Poll: Respect: Does it need to be earned?

[the Dept of Science]

Something important for people to consider

Respect:
Noun; A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Why would you have deep admiration for someone you just met?

Because respect can also mean " Willingness to show consideration or appreciation"

So in that way we should respect all people. Treat them as human beings, don't infringe on their rights etc. That sort of respect goes without saying and doesn't need to be earned.

The type of respect you refer to does need to be earned, because you couldn't give it to everyone.

 

[Crazycat690]

Well, the way I see it it has to be earned. I mean, doesn't mean you should go and disrespect random people, you can still be polite to someone you don't have respect for.

 

[Blobpie]

I give people the general respect when i first meet them (IE;you are a person with feelings and i will respect your ideals and freedoms,etc)
How ever this respect can increase or decrease.

There are only about five people i have the utmost respect for.

 

[lacktheknack]

I would sooner lose respect for someone than not respect the respectable.

Also, I am disappointed by the lack of Aretha Franklin in this thread.

 

[suitepee7]

i only respect those who earn it, which turns out to be very few people. i am very polite, but don't confuse politeness and civility with respect, they are very different things.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Well it's kinda like this to me:
You have to earn respect, yes but that doesn't mean I get to be mean and disrespectful as I please until you do.

 

[Fractral]

Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways, so I'm going to go with no, it doesn't have to be earned. You should always be courteous and respectful to your peers.

Excuse me, for a moment there it looked to me as if you consider respect and common courtesy to be the same thing.

They aren't. Respect needs to be earned. Common courtesy should be default.

You see, these days, at least where I live, the two are reffered to as the same thing. Maybe thats where any confusion I was having came from. If by respect you mean, say, the kind of respect you would give to a war veteran, then yes, that should be earned. But there is also respect for someones rights, for their feelings, for their property, and so on. That would probably fall under your definiton of common courtesy, and yes, that should be default.

 

[kickyourass]

A little bit of yes and a little bit of no.
No meaning that everyone deserves to be treated with basic respect and manners until they show that they deserve otherwise. Yes meaning that if you want anything beyond that basic politeness you should earn it.

 

[Shadu]

I am polite to people always, but that doesn't mean I respect them.

Well, I am polite unless they aboslutely prove to me that they don't even deserve that.

Respect, on the other hand, is something they must earn. The people who earn it from me will probably notice a difference in my attitude towards them (i.e. my politeness to them is no longer faked or forced, and I actually think they are intelligent and want their opinion).

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

The way I see it is that everyone begins neutral in my eyes, but as soon as I learn of or witness their actions and opinions they begin to travel up or down on my scale of respectability. Respect is something earned, but not having it does not necessarily mean they have a level of disrespect.

 

[jklinders]

Everyone deserves basic civility until they make themselves highly unworthy of it. But respect is something different altogether.

re·spect
   [ri-spekt] Show IPA
noun
1.
a particular, detail, or point (usually preceded by in ): to differ in some respect.
2.
relation or reference: inquiries with respect to a route.
3.
esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability: I have great respect for her judgment.
4.
deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment: respect for a suspect's right to counsel; to show respect for the flag; respect for the elderly.
5.
the condition of being esteemed or honored: to be held in respect.

I'm assuming this post is about points 3, 4 and 5. None of these are warranted to someone whose qualities are unknown. Therefore it must be earned.

Showing politeness or civility on the other hand is a completely different issue. I feel everyone whose qualities are unknown should be treated with civility until they prove themselves unworthy.

that's how I feel anyway