Here's a weird thing about human culture—when something requires effort, it's viewed as more formal or special, even and especially if that effort serves no emp

Here's a weird thing about human culture—when something requires effort, it's viewed as more formal or special, even and especially if that effort serves no empirical purpose. Why do people wear suits and dresses to fancy events? Formal clothing is no more functional than casual wear, it's merely more annoying to put on and harder to move around in. People wear formal clothing because of the effort required—if everyone is willing to get dressed up for a party, the party must be special enough to be worth dressing up for! Roman numerals are similar; they confer an additional sense of prestige precisely because they are more difficult to read. The XXI Olympic Games must be something really special, because you went through the effort to decode "XXI".