Holding Doors Open

No.

2 (5.4%)

Yes.

28 (75.7%)

Depends on the person you're holding the door for.

7 (18.9%)

Total Members Voted: 21

[Soundwave]

It's not a big deal for me either way. If someone holds the door for me, I say thanks. Sometimes, I'll hold the door for someone, if I feel it's appropriate, like for a person in a wheelchair.

[freeAgent]

MobileDigit, you nicely ignored the part of my argument which ties the whole thing together which is that throughout a person's life, that person will not be the first person to the door any more frequently than any other person on average.  Of course when you take it completely out of context and pretend that I'm saying it's rational for one person to always hold the door open for other people because he or she is always the first to get to the door then my argument doesn't make sense.

[Lindsey]

it's helpful

So?

saves them effort.

And costs you more.

That's why it's called 'polite.' As Celestrian pointed out, it's to make others feel good about you. Some people consider this important.

Being polite is irrational, remember?   

[zebraflood]

Weird thread.

I'm not employed as a doorman so I don't stand outside buildings holding doors open for random people, but if someone's a few feet behind me as I'm entering a building I'll almost automatically keep my hand pressed against the inside so they have a chance to grab it before it starts to close. It's called "not being an asshole" in zebraspeak. Like holding the elevator for the guy running towards it. I don't consider keeping my hand pressed against the door for a few seconds longer than I usually would to be costing me anything. It's easy enough to say, "Oh I'm not going to do anything ever that doesn't directly benefit me," but I would call that more irrational than anything being said in this thread. Just because something doesn't immediately benefit you doesn't mean the minute investments won't provide some return someday. You don't exist in a vacuum. Sometimes it's beneficial to have built up that good repertoire with the locals.

[cerpntaxt]

Does it piss off anyone else when someone kind of holds open a door for you? You know like they hold the door open kind of so that you don't have open the door kind of... That really doesn't make sense to me.

[freeAgent]

It only bothers me when I would have been better off had they done nothing at all.  This is more common when the door swings outward towards you.

[theCelestrian]

If it's not rational, why do you feel good doing it?

Because when I do it, the emotional satsifaction is gives me is enough of an incentive to spend an extra 5-6 seconds.

Remember.... emotions, me, part of my existence.  Not everything I do is logically rational, nor do I seek to have every behavior justified through rationality.  I am however, an organic biological being where emotions and the interplay of neurochemicals that trigger than are intrinsic to my existence.  In other words, my existence is defined in large part by the consequence of my physicality.

Back to holding doors open:

- I like it (a motivator)
- I do it  (an action)
- I recieve a positive response from the person (a reward)
- I get a sense of satisfaction from being "well mannered" (a reward)

How is this chain of events irrational if I recieve a benefit that I am aiming for when I voluntarily engage in an activitiy?  Are you saying that your valueset on what one should be satisfied doing is better than mine for my life?



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(EDIT: changed "and" to "an")

[freeAgent]

I'd like to add that expecting the world to be rational is not really a logical position given empirical evidence.  I'll refer you to this poll that I started specifically to illustrate this point.  There is only one rational answer, and fewer than 50% of people here chose it.  Anyway, just some food for thought.  I personally try to be rational, and it bugs me when people aren't rational, but I realize that it's just a fact of life.  It's rational to accept reality

[jckeyser]

Does it piss off anyone else when someone kind of holds open a door for you? You know like they hold the door open kind of so that you don't have open the door kind of... That really doesn't make sense to me.

Like when they see you coming and give the door a final shove before going inside, so that it closes right when you get there anyway?

[cerpntaxt]

YES!

[jckeyser]

It's not a big deal for me either way. If someone holds the door for me, I say thanks. Sometimes, I'll hold the door for someone, if I feel it's appropriate, like for a person in a wheelchair.

Or an old lady carrying a shitload of bags.

[cerpntaxt]

or bagloads of shit

[jckeyser]

or bagloads of shit

Zing!

[freeAgent]

If I saw someone carrying bags full of shit toward me, I'd probably close the door and lock it

[Lindsey]

Does it piss off anyone else when someone kind of holds open a door for you? You know like they hold the door open kind of so that you don't have open the door kind of... That really doesn't make sense to me.

Like when they see you coming and give the door a final shove before going inside, so that it closes right when you get there anyway?

Yeah, that's what I get.