Tradition

[Alcon]

I'd like to see how this goes.

Option 1 in my view.  I've never understood why tradition makes anything more appealing.

If this isn't clarified enough:

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[Frodo]

What do you mean exactly by 'tradition'?  Can you elaborate? 

[A18]

Tradition is not usually tradition for tradition's sake, but because it is in some way appealing.

[Alcon]

That is, do you think that "it's been that way forever" is a valid political reason for not changing views?

[A18]

That is, do you think that "it's been that way forever" is a valid political reason for not changing views?

A 'valid' reason? Anything that appeals to you might as well be a 'valid' reason, however defined.

[Frodo]

That is, do you think that "it's been that way forever" is a valid political reason for not changing views?

I suppose I could say that we aren't bound enough by tradition in the way that the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution in the past forty-five years, claiming, for instance, that there is a right to privacy implicit in the Constitution, thus enabling women to claim that they therefore have a 'right' to have an abortion. 

Or another way of putting it is that we are too much bound by tradition in continuing to uphold a woman's right to an abortion simply because of precedent. 

[dazzleman]

I don't think traditions should be discarded lightly.  Tradition often exists for a reason, one not immediately obvious, and you sometimes don't find out the downside to discarding the tradition until after you have done it.

[A18]

Not bound enough by tradition in the sense that 90% of new government policies are crap (as opposed to 85% of the old ones).

[nclib]

Tradition often exists for a reason

Often the reason is outdated.

I voted option 1.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Certainly not enough

[jokerman]

Option 3.

[opebo]

Tradition is almost always an excuse for some advantage that a particular class or group has in the power structure - usually the owner over the poor, male over female, and white over non-white.

[dazzleman]

Tradition often exists for a reason

Often the reason is outdated.

I voted option 1.

...or, you may think it's outdated, and realize later that it isn't -- that on an underlying basis, things have changed less than you think.  Deciding that everything from the past is outdated can be an extreme form of arrogance.

[John Dibble]

Slightly too bound by it. We should call to question all traditions - some are good, some are bad, and some are neutral, and it should be determined which ones are worth adhering to and which ones should be cast aside.

[MasterJedi]

Just right but we're slowly sliding toward not enough.

[opebo]

Tradition often exists for a reason

Often the reason is outdated.

I voted option 1.

...or, you may think it's outdated, and realize later that it isn't -- that on an underlying basis, things have changed less than you think.  Deciding that everything from the past is outdated can be an extreme form of arrogance.

The term 'outdated' has little meaning.  Getting rid of past oppressions (and that is practically all there was in the past!) is the work of freedom fighters.

[Speed of Sound]

We're still too bound to tradition, but we are slowly releasing ourselves from its old fashion bind.

[Beet]

Tradition often exists for a reason

Often the reason is outdated.

I voted option 1.

...or, you may think it's outdated, and realize later that it isn't -- that on an underlying basis, things have changed less than you think.  Deciding that everything from the past is outdated can be an extreme form of arrogance.

Deciding that everything from the past should be upheld simply because it is tradition can be form of extreme arrogance as much. In general traditions tend to change more slowly than the underlying circumstances that have supported them. Additionally, it is one of the main hallmarks of Western civilization compared with Eastern civilizations to break with tradition, and this is to no small degree responsible for the West's success compared with others.

[Jake]

Not bound enough by tradition.

[Peter]

Not bound enough by tradition.

Indeed, the tradition of teenage boys getting stupidly drunk and then sodomising one another is not practised enough by todays youth.

[Sam Spade]

Depends on the issue.  In some ways, the US is very traditional.  In others, the US tends to go against tradition.

[Sam Spade]

Not bound enough by tradition.

Indeed, the tradition of teenage boys getting stupidly drunk and then sodomising one another is not practised enough by todays youth.

I think that's mainly an English school boy (or choir boy, whichever) tradition. 

In America, teenage boys are interested in women at school (I was), and if they aren't, they are quite correctly beaten up. 

[Gabu]

Tradition is not necessarily a good indicator of what is a good idea, given that slavery was once a tradition, as were many other practices that we would now consider backwards and uncivilized, but one must not discount the possibility that things are done a certain way for a reason, and it is as much a fallacy to reject something due to its being tradition as it is to accept something for the same reason.