I have started to watch the show called Downton Abbey on Netflix. It is set in early 20th century in England. I didn't think I would like the story but so far I am enjoying it.
What got me thinking today was how similar some of the customs of that time and area was to Ethiopia.
For instance, in Ethiopia, if an older person comes into the room, people that were in the room have to stand up until the older person sits down. It is a custom I didn't see anywhere else. Looks like 100 years ago, it was also done in the UK.
Another thing I noticed is how women were treated. Like second hand citizens. They can't drive, work or walk outdoors past a certain hour in the show. That seems to be customary almost everywhere conservative.
The tradition of asking parents for the hand of a woman in marriage was another custom I noticed in the show. That again is very common in conservative countries even today.
There are many such things that I noticed from the show that got me thinking about customs and traditions. How is it that we have so many in common though we are not geographically close?
What got me thinking today was how similar some of the customs of that time and area was to Ethiopia.
For instance, in Ethiopia, if an older person comes into the room, people that were in the room have to stand up until the older person sits down. It is a custom I didn't see anywhere else. Looks like 100 years ago, it was also done in the UK.
Another thing I noticed is how women were treated. Like second hand citizens. They can't drive, work or walk outdoors past a certain hour in the show. That seems to be customary almost everywhere conservative.
The tradition of asking parents for the hand of a woman in marriage was another custom I noticed in the show. That again is very common in conservative countries even today.
There are many such things that I noticed from the show that got me thinking about customs and traditions. How is it that we have so many in common though we are not geographically close?
Customs can be seen as sort of a system that a group of people have adopted to yield the best results in terms of happiness, safety, etc.
I believe that customs such as not letting women walk around alone after certain hours comes from a heuristic from a time before having a stable police state that lets people feel as safe as they do today.
The reason why so many geographically disparate groups of people come up with similar customs is because the customs come from human nature. So like the custom to share food -> people love eating... they love bonding with people.... the custom to not allow women to walk around after certain hours --> There used to be a time where rape and murder against women were much more prevalent.
And so on and so on.
Customs are just systems made around human nature!
Never thought of it that way but it makes total sense.