Norms are incentives, not following them is inconvenient. But some norms are bad, feeding them with compliance makes them stronger, and doing so is the more comfortable path.
It can be annoying when some people dare break norms, including bad norms. Sufficiently evolved norms would defend their feeding grounds with enforcement subroutines. So when others are observing norm-breaking behavior, they tend to express disapproval, on pain of starting to feel uncomfortable. This too is an aspect of the norm’s behavioral content.
When a single member breaks norms of a social group just slightly … This is often somewhat unpleasant, and leads to norm erosion. Sometimes you can let the disapproval show slightly, and hope that the hint goes through. Most of the time it does, and the problem goes away quickly, especially if the norm-breaker didn’t realize they were doing so.
So an explicit discussion can be useful to establish if a norm should be endorsed, before the practical considerations of how to either strengthen or weaken it come into play. When a norm is endemic to a wider society, weakening it within a smaller social group could be harder than starting to maintain a norm that’s less generally prevalent.
Norms are incentives, not following them is inconvenient. But some norms are bad, feeding them with compliance makes them stronger, and doing so is the more comfortable path.
It can be annoying when some people dare break norms, including bad norms. Sufficiently evolved norms would defend their feeding grounds with enforcement subroutines. So when others are observing norm-breaking behavior, they tend to express disapproval, on pain of starting to feel uncomfortable. This too is an aspect of the norm’s behavioral content.
So an explicit discussion can be useful to establish if a norm should be endorsed, before the practical considerations of how to either strengthen or weaken it come into play. When a norm is endemic to a wider society, weakening it within a smaller social group could be harder than starting to maintain a norm that’s less generally prevalent.