Social taboos and judgement - General

Why do they exist? What causes people to feel the need to mandate how other people act? Why is it socially unacceptable to, for example, be homosexual? Why are people shunned for preferring other things than most people when it doesn't by extension affect others? I hoped I'd get a bit of an in-depth answer from you guys- since you're the home of the bandwagon, especially where it comes to pop culture (evident in the rates people get when they mention liking Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Solja Boy, etc) I'm not just talking about minor stuff, either, why did nudity and etc ever become taboo? Don't respond with "cause it traumatizes children", if children hadn't been taught nudity was a bad thing there would be no traumatization. Don't just say "because they do", explain why.

inb4 shitstorm.

Is this thread about benign societal taboos like goths and metalheads and people who dye their hair pink or legitimate societal taboos like pedophiles? No offense OP but this was a pretty shitty lead-in.

No, I don't want a shitstorm- I want an intelligent discourse about this kind of stuff. Social mechanics are very interesting. I'm not talking about the ones (like pedophiles) that can actually do harm to others, I'm talking about harmless lifestyles/activities/choices that other people want to moderate in society.

Don't tell me you don't find certain things repulsive that other people do.

My opinion is unimportant, I'm asking why people DO find harmless things that others do repulsive.

i agree completely, it's my right as a human to pick my nose

My hair is blue. I have butterfly knives. My ears are peirced. People think I'm weird. A shit, i give not.

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21681890] I'm not talking about the ones (like pedophiles) that can actually do harm to others, I'm talking about harmless lifestyles/activities/choices that other people want to moderate in society.[/QUOTE] Well in that case societal taboos exist because people are [b]stupid[/b] and feel the need to push their false morality on other people. It's as simple as that.

Yeah well if incest wasn't taboo, our world would be a pretty fucked up place.

[QUOTE=iondull7;21681954]i agree completely, it's my right as a human to pick my nose[/QUOTE] Sure! Why not? It's your congealed mucus. @ Abstrakt That's more of an instinctual taboo to prevent genetic bottlenecks, and it CAN cause harm to society. Refer to earlier posts.

[QUOTE=Abstrakt;21682021]Yeah well if incest wasn't taboo, our world would be a pretty fucked up place.[/QUOTE] Incest doesn't need to be taboo, there are already evolutionary safeguards in place to prevent it from happening on a large scale. [editline]08:19PM[/editline] [QUOTE=uhrwerk_maus;21681983]My hair is blue. I have butterfly knives. My ears are peirced. People think I'm weird. [b][highlight]A shit, i give not.[/b][/highlight][/QUOTE] That about sums up the best way to combat the ignorance of society.

People have their warped idea of the world. They think with all these things that are "wrong" or "unacceptable", and force them on others, they can make the world a perfect place. When, in reality, not having these would have the effect people are trying for. We feel the need to force our beliefs, thinkings, morals, and whatever else you want to call it, upon the world we live in. If the Muslims would realize that they don't need to force their beliefs on Christians (and all other Protestant religions) because we worship the same God, we wouldn't have 9/11 or the War in Iraq. Our planet just wants us all to be the same, but that will never happen because if it did, we would rip a hole in the space time continuom (or just not be able to tell mom from dad).

Better yet, how about we don't even spread our religion and just make our own set of morals to live by.

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21682485]Better yet, how about we don't even spread our religion and just make a set of morals to live by.[/QUOTE] Who's morals? why are those morals better than mine

Oh- I meant make our OWN set of morals.

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21682523]Oh- I meant make our OWN set of morals.[/QUOTE] We need people to start throwing aside the childish notion of moral absolutism.

He means set a set or morals that don't belong to one group religion, or nation, but all of us. No religion, just our morals. When he says "Who's morals?" He means they belong to people. It's the possesive form of who.

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21682523]Oh- I meant make our OWN set of morals.[/QUOTE] based off what

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21682485]Better yet, how about we don't even spread our religion and just make our own set of morals to live by.[/QUOTE] So you're upset that someone celebrates something fake? Like the classic bible smackers? They seriously believe that if we got rid of a book written thousands of years ago that we wouldn't have morals. People need to grow up.

[QUOTE=Craptasket;21682578]based off what[/QUOTE] How to enjoy ourselves more without harming others? I don't know, it's our fucking morals, whatever we wanna base it off of.

Homosexuality is nothing to be ashamed of, and all the asshats who make fun of anyone who is different can go die for all I care.

It's called Culture, every Culture has taboo.

[quote]When he says "Who's morals?" He means they belong to people. It's the possesive form of who.[/quote] Actually, "whose" is the possessive form of who. "Who's" is the contraction form of "who is". That's exactly what I told people NOT to post, Canuhearme?. Explain WHY they have taboos.

austrailia's taboo is anything slightly looked down upon

[QUOTE=Quo Vadi;21682739]Actually, "whose" is the possessive form of who. "Who's" is the contraction form of "who is". [B]That's exactly what I told people NOT to post, Canuhearme?. Explain WHY they have taboos.[/B][/QUOTE] That's like saying we should have a discussion on why we should bathe, but we're not allowed to talk about dirt.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;21682831]That's like saying we should have a discussion on why we should bathe, but we're not allowed to talk about dirt.[/QUOTE] Uh, what? That's not even close to what it's like. You're bad at analogies. No. That's like saying we should have a discussion on how to make sandwiches, but then we're not allowed to say "by making one".

Legalize incest (with protection), polygamy, drugs and public nudity. Why not?

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;21682831]That's like saying we should have a discussion on why we should bathe, but we're not allowed to talk about dirt.[/QUOTE] Heh. I like that. Not the part about comparing people who indulge in taboo to dirt, but it's a good analogy. [editline]08:53PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Kybalt;21682867]Legalize incest, polygamy, drugs and public nudity. Why not?[/QUOTE] First two? In consensual cases, sure. Second and third ones? No reason why not.

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