Folkways, mores, and morals
From Symmetry of Soul
- An unwritten law in a society is one of the mores.
- The evolution of cellular-phone etiquette in the 2010s is a fine example of folkways evolving into mores.
- Folkway 1. Many people's genetic inclinations caused them us to be fascinated by the shiny, blinking objects.
- Folkway 2. But some people's genetics inclined them to control their cellular phones, out of respect for others around them.
- Unwritten more 1. Eventually, people began to reflect and see folkway 2 was the better way. So it became an unwritten rule to silence your cell phone.
- Law. Some jurisdictions toyed with actually making cell-phone silencing, or cell-signal blockers, a legal requirement, though in the main it appears this has not gone beyond "house rules" in some place, a light form of private-enterprise lawmaking for the benefit of customers and profit.
