Keeping your elbows off the table, keeping your fingers out of the gravy boat – at some point these became very important rules of etiquette. But what purpose do manners serve? It turns out they just may be the glue that prevents society from unraveling.
# Stuff You Should Know - Manners Episode
Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating world of manners and etiquette, exploring how these social rules have evolved across cultures and centuries and why they're actually essential to keeping civilization functioning. From ancient Egyptian advice that's somehow still relevant to modern dinner party expectations, they trace how manners went from wild medieval behavior to the highly formalized rules of European courts, and eventually to Emily Post's democratizing etiquette handbook that let everyday Americans learn the code of polite society. Along the way, you'll discover that what counts as good manners varies wildly depending on where you are in the world, how punctuality and eye contact work differently in different cultures, and why even ancient philosophers couldn't quite agree on whether all these social rules were helping or just making people into phonies wearing uncomfortable masks.
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