protocols about whom to address by what title, whom to bow to and how low, etc. It's only our modern multiculture that has shed these traditional mores. I'm pointing out that it hasn't exactly resulted in a net win. An environment when no one is sure exactly how direct they can afford to be, and who might take offense to what, isn't a productive one.
Many of these customs have only been shed by American culture very recently. Calling your boss "Sir" or "Ma'am" (with all the associated deference and subordination) and strangers "Mr" and "Ms" was the norm in living memory. Shedding this structure is still very much experimental.
> If a person knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you look down on them
And yet we managed to build just about all of civilization working in deep and rigid hierarchies. You might even say that the construction of such hierarchies is one of the most important enablers of civilization. I'm simply saying we should try to optimize them.
> why the hell should I feel a sense of ownership in something I don't own
Professional pride?