Respect

[Joccaren]

Yes, I do know that. But my teacher was worse at basic reading comprehension and math than I was. She also had less general knowledge and a lesser ability to logically assess situations and solve problems. In short, she was as dumb as a bag of door knobs. I still don't understand how she got a job teaching children in the first place. We even had to get a different teacher once a week when it came time to learn long division, because our teacher didn't get it herself.

Sounds like you had my problem in primary school, only my teachers actually listened to me.

 

[Latinidiot]

I respect everyone. That means I will treat them fairly unless they act to convince me otherwise. What I think of them is completely dictated individual character.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well in my book respect is earned with skill and wisdom, the status respect has no value to me.
I may be forced to obey someone with higher status but I will be second guessing them every step of the way until proven they are capable, because most of the top brass really isn't.

 

[suitepee7]

I've also been told all my life that people in authority demand respect, teachers for example or policeman, again I disagree. I definitely respect what they do; but their methods for doing so, and their personality, are completely different issues really. I like to judge everyone individually based on who they are as a person before I come to respect them, and I would like to think everyone has the same philosophy when judging me too, because i'm not a hypocrite.

you summed it up pretty nicely there. everybody has to earn respect in some form.

i mean, i'm a dick, my philosophy is everybody is a (insert favorite swear word here) unless they prove themselves otherwise, so i have the same issue with respect. nobody deserves it unless they show otherwise.

good example of this respect in authority though is fairly recently we got a new manager at work. she came down, demanding respect, and got none. we battled it out over a few weeks, and then she seemed to change her attitude. she actually said please and thankyou, and asked me to do things as opposed to demanding them. that started to gain my respect there. then just recently she fought on my side when another manager was gunning for me to give me a formal disciplinary, and i ended up just getting a verbal warning in the end. needless to say, i respect the hell outta her now, for standing up to somebody higher up, who had been there longer, in defense of me just because she didn't agree.

 

[SwimmingRock]

Yes, I do know that. But my teacher was worse at basic reading comprehension and math than I was. She also had less general knowledge and a lesser ability to logically assess situations and solve problems. In short, she was as dumb as a bag of door knobs. I still don't understand how she got a job teaching children in the first place. We even had to get a different teacher once a week when it came time to learn long division, because our teacher didn't get it herself.

At the age of ten you're not really able to assess someone's logical ability, you're not logical yourself at that age and a ten year old child is less likely to be able to grasp every factor in a problem.

We got a writing assignment with a minimum word count. I couldn't fit it all on one side of the paper due to my large handwriting, so I continued on the back of the same piece of paper mid-sentence. She gave me a failing grade for handing in an incomplete assignment and complained about the fact that I had just stopped mid-sentence for no apparent reason. I showed her the back of the paper and she accused me of cheating, convinced I had added those 5 lines of text in the 10 seconds since she'd handed me the paper. I'm pretty sure I had a decent grasp on her lack of logical thinking.

 

[Gigano]

Well, I have a certain minimum point-of-departure level of respect for each individual human, lost only if they treat or talk of any innocents without that basic measure of respect (so goodbye to any respect for people who follow stuff like the Book of Romans etc.).

Beyond that basic level, any individual which would claim respect from me would have to earn it on an individual basis (and vice versa). Merely being "old" certainly doesn't mean you have or is anything special, and since the older generation is more likely to have discriminatory views on stuff like race, gender, homosexuality etc. due to norms of the time they were raised, I bet I'd have to deny a comparatively larger portion of those demographics even the most basic worth too if enlightened to their darkened views.

And authority figures derives no respect as individual persons from the jobs they do, merely general respect as authority place holders filling in as to puppets to uphold democratic legislation.

So basic worth and civility - until if clear that not worthy of it - and otherwise what's individually earned.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Respect goes to those who have earned it. Courtesy goes to all who have not earned its absence.

 

[DSK-]

For me, respect is earned. The only way it could ever be considered 'automatic' would be in regards to my immediate family and those I personally consider family.

Otherwise, it's earned based on my view of them. Even if I don't like or respect them, I'll still act civil all the while lamenting and cursing them in my head.

 

[TriggerOnly]

Respect is a funny word. I think respect means different things to different people.

My dad what have you believe respect is fear and doing as he says with out question for a example.

I don't think I should have to earn respect nor do I expect others to earn mine.


For me, when it comes to people in this world. I try to take them as they are. No expectation, if they are nice to me I will be nice back. If people are mean or rude, depending on how saver I will not have any think to do with them. I don't know how I would even explain respect, but I have seen the way others would, and the way they use it. So far I do not see a reason to believe in it.

 

[withoutnumbers]

I think you bring up a valid point, that respect is two things: an inner feeling and what you do to show those inner feelings. I think all humans deserve respect because we're all good and bad and we're all fighting the same fights. That being said, treat everyone with a degree of dignity.

Joe Schmoe on the street, I treat with respect because he is a human. I wouldn't spit in his face for no reason, I would give him a couple bucks for gas if he asked for it. My ex-girlfriend I treat with respect because she's a human, but I'd still like to beat her into a coma with a tire-iron. I wouldn't spit in her face even though she deserves it, and I might give her a cup of water if she was dying in the desert (sigh, to make my point, yes, I'd give her the water). My boss I respect as a human, but she is also responsible and fair and so I respect her more than a person I don't know anything about. I repay her respect to me in kind by being a hard working employee. Stephen King I respect as a human but also have a much higher level of respect for because of his work and how it has inspired me throughout my life. I can't do much to repay him but to respect him deeply and continue to support his work.

