Acceptance

I'm currently fascinated by human nature and mostly by gestures and mannerisms. I understand that a lot of our customs are based on tradition, but I don't understand why these aren't corrected, altered or at least thought about by the 'average' modern man.
Shaking hands is universally acceptable but my first question is why? Why not stroke another person? Why not caress their hair? How does shaking hands project the desired message?
As above, I know this has a traditional base but my issue is our general acceptance of things. Why can't we create new gestures on a daily basis and why won't these be immediately accepted? I guess it's down to the fact that human nature is rigidly set in it's own way and that we are naturally averse to change...
I'm unsure whether I've put my point across yet, my initial intrigue was and is based on the Ukrainian masculine handshake. My colleagues are largely female and out of roughly 20 employees only three are male. I was initially taken aback by the 'norm' in Ukraine as in the UK the hand shake is neither so popular nor gender specific. Upon entering the staff room, one of my male colleagues would offer me and any other male a hand and yet ignore the remainder of the female infested room...
I'm not saying this is positive or negative but for me it's strange. Why exclude 80% of the room upon arrival and why is hand shaking masculine?
A follow on from that is the universally accepted kiss and hug. Why are these 'normal?' Again....just to reiterate....I understand these gestures have come from centuries of tradition and practice but my issue, again, is a lack of change or adaptability. Why can't I rub my elbow against another friends elbow as a warm gesture? Why can't I crawl on the floor burping rhythmically to Bohemian Rhapsody to show my eternal love for another?....The answer lies I think in our unswerving ability as humans to automatically reject change and accept what we see, and likewise accept what those do around us....I think...
As one of gods many creations (I'm not saying I accept religion and that's anothermatter entirely) I believe our big-headedness hinders us. We generally accept things and often justify our actions with the basic reasoning that we are superior and inapprehensible, which couldn't be further from the truth.
What do you think about modern man's customs? Would you perhaps like to invent or introduce one of your own? Should patting someone's head be our new method of greeting friends and family? Or does tickling someone upon arrival sound more sane and pleasant even?
I've always found it both interesting and amusing when cultures collide - in a friendly way of course. Burping in one culture shows satisfaction and gratitude, whilst omitting to burp somewhere else would be classed as rude.
People are equally strange the world round, I belief, and an expression we have back home is: 'there's nowt queerer than folk.' This simply means there in nothing stranger than people and our supposedly blessed human race.
So, where am I leading with all this? Nowhere really ;) I just feel that while micro-expressions are largely a natural response, our outward gestures are mostly unnatural and strange. Any replacement action or gesture could equally be regarded as strange but why don't most of us at the very least, question why we do certain things?
Have you ever thought about why we do things? Have you ever considered licking a loved one's cheek instead of puckering up and planting a kiss on the lips?
My parting message or what I'd like to promote really is perhaps we should ask why we do even the most 'normal' things. Perhaps we should strive to explain this and this could lead on to explanations of even the most crazy....