Are we just trained from birth to bow down to a stupid piece of paper from someone who holds basically no sway over you except writing your name down on a piece of paper and come up with a reason what you did was wrong (in their heads) and make you sign it? Why are we so afraid of a piece of paper with an F and we just give up hope instead of learning from it?

  • dustyData@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    25 days ago

    Social constructs are made up, yes, but it doesn’t mean they are not real.

    They might be pieces of paper, but they have real influence on the behavior of other human beings. A write up at work might not mean much as a piece of physical matter. But if it is gonna mean that you will lose your job, or won’t get another one as easily. It threatens your livelihood in a real way. They are a symbol, a recognizable proxy for even more intangible things like character, skill, aptitude, etc. They are flawed, but they are what we have in place. It so far hasn’t led to our extinction, yet, so it is an evolutionary trait that will stay for the time being.

    • Don_Dickle@lemmy.worldOP
      4·
      25 days ago

      no sarcasm in this but that is a great analogy. Sorry but I am stealing that. but seriously good one.

  • TheFogan@programming.devEnglish
    4·
    25 days ago

    I mean, the why are most of your examples not things that hold no sway over you. A powerbill you can’t pay means your electricity is about to cut off, a firing means you can’t show up and get paid, a grade means you can’t get a job etc… It’s not like you can just tear up the papers and live your life as if they never existed without taking some serious hits.