Greetings, Herd Immunity, Geography

In Asia the common salutes are non-contact.

They consist of combinations of both bowing and hand gestures, but not by making physical contact.

In Western cultures, the greetings are almost always physical, some more or less.

This is one of the key differences between East and West, and the difference has mostly to do with geography than sociopolitical psychology.

Most Asian nations are more tropical than most Euroamerican nations, which means they carry more viruses and bacteria.

In the global North, it pays to transfer germs via herd immunity more than it pays to do so in the global South.

The simple reason for this is that in the South, germs are everywhere already, while in the North, there is a deficit of viruses and bacteria.

So Northern cultures benefit more from extending herd immunity than diminishing it.

The old saying ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’ could thusly be translated to ‘when in the global North, hug, kiss, and hand shake more, while in the South don’t.

That is, unless you are trying to increase your own immunity — which is why schools are important and every student should not be homeschooled: public schools increase herd immunity when humans need it most and are at their healthiest.