Norms Experiment

We live our lives according to rules. Most of us are not even aware of this fact for the rules of our society - the norms and mores and cultural traditions - have surrounded us since our birth so that we have come to see them as inevitable and even inviolable. They are almost as necessary to our well-being as the air around us, but they are at the same time as invisible as the air. Of course, like all general statements, this one can be amended and refined: Most of us living in the United States are aware of the fact that there are laws prohibiting certain kinds of behavior. Laws are formal and almost always written forms of norms - which are both subjective models of behavior or belief that should be followed by members of a particular group as well as objective summaries of average...
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