"Tradition is just peer pressure by dead people" ?

never heard of it called traditional english breakfast; always full english breakfast.

GrannyGravy13

JaneJudge there has been a female only Freemason Lodge for at least over 30 years.

But no men-only Townswomen's Guilds!

Interesting angle for starting a discussion but in short OP I would say that’s too simple a view really.

Gannygangan - to go back to your point about naming conventions, (btw my own mums maternal side had the exact same one which she was the first to break). I think this a great example of tradition as peer pressure from dead people. How generations or individuals deal with it is obviously changing, but the fact that the tradition had existed at all with an expectation from generation to generation to continue it is in itself a type of peer pressure.

Gannygangan
So your children were meant to have their grandmother's maiden name, not yours?
Either way, I'm glad you didn't go along with it.

welbeck, Whatever it is called, it is a great British false tradition, created after the event.

Traditions are only binding if you agree to follow them.

As for the original saying. Said to impress and appear deep. Lots of traditions disappear when people die, the only traditions carried forward are ones living people want to carry forward or are forced to obey - by the living.

M0nica - “Lots of traditions disappear when people die, the only traditions carried forward are ones living people want to carry forward or are forced to obey - by the living.”

Whilst I agree the original sentiment of “peer pressure from the dead” is rather glib, don’t you think your statement is almost supporting it? Tradition in and of itself is a custom or norm that is passed from generation to generation, therefore creating a cultural expectation or “peer pressure” to continue. The living as you point out are the ones who make the decisions on whether to continue with it obviously, but I don’t think it can be denied that the previous dead generations who have upheld the traditions within a family does create a certain pressure or expectation for it to continue. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a tradition.

I just make my point to you Peasblossom on your post
of Thursday 21 march 19. 31.

You still dismiss what I said about a town you asked me about.
You state that Southall is not even a town.

FACT ; Southall is a large suburban district of west London
and is one of it's seven major towns.
You are still in denial about that geographic fact and even though I stated the area only being a town you said I sounded racist and I was unimpressed about you referring to me in that way.
That's all I have to say do not label me as a racist.

I don't think this should have turned into anything racist and it was a post from Gagajo that said most of these traditions are made/carried on from dead white men. I thought that a bit offensive myself.

Lola, but in most circumstances it is the living who make the decision as they make the decision as whether these pressures and the history is important to them. That or living people make them follow the tradition when they do not want to.

M0nica, I completely agree, but in order for the decision to be made or the tradition to exist there is effectively “peer pressure from dead people”. That’s how traditions develop. What people choose or are forced to do by the living is (only IMO) partially because of the generational pressure.
Have never thought of tradition this way before and its actually quite interesting.

Exactly M0nica the dead don't get to stop talking to you, disown you or whatever if you decide not to follow a particular tradition. These pressures will come solely from the living. So no, I don't believe in peer pressure by dead people.

Every generation going back will have decided whether or not they want to follow the tradition and acted accordingly. They will also make the decision whether to accept when others do not follow the tradition or whether to make others do as they do, if they are in the position to do so.

Here is one tradition that is likely to be changed if the government has its way, and that is a neutral civil service.

The government has never had any hand or say in senior posts.

All about to change if this government has its way.

So how does that work with traditions changing by consent?

Not all traditions end by consent. Turkey banned traditional Islamic head wear for men in 1926 and traditional women's headwear, virtually disappeared in the 1980s after a series of laws and edicts banning where it could be worn.

Suttee was banned in India in 1829 and the caste system in 1948, but that ban is widely ignored.

Seems banning traditions is not an uncommon practice.

Haven't read Times article,s one needs a subscription but it's a reprint of an old one anyway.

Whether or not a tradition is carried on, often depends on why was it started and by whom?

Cultural traditions, started and continued for generations by dead people still encourage us to dance round the Maypole, go to church/temple or shul; serve special foods at Christmas - and so on.

Usually these cause no harm (let's not get into a religious scuffle here) and are, in fact, often pleasant for participants.
They celebrate something.

When a 'tradition' is begun by one sector of humanity with the specific intention of benefiting them, whilst hurting and repressing another, then the sooner those on whom it is visited are supported to reject it, the better.
Female Genital Mutilation comes into that category.

The problem is, if a tradition goes hand in hand with fear (and we all know there are many) it's much harder to fight it. One faces societal and family rejection, ostracisation, physical harm and sometimes death.
How do you fight all that?

In my experience, it's sometimes by moving out of your own culture into another where the mores are quite different and your thinking becomes freed of the programming that has held you and yours captive.

So if a tradition does harm, it needs rethinking.

If not - go for it, pass it on, enjoy!