For the 400 years of tradition to count for more than recent developments of equal import requires a person of that age and it requires nothing less.
Nonsense. Again, centuries of tradition shape a culture. As much as the idea that we can wipe out racism in a single generation might be appealing, it simply isn't true.
Therefore I reject the premise that an anchient tradition requires an equal length of time to complete its eradication or reversal , there is just no truth in the argument.
Maybe not an equal length of time, but that doesn't mean the amount of time is short or merely a single lifetime. You can reject the argument all you like, but talking about a 400 year old man does not counter the argument. Cultures do not change overnight. The outlawing of slavery hardly made ill treatment of black workers go away. As I said before, I get that in some way the 400 year old man is supposed to be clever, but you're missing the point. No learning has more force than the people who have learned it, sure sounds nice, but I don't see it born out in reality.
I do not see these assertions borne out in reality.
Anchient customs can be fragile and difficult to preserve , when General McArther was in charge of Japan he realised that there were several crafts in danger of being forgotten . The "liveing treasure " program garuntees that a small number of masters of the traditional crafts receive a stipend and an oppurtunity to teach.
I wish I could have realisd sooner what a liveing treasure my father was , I could have learned flint knapping , the names and uses of many plants , how to break a horse , blacksmithing ,like a dozen things that I failed to learn when I might have, it makes me so sorry now.I did learn a few things probly half what I could have.
I don't disagree with My fathers attitudes twards race though , I don't need to change much in that tradition because he made that change himself before I was old enough to have formed a mature opinion. He also trained himself to speak very precicely which shows up in my accent , I seldom say "ain't " for example.
On a wider scale modern communication is evening out reagional diffrences in accent and opinion , there is little lore that is confined to a region anymore , if it is really interesting it will become a movie and travel the planet.
It is popular to paint people as unmoveing and unadaptable , but the evidence of history is very much to the contrary , preserveing a tradition takes work.
Now explain to me how a learning could possibly have more force than the people who have learned it , the people who beleive in it etc., perhaps it sounds nice, but that is a poor argument against it being true.