A question on manners.

[murakumi]

So there I was, on a courtroom bench, reading Miss Manners. Because, hell, I read so quickly I'd finished reading every other bit of the paper, and there really isn't much you can do on a courthouse bench

Comments

[ambikemono]

You know, that's a good point. I wonder if there's some sort of "proximity" rating that determines how we emotionally perceive how human people are. A friend, or a friend of a friend, has a much higher "proximity" to you than does a random street person, and i think the proximity can be more than just based on who you know, but also how close they are in social status, and even geography. Why is it that 5 million people can die in a silly pointless war in Africa and most people don't even know it happened but if a *single* person in your state or province is kidnapped or murdered(and presumably the right color and/or social status) you hear about nothing else for days or weeks. That person close by who was kidnapped takes on a role in your mind that makes them somehow more human or more relatable than perhaps someone across the globe who looks different, has a different culture, or income. Same thing probably goes for a street person. Their way of life is so vastly different that they may be perceived subconsciously as less human