So I think respect should always be in our hearts for every human at a base level, but the degrees of respect beyond that can vary. Regardless of how we feel in our hearts, the actions taken on each person we encounter in our lives should not fall below a certain degree of human dignity that we all deserve.

 

[Brainpalm]

I respect those who i feel deserve it, though i don't treat people badly or anything if i don't respect them. Respect in my view is more or less looking up to someone.

I will not respect older people who demand respect from me just because I am younger than them. I despise such people, they seem rude, entitled and self centered, yet they believe they it is I who is rude and some other rubbish. Anyone who demands my respect will not get it, and anyone who does not respect me is unlikely to have my respect.

 

[tigermilk]

I find confident people often linked to an expensive private education and all the other trappings of wealth and power result in people effortlesly commanding respect.

I resent them as much as I resent myself for being complicit in perpetuating their success and subsequent inequality.

 

[Fwee]

Everyone starts at base courtesy level, and either works their way up or down my "Kill List"

 

[spartan231490]

What are your thoughts on respect? Do you think certain people command respect automatically, whether you know them or not? Or does everyone have to earn it individually from you?

I was thinking about this today because people have told me elderly people command respect right off the bat simply because they have lived longer and experienced a lot. I disagree, there are plenty of old people who are not worthy of my respect because they are bigotted, rude, or otherwise insufferable.

I've also been told all my life that people in authority demand respect, teachers for example or policeman, again I disagree. I definitely respect what they do; but their methods for doing so, and their personality, are completely different issues really. I like to judge everyone individually based on who they are as a person before I come to respect them, and I would like to think everyone has the same philosophy when judging me too, because i'm not a hypocrite.

This doesn't mean that I am not polite to people, this isnt some misanthropic whine, I am a very friendly and sociable person who gets along with most, and is always starting conversations with new people. So it's not that. It's simply that politeness and respect are two seperate entities; respect implies I grant them an esteem of some kind, and that definitely has to be earned beyond basic politeness.

I kinda agree with you. I think that people who are police officers and teachers and the like deserve respect until they show me they don't deserve it. Others only deserve me being polite to them, until they show me that they deserve my respect. The elderly are just like everyone else to me. I treat them politely until they show me that they either do or do not deserve my respect.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Usually i dont respect anyone unless he shows me that he deserves it. Im not generally inpolite, i just dont treat anyone better for nothing.Some customers dont like that, but i seriously dont give a fuck. Just because they are older/richer/well known, i dont have to serve them first, be an asslicking yesman or give them anything special.If you want special service, be nice.Period.

 

[TheTaco007]

If I don't know someone, I don't DIS-respect them. If they want me to look up to them or something they have to earn it, but likewise if they're assholes I won't respect them.

 

[Heronblade]

In some ways I see respect as an estimation of value. Every human being starts off deserving some respect prior to anything I know about them. Their success in life can add to it (assuming that success was earned), as can old age, holding certain positions in society, etc. Once I begin to know a person however, that value can and will change based on their actions and words. Basic behavior towards those around them is probably the biggest factor.

 

[Kurokami]

What are your thoughts on respect? Do you think certain people command respect automatically, whether you know them or not? Or does everyone have to earn it individually from you?

I was thinking about this today because people have told me elderly people command respect right off the bat simply because they have lived longer and experienced a lot. I disagree, there are plenty of old people who are not worthy of my respect because they are bigotted, rude, or otherwise insufferable.

I've also been told all my life that people in authority demand respect, teachers for example or policeman, again I disagree. I definitely respect what they do; but their methods for doing so, and their personality, are completely different issues really. I like to judge everyone individually based on who they are as a person before I come to respect them, and I would like to think everyone has the same philosophy when judging me too, because i'm not a hypocrite.

This doesn't mean that I am not polite to people, this isnt some misanthropic whine, I am a very friendly and sociable person who gets along with most, and is always starting conversations with new people. So it's not that. It's simply that politeness and respect are two seperate entities; respect implies I grant them an esteem of some kind, and that definitely has to be earned beyond basic politeness.

Everyone should get your respect unless they've shown you otherwise, it's pretty simple.

 

[klaynexas3]

i've been shown that respect is not given but you must earn it. even if i don't respect someone, that doesn't mean i'm going to be rude to them, i'll be kind to them, but i don't have to respect someone to be nice. if they are rude to me, i'll be rude back whether i respect them or not. me and my friends are total assholes to each other, but we still respect each other, that's just how we are. so respect never effects how i act around someone, it mostly depends on how they treat me, and whether or not i'll get in trouble for talking back

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Well, I'm from a military family so respect and discipline are absolutes for me. That's not to say I've been brought up harshly (I've had a pretty good childhood as it goes) it's just something that's been at the forefront of everything I do. As far as I'm concerned people shouldn't even have to 'demand' respect from you, because you should be giving it to them anyway. If you disagree with someone you respect then you think of valid arguments to present to them, which is how things should work. The moment you stop respecting someone you stop feeling the need to justify your opinions to them, and you start saying things like "Just STFU", or "I don't care" or "You're just a fanboy". Responses like these make you look like an asshole.

"You should respect everyone, even your enemies, because it's not about whether or not they deserve it, it's about whether or not you are man enough to do it" as my Dad likes to say.