[ExI] The American Doorway

[Max More]

I'm not sure how holding the door open is defending the Constitution (any more than any other freely chosen action) but I don't think you are an asshole. Your preference is a reasonable one.

My own approach is to usually hold the door open for someone -- but not to block the way in the manner you mentioned. If the doorway is narrow, I either stand inside and aside or I hold it outside positioning myself so as not to be in the path. I don't always hold doors open. If the person behind me is more than a very short time behind, I will not (although it's possible to misjudge this if someone is moving unsually quickly or slowly). If they are several seconds behind, it's wasting my time and may well make the other person feel like they should hurry. I don't like it when that happens to me.

--Max
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From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> on behalf of Rafal Smigrodzki via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2023 7:23 PM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Cc: Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com>
Subject: [ExI] The American Doorway

So they say you are supposed to hold the door for other people. The pro-social, astute and polite citizen traversing a doorway with a non-powered but self-closing door should stop in said doorway and hold the door open for approaching humans, especially if they are members of various vulnerable or downtrodden groups. Failure to do so is gauche, culturally insensitive and subject to gossip and other sanctions.

So you are supposed to stand in the door, and not only lose precious seconds of your life but also force others to slow down on approach, so they can negotiate passage through a doorway that is partly blocked by you and take hold of the door from you, which is a clumsy exercise made worse by the need to express gratitude for the disservice provided. Clearly, a lose-lose proposition.

As an efficiency-minded individual I approach such doors in stride, not slowing down. At the right moment I extend my arms and push the door, without slightest hesitation and I pass as quickly as possible, studiously *not* looking back, so anybody behind me can move in the same efficient way, not helped but also not impeded by me. Everyone is free to continue their pursuit of happiness at their own speed, just as the Founding Fathers intended.

So am I right? Am I a stalwart defender of the Constitution who implements its tenets even in the mundane act of walking through a door? Or am I just another asshole?

Rafal
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