WHY are manners important? Where did that social idea begin?
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Manners and etiquette = consideration for others. At least, that was the original intention. Sort of an extension on the Golden Rule. You wouldn’t want to be inconvenienced, so why inconvenience others? There are some basic universal rules in this, but societies and culture extended on this to fit their needs, laws, rules, and/or beliefs. They are to help people function together and cooperate without having to repeat the expectations verbally every time.
Manners are fascinating, and the answer depends heavily on the culture and history in question.
Western manners are a mix of a few different things. Some manners are developed just because they’re practical – you dont want to inconvenience people, so you try not to. Don’t put your elbows on the table is one such thing – if it’s an unbalanced table, putting your weight on it could cause drinks to spill.
However there’s a second kind of manners called etiquette. Etiquette comes from the upper class. Upper class people like to distance themselves from the lower class, so they invent rules to live by that would be completely impractical for poor people but that they can afford to do because they have lots of free time and money. These pieces of etiquette filter down to the lower classes as the lower classes seek to emulate the culture of the higher classes, and they’re particularly prominent in the middle class which is essentially made up of lower class people who have successfully distanced themselves from their lower class ancestry.
You also have rules of etiquette that are developed due to belief systems, particularly things like Feng Shui and Confucianism. These rules and manners are supposed to make life better in some way, or help your relationship with whatever supernatural force you believe in. The Japanese tea ceremony comes from this.
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