Celebrate or Not: Bin Laden's Death - Thoughts?

[micromass]

Your assessment is incorrect, but anyway, this made me laugh , no offense. So you consider specific others unworthy of your hate, but at the same time you proclaim your unflinching empathy towards them.

Whats going to be ? Unworthy, or so worthy that you are willingly given to give them their empathy, find a place for them in your heart like all good human beings must do. Do tell me pls. Or maybe the brain is just playing the cards you got at your birth and the modulations of your social upbringing ?

Besides, hate , as empathy, is an emotion. As you said, "the great thing about empathy is that you don't get to chose who you give your empathy to". It's the same with hate. Or if it is not, your theory about the subjects of empathy doesn't hold any water,

You didn't answer my question.

 

[DanP]

You evaded my point. Do you feel better than the people who do feel empathy towards others??

How the hell should I know how does a person who feels empathy towards be-headers feel about themselves. I am not like you, I can't think like you. I can't compare myself to you. Like I said, I consider myself lucky that my empathy doesn't kick in for such beings and this is as fair as an answer I can give without markedly falling into self serving biases. Your characteristics may be an adaptive advantage in a certain environment, while mine can be an advantage in other environments.

I would certainly not have the arrogance to proclaim and I paraphrase "It is this mercy that makes us different from such people". IMO this is just a self-serving bias. Sheep, wolf, sheepdog, none is intrinsically better than the other (from an adapative PoV) when all its said and done. They just exercise different functions in different social contexts.

 

[micromass]

How the hell should I know how do a person who feel empathy towards be-header feel about themselves. I am not like you, I can't think like you. I can't compare myself to you. Like I said, I consider myself lucky that my empathy doesn't kick in for such beings and this is as fair as an answer I can give without markedly falling into self serving biases. Your characteristics may be an adaptive advantage in a certain environment, while mine can be an advantage in other environments.

Fair point, you're probably correct in this.

I would certainly not have the arrogance to proclaim and I paraphrase "It is this mercy that makes us different from such people". IMO this is just a self-serving bias. Sheep, wolf, sheepdog, none is better than the other when all its said and done. They just exercise different functions in different social contexts.

Well, it may seems like a self-serving bias from your point-of-view. But your entire "sheep,wolf, sheepdog"-story and things like "you're in denial and blind" also seem like a self-serving bias in my point-of-view.

I can't make you feel empathy, that doesn't make you a bad person, at all. But you can't make me feel hate towards others, you probably find that naive, but so be it. Let's just accept that we're all different here. And isn't that a good thing? Being all thesame certainly would be a boring world...

 

[DanP]

Well, it may seems like a self-serving bias from your point-of-view. But your entire "sheep,wolf, sheepdog"-story and things like "you're in denial and blind" also seem like a self-serving bias in my point-of-view.

Think a bit this from a different PoV. Do you feel drawn to jobs positions in which you may have to decide the fate of the others, do whatever **** it takes and live with the burden? Would you want to be a criminal judge ? Prosecutor ? A federal Marshall ? Military ? Civilian security contractor ? A politician ? Drawn to other high risk - high power jobs ?

If you feel drawn, it is most likely your a dog. Frankly I consider the dog seeing the threats better than the sheep, it has been breed for this (for humans this is a combination of genes and up-brining ), and it is better equipped to deal with them.

Dont look at terms sheep and sheepdog as insulting. This is not the intention. Certainly not mine, and I think Col Grossman who wrote that piece didn't intended to insult anybody as well. The basic message is that some humans are better equipped than others to recognize and negotiate threats and deal with them. It doesn't make then intrinsically better humans, it makes them better at some specific jobs. And ya, neither are the dogs biases free, no human is.

I can't make you feel empathy, that doesn't make you a bad person, at all. But you can't make me feel hate towards others, you probably find that naive, but so be it. Let's just accept that we're all different here. And isn't that a good thing? Being all the same certainly would be a boring world...

I agree 100% with you. I don't want to change you, besides, it is an impossible task. Your personality and behavioral traits are most likely stable by a long time and they don't evolve anymore. As are mine. It's a good thing we are different.