Sunday Firesides: Manners Develop Self-Control (And May Preserve Democracy)

When you take a step back, manners can seem pretty arbitrary and pointless. Sure, some gestures like holding the door open for someone have a clear element of others-oriented consideration. But why do we bring our food to our mouths rather than our mouths to our food, eat chicken tenders with our fingers but chicken breasts with a fork, and need to keep…