Breaking Traditions For a Better Society Traditions are beliefs and customs that all cultures, races, and religions have that are passed down between generations. They can connect the past, with the present, and the future. There are many traditions that are practiced as a second nature, such as toasting at a wedding. However, there are other traditions that have been passed down that aren 't practiced as widley. As these traditions are passed down, younger generations follow them without truly knowing the meaning of them, and this practice can become dangerous. Josh Linkner --entrepreneur, and author-- writes an article explaining the downside of traditions “If you think about it, the whole idea of a tradition causes us to turn off our brains. It is the easy, lazy thing to do. Just blindly follow the past so you don 't have to do the hard work of critical thinking in the present.” Meaning that when you blindly follow traditions, you are no longer thinking for yourself. When you follow traditions and reject change just because “it 's what we 've always done” it can have effects on things like the environment, and relationships, which can have fatal outcomes. In the short narrative, “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, a small town with a population just around three hundred people, the residents gather for an annual drawing of names on June 27th. They start by drawing the last name of each family in the village and after that, each family member draws another piece