| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 12:12:06 PM | | Howcome we haven't started bowing. Like in Japan.Which is more hygenic. I told my sister that I want to start bowing instead of shaking hands. I told her to start doing it too.But, she refused. Would you replace the hand shake with bowing ? | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 12:47:42 PM | | Not unless I was meeting a bunch of Japanese people. Handshakes form a physical connection and aren't questionable in terms of who it is directed at unlike a bow which may or may not be obvious as to who is greeting whom. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 1:50:39 PM | | I've heard our hands are dirtier than our ***holes- but the physical contact is a sign of respect, me thinks. I'm not about to reject a handshake and instead bow at my next job interveiw | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 1:54:45 PM | | i don't like shaking hands, just because its a silly custom. i don't usually unless it's a formal setting because they most often put out their hand. but rarely when meeting people do i, again unless they put out their hand (gotta be polite). I never ofter my hand first though. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 3:12:42 PM | Because we don't just pick our social conventions based on what is sensible, they evolve.
<div class="quote"> Handshakes form a physical connection and aren't questionable in terms of who it is directed at unlike a bow which may or may not be obvious as to who is greeting whom.
Maybe it won't be obvious to you, but if you've grown up in a bowing culture you will have internalized all of its subleties and know what's going on. Bowing is not as simple as just bowing, there are all sorts of nuances regarding how deep and long to bow based on your relationship to the person you're bowing to. As it's done in Asian cultures, anyway. Maybe our OP has some streamlined no-nonsense North American bow he's planning to introduce to us. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 3:31:54 PM | If you want to get rid of hand shaking, just pass a law that makes it more awkward than bowing.
For example, make a law that states every handshake must initiate an arm wrestling session.
Then when someone shakes you hand, you have to remind them of the law, so you and them have to sidle over to a table, while still holding hands, and then arm wrestle away.
Very awkward indeed. | |
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| Try The Peace Grip & Let This Topic Stay
Posted: 10/24/2009 4:14:51 PM | First of all I would like to say that this question is valid and has purpose ….why add the DELETE THIS button? If you’re not interested in the topic …Move On. But do let others comment if they wish.
I have discussed this conversation with many women and several men and we all agree that putting your hand into someone else’s after who knows where it’s been is YUCK. I personally can’t stand it. To put it bluntly, I know that men have penis’s and I know that many don’t wash up after zipping up. So why are we still expected to honor this ancient dirty/germy custom?
I took upon myself one night to Invent a new way to greet people. It’s called the “Peace Grip” and here’s how it works. You reach out as you normally would to shake a hand ….but over extend the hand and grab the wrist instead. It has a solid and strong feel to it …. It’s closer to the heart, it’s far more hygiene and still very similar to our current custom …It feels AMAZING …Try It!!!! Pass it On ....
Peace & “The Peace Grip” ….the FairyHealer | |
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| Try The Peace Grip & Let This Topic Stay
Posted: 10/24/2009 6:47:40 PM | | I think it's a matter of trust. Handshakes occur across many cultures. It shows that your hand is open and not clenched in a fist. It shows that you haven't got a weapon in your hand. It also shows that you feel that you would not be infected from the other person's hand, and they would not be infected from yours. So it suggests a level of health and personal hygiene. | |
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| Try The Peace Grip & Let This Topic Stay
Posted: 10/24/2009 7:52:42 PM | The handshake is a very peaceful gesture. Bowing? Not so much. A bow can be responded to with a kick to the face! a handshake...not so much.
Don't want to shake my hand? Fine. (Last time I went through a line at a funeral they almost took my arm off....dang...never get into that situation with an injured shoulder! ok...sometimes necessary....)
Bow to someone....wind up head butting?
Ok...the hygene and health aspects. I am NOT going to offer my hand to someone after. say, spreading natural fertilizer on the garden or cleaning up dog turds. Not without washing first! | |
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| Try The Peace Grip & Let This Topic Stay
Posted: 10/24/2009 8:34:58 PM | Personally, I have always prefered a nice and simple allô accompanied by a warm and friendly smile over a handshake.
