Which social rules do you think don't make sense?

[Earl Grey]

Isn't that because they wipe their butt with their left hand?

Where did you find the secret? Stay where you are. I've called our air forc- I mean, our local Friendly Unharmful Nonviolent (FUN) people to send you a present.
(A more serious answer: depends on the culture. Some Chinese people apparently just... do nothing)

About the 'honorifics'... This doesn't exist in English anymore, but as English people used to say 'thou' = informal and 'you' = formal. My ex, she had to use 'you' to address her parents. I was truly shocked when she told me that, they are your parents??

I even asked her to please... not to address my parents with the formal 'you' since that would make things awkward.

In The Netherlands they are much more focused on these 'civil' pronouns, when you're young and you're talking to an older person. As a form of 'respect'. Well... Let me tell you that first of all I don't have to respect you just because you are older. And... just no, I won't use it. It makes me uncomfortable, my respect is not enforceable (through language). But some older people really become 'angry' when you don't use 'you' because it's 'disrespectful'. They have to give you permission to use the informormal 'you'. (well good buddy, I surely don't respect you anymore now, go cry about it in a corner)

What's kinda funny is that even though we speak the same language, in Belgium we use a different word for 'you'. So in some way... I felt more comfortable talking to her mother like that, but the idea that my girlfriend had to use 'you' made me feel very awkward... Since I just didn't do it and it would've been stupid if her mother perceived me as impolite because of that. And it weirds me out when people address me with 'you'... Just behave like a normal human being, I am begging you please. :') It makes me feel so old.

I saw this somewhere recently and so, conclusion: thou = y'all

So Netherlands is a bit like a few Asian countries then. Honestly? I don't super mind, but if you're gonna act weird around me and not call my name because I'm just a year above you by god cut it out
In Asia since it's a very strict thing, dropping the honorifics in the family is almost like disowning the person. I'm not kidding.

 

[Earl Grey]

I knew a left-handed person who lived in Indonesia for several years and had terrible trouble on that account. That was the first time I had heard of such customs.

This is less Asian, more Muslim. It's a Muslim custom, they have rules for it. Is why it's a thing with Malaysians and Indonesians.

I do appreciate that modern English lacks such distinctions. The flip side is also true, though. Just as you don't need to use honorifics or a formal "you" to show or feel respect, you can use them without feeling any shred of respect for the recipient. What this means is all we can enforce with such language is the show of respect, not the actual attitude. That must be earned on a case by case basis. All that being said, I can be bothered by excessive familiarity. It's not that I desire the show of respect that more formal interaction brings, more that I find it a convenient and generally accepted way to keep one's distance, unless dealing with close friends.

In Japanese, if you use an honorific that obviously does not apply to the person (eg; doctor for one who isn't a doctor or more commonly, 'Milord') to address them, that is an insult. That's why in popular media you see people getting so frazzled and in denial if someone calls them say, tutor, or 'senpai', out of the blue even if they do have seniority in age, skill, etc if the caller isn't their actual junior in some way. This rule extends online as well, producers tend to stick a P to their name (so you'd be Coriolis-P) and it's a quiet but very accepted common rule that you don't treat it like a joke or stick it on your name for funsies.

 

[Earl Grey]

I just realized / remembered that 'Asia' resides in western minds as a giant homogenous blob and it's like... You don't liken North America to any other America. Or Germans to Italians. It's just... Different. There are differences in cultures, norms, what is expected and what is shunned even in the 1 same country. Here, 'Asia' works more as a geographical division than actual statement of culture. Likening 1 Asian culture to another is like likening US customs to a Mexican one because both of you are in the same America.

Something to remember.


EDIT: I got a rep on this, so I wanted to clarify that I didn't mean it only via racism, etc but, but genuine lack of knowledge. Asia is on the literal other half of the world, there are an honest kighjillion things Asians don't know about each other and even less can the western world manage to do so without specific effort. Like how even I sometimes forget that India is also in Asia, despite growing up with Indians. What I did was give an easy way to understand the concept using a western example that is relevant, and thus can 'click' and stay in the mind, because those context clues are closer and more familiar.

 

[neko 4]

Gender and sexual preference laws. For instance, not everyone is male or female, and not everyone is straight or gay.