Compassion... Empathy... The Capacity for Both.

[Sundiata]

Actually, to discuss Nazis in the context of empathy might not be totally irrational, especially when noting their profound lack of it.

[Suriyanakhon]

Please, whatever you do, pick someone else as a role model. Anyone but a fucking Nazi, let alone Reinhard Heydrich.

Even Hitler would be a better role model. And... wow, yes. I actually typed that.

So this is where the bar has dropped.

[Neanderthaland]

Actually, to discuss Nazis in the context of empathy might not be totally irrational, especially when noting their profound lack of it.

I mean... Hitler did ban fox hunting. A barbaric and cruel practice.

So, you know... not really going to tip the scales on the whole genocide thing, but at least better than Heydrich.

[Neutraligon]

Actually, to discuss Nazis in the context of empathy might not be totally irrational, especially when noting their profound lack of it.

I mean... Hitler did ban fox hunting. A barbaric and cruel practice.

So, you know... not really going to tip the scales on the whole genocide thing, but at least better than Heydrich.

The wave once again seems to be relevant to this discussion. Empathy and compassion are like I said necessary for a group to function, but it is also necessary for a group to not have such feelings about those outside of it, because of the competition for resources. If you manage to make an other, like the Nazis so successfully did, and manage to create a strong sense of in group solidarity then you can very easily feel compassion for your own while lacking it entirely with the other.

[Neanderthaland]

I mean... Hitler did ban fox hunting. A barbaric and cruel practice.

So, you know... not really going to tip the scales on the whole genocide thing, but at least better than Heydrich.

The wave once again seems to be relevant to this discussion. Empathy and compassion are like I said necessary for a group to function, but it is also necessary for a group to not have such feelings about those outside of it, because of the competition for resources. If you manage to make an other, like the Nazis so successfully did, and manage to create a strong sense of in group solidarity then you can very easily feel compassion for your own while lacking it entirely with the other.

Thank you. Yes. Tribalism is a strange thing.

I'd add, even thought it's possibly stretching the limits of the topic, that this is sometimes also the case for non-human species. Ants and termites are some of the most profoundly pro-social species on the planet. But they do NOT play nice with outsiders. Whereas the alligator, while not particularly friendly towards it's own kind (or anyone else), is unlikely to mobilize a mass invasion of the neighboring swamp, and wipe out all who stand in their way.


Mammals are a bit more encouraging though. There are many accounts of social mammals befriending even other species. Which is an encouraging thing. And gives me hope that when we find aliens one day we will be able to not kill each other. And maybe engage in some Kirk diplomacy as well

[Neutraligon]

The wave once again seems to be relevant to this discussion. Empathy and compassion are like I said necessary for a group to function, but it is also necessary for a group to not have such feelings about those outside of it, because of the competition for resources. If you manage to make an other, like the Nazis so successfully did, and manage to create a strong sense of in group solidarity then you can very easily feel compassion for your own while lacking it entirely with the other.

Thank you. Yes. Tribalism is a strange thing.

I'd add, even thought it's possibly stretching the limits of the topic, that this is sometimes also the case for non-human species. Ants and termites are some of the most profoundly pro-social species on the planet. But they do NOT play nice with outsiders. Whereas the alligator, while not particularly friendly towards it's own kind (or anyone else), is unlikely to mobilize a mass invasion of the neighboring swamp, and wipe out all who stand in their way.


Mammals are a bit more encouraging though. There are many accounts of social mammals befriending even other species. Which is an encouraging thing. And gives me hope that when we find aliens one day we will be able to not kill each other. And maybe engage in some Kirk diplomacy as well

There is a reason I said look at bonobos vs chimps. bonobos tend to live in resource rich areas, and so competition for things like food is actually disadvantageous after all that sort of competition leads individuals dying. When groups of bonobos meet, there is not the mount of fighting you see between when groups of chimps meet (and a lot more sex).

[Sundiata]

Actually, to discuss Nazis in the context of empathy might not be totally irrational, especially when noting their profound lack of it.

I mean... Hitler did ban fox hunting. A barbaric and cruel practice.

So, you know... not really going to tip the scales on the whole genocide thing, but at least better than Heydrich.

I enjoy hunting. It can be good for the ecosystem.

[Neanderthaland]

I mean... Hitler did ban fox hunting. A barbaric and cruel practice.

So, you know... not really going to tip the scales on the whole genocide thing, but at least better than Heydrich.

I enjoy hunting. It can be good for the ecosystem.

Fox hunting refers to the particular practice wherein posh guys on horseback slowly chase down a fox with a mob of dogs, which then violently rip it apart.

It's not like a humane trap or anything.

EDIT: For the record I don't really enjoy hunting that much (it's just not the same since all the wooly rhinos died out...), but I don't object to the ethical practice of hunting. And applaud people who take effort to kill animals as quickly and painlessly as possible.

[Sundiata]

I enjoy hunting. It can be good for the ecosystem.

Fox hunting refers to the particular practice wherein posh guys on horseback slowly chase down a fox with a mob of dogs, which then violently rip it apart.

It's not like a humane trap or anything.

I see. Well, surely that's excessive.

[Ethel mermania]

The wave once again seems to be relevant to this discussion. Empathy and compassion are like I said necessary for a group to function, but it is also necessary for a group to not have such feelings about those outside of it, because of the competition for resources. If you manage to make an other, like the Nazis so successfully did, and manage to create a strong sense of in group solidarity then you can very easily feel compassion for your own while lacking it entirely with the other.

Thank you. Yes. Tribalism is a strange thing.

I'd add, even thought it's possibly stretching the limits of the topic, that this is sometimes also the case for non-human species. Ants and termites are some of the most profoundly pro-social species on the planet. But they do NOT play nice with outsiders. Whereas the alligator, while not particularly friendly towards it's own kind (or anyone else), is unlikely to mobilize a mass invasion of the neighboring swamp, and wipe out all who stand in their way.


Mammals are a bit more encouraging though. There are many accounts of social mammals befriending even other species. Which is an encouraging thing. And gives me hope that when we find aliens one day we will be able to not kill each other. And maybe engage in some Kirk diplomacy as well

The thing is though there are just as many instances of mammals of the same species killing for lol's each other, as empatheticly helping each other to survive and be well.

But i do sort of think, end of the day, it is an interspecies empathy, that that allows us, to bang, the green babe.