05 November 2006

Students in undergraduate seminars make an effort to note that societal conventions are just that: conventions. They are arbitrary, and vary from society to society. If we treat them as such, then we might be all the more willing to let these plastic conventions reign.

Perhaps they also lack a foundational status because they are essentially properties of groups of persons. It is people of all ranks that police a convention. But people vacillate, and so can they. I cannot make a pact with the enduring moon.

These thoughts, however, lead us astray. They underestimate the depth of these conventions. Conventions can be flouted, but only at a price. If I choose to disrespect the syntactic rules of English, the you will disappointment face of having not understand others you then.

Conventions are instantiated by human beings, and humans have strength in numbers. It takes a Heracles to fight back. Like me.