I've never been a fan of touching people I don't know but after I was stuck taking the bus to go to work one winter and observing where people put their fingers, I swore I'd never touch another stranger's hands again...gah.  | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 8:45:49 PM | | So a warm hug is right out of the question, then? Seriously, though, I think the handshake serves a variety of purposes, as a sign of respect and an indication of character...the "firm handshake" for instance. A sign of confidence. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 9:26:20 PM | It easily gives an impression of confidence, reliability and earnestness.
I bet crooked politicians, lawyers and used car salesmen, all have the best handshakes.
It is the perfect disguise. Takes only 5 minutes of practice to master.  | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 9:56:40 PM | The french greet their friends and family with a kiss on each cheek.
Must be rough during flu season | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/24/2009 11:52:37 PM | Yes. I like your idea of bowing. I think its funny how we write so much meaning into what is to be a simple gesture of goodwill and greeting. For example, what's up with the "power" handshake and the science of handshake dynamics? I'll try to bow next time I am in a situation that calls for a shake hand, perhaps at my next meeting with an American client.
I loved working with a Japanese client a few years ago; I'd bow to greet him every time we met. Its so nice to bow... | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/25/2009 2:36:51 AM | It's a purely social custom.
In the Chinese/Japanese cultures, the bow is very formalized.
One is supposed to bow lower to a person of higher respectability than yourself.
Strangers of equal rank get only a very slight bow. Progressing up the social ladder the bows become lower and lower.
The Chinese/ Japanese are not very comfortable with the western shaking of hands, as it involves contact between the 2 people which is considered disrespectful between strangers .
When Nixon visited China in 1972 the was a great backstage to do over whether they should shake hands or bow and they ended up doing both. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/25/2009 6:15:28 PM | Well I am not a licensed historian (if such a thing does exist), but I do believe the handshakes origins are based on the premise of two warring factions grasping eachothers hands in a gesture of equality and trust -- your enemy has a hold of you and you trust him not to pull you down to the ground to spear you, and he assumes the same.
Now bowing, however, is much more class-based. You bow down lower to someone of a higher social standing then you. Conversely, you bow less to a peasant or anyone beneath you in the world.
I personally don't think anyone ever died because they just shook hands with the doctor who just discovered ebola, but I don't expect everyone to agree. If you don't want to touch anyone else or be near them, then go live in the forest with the wolves and leave us lowlife handshakers to civilizations devices. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/26/2009 12:33:06 AM | Just do a quick turn-about, and hoist yer kilt...
If you hear "Oh, what a lovely moon!"; then you know you've made a friend... | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/26/2009 12:45:53 AM | | Personally I feel that a hand shake is important. When a hand shake is offered it is more than a mere greeting it is also a way to help get a read on someone. personaly I have used a hand shake to guage how I will approach or deal with another. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/26/2009 10:42:59 PM | why should a "free" man bow down to anyone?.... or be faced with trying to decide who is higher/lower status than yourself.... and work out the correct bowing angle.....
very feudal if you ask me....
we are all born as equals... naked and helpless...
perhaps looking someone in the eye,smiling and shaking their offered hand is a way of confirming that equality.... a mutual trust...
there are just as many "germs" on the inanimate things our hands touch everyday.... money for example.... would you refuse to accept cash from someones hand?... | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/27/2009 6:00:53 PM | | It could have begun as a way to warm up each others hands when you met someone when it was cold out. And became a habit. | |
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| Why do we still shake hands ?
Posted: 10/27/2009 6:40:00 PM | I find you can size up a person very quickly in a hand shake. There is a little of a power thing going on there too. If your hand is on top you're in control. A firm, not gorillia grip handshake says you have confiedence. If you only do a partial handshake you say that you're unsure, or afraid. So you can learn a lot about a person in a matter of seconds just by touching hands.
And you know they aren't going to stab you, well at least not at that moment. Business is burtal ;) | |
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