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By reclining your seat all the way back you're forcing the person behind you to recline his seat all the way back, which in turn forces the person behind the pe

By reclining your seat all the way back you're forcing the person behind you to recline his seat all the way back, which in turn forces the person behind the person behind you to recline his seat an so on, it's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like reclining more than halfway through is only fair if there's nobody sitting behind you or if that person had already reclined his seat. I don't think these are strict rules or anything, you are certainly entitled to do whatever you wish, it's really just a question of politeness.

gusmd 11y ago
Now if you don't recline, you force the person in front of you not to recline, and the person in front on him, and so on. It's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like not reclining is only fair is there's nobody sitting in front of you or if that person has already not reclined their seat.
- DrJokepu 11y ago
  Actively is the keyword here. Not reclining is the passive, default thing to do, because during takeoff you can't recline your seat anyway. If you had to recline your seat all the way back during takeoff, your argument would be valid.
  - gusmd 11y ago
    My interpretation is that deciding not to recline is a conscious, active move on your part.
    - notahacker 11y ago
      Especially when you go to the trouble of buying a Knee Defender to limit the movement of the person in front...
    - DrJokepu 11y ago
      Most of the time I don't recline my seat at all because I simply forget that it's a thing I can do, especially if the person in front of me doesn't recline his seat enough that I notice it.
notahacker 11y ago
Airlines enforced their preferences on everybody else when they decided - at the cost of some very expensive additional weight - that seats can and should be able to recline. If they didn't intend for customers to recline the seats it's perfectly possible to install or modify seats to make reclining impossible (some do) or to instruct people not to recline seats at certain times it might be inappropriate (all do). They also designed seats so it wasn't wholly impossible to sit behind a reclined seat (or indeed climb out of the seat) without reclining. So the people forcing their preferences are the ones insisting they have the right to restrict the inclination of the seat in front. Sure, out of politeness I might refrain from using the intended functionality of the seat if you ask nicely (same goes for switching off the light or redirecting the airflow nozzle, and I might choose to delay my toilet break to avoid disturbing your sleep). My sense of politeness tends to go out the window when people start suggesting its selfish or impolite for me not to coordinate my cabin controls to their liking.
- DrJokepu 11y ago
  Yes I mostly agree with that, even though I don't normally recline my seat if someone behind me used a Knee Defender I'd definitely complain about it, just out of spite as it's also not a very polite thing to do.

gusmd 11y ago

Now if you don't recline, you force the person in front of you not to recline, and the person in front on him, and so on. It's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like not reclining is only fair is there's nobody sitting in front of you or if that person has already not reclined their seat.

DrJokepu 11y ago
Actively is the keyword here. Not reclining is the passive, default thing to do, because during takeoff you can't recline your seat anyway. If you had to recline your seat all the way back during takeoff, your argument would be valid.
- gusmd 11y ago
  My interpretation is that deciding not to recline is a conscious, active move on your part.
  - notahacker 11y ago
    Especially when you go to the trouble of buying a Knee Defender to limit the movement of the person in front...
  - DrJokepu 11y ago
    Most of the time I don't recline my seat at all because I simply forget that it's a thing I can do, especially if the person in front of me doesn't recline his seat enough that I notice it.

notahacker 11y ago

Airlines enforced their preferences on everybody else when they decided - at the cost of some very expensive additional weight - that seats can and should be able to recline. If they didn't intend for customers to recline the seats it's perfectly possible to install or modify seats to make reclining impossible (some do) or to instruct people not to recline seats at certain times it might be inappropriate (all do). They also designed seats so it wasn't wholly impossible to sit behind a reclined seat (or indeed climb out of the seat) without reclining. So the people forcing their preferences are the ones insisting they have the right to restrict the inclination of the seat in front. Sure, out of politeness I might refrain from using the intended functionality of the seat if you ask nicely (same goes for switching off the light or redirecting the airflow nozzle, and I might choose to delay my toilet break to avoid disturbing your sleep). My sense of politeness tends to go out the window when people start suggesting its selfish or impolite for me not to coordinate my cabin controls to their liking.

DrJokepu 11y ago
Yes I mostly agree with that, even though I don't normally recline my seat if someone behind me used a Knee Defender I'd definitely complain about it, just out of spite as it's also not a very polite thing to do.