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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Yes, we are taught to always say "please" and "thank you", that's why not saying them says so much.Politeness is not just a convention. On the politeness axis, around the zero point, we first need to reserve space for non-recognition. How else to express that you are taking people for granted, that they are invisible, that they are like appliances, that they are not worth two seconds of your time? Routine politeness raises the baseline slightly above zero in order to make room for non-recognition underneath. If a person holds a door for you, and you want express to them that as far as you're concerned you just walked through an automatic door, then your only option is to leave out the "thank you". I can't think of another way to do it. (Recognition cannot be negative.)

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Meaningless words? How about "the" and "a"? They're basically meaningless, but we use them all the time anyway.

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