Hate: A Worthless Waste of Energy

[jammieg]

What is hate?

 

[plum]

Hate is the feeling that arises in my brain when I spend the precious 20 seconds of my life reading anal brain farts expelled by ignorant minds...

Never mind- You, whoever you are- I hate you.

 

[jammieg]

That's a good example.

 

[Dissident Dan]

Hate is a flawed emotion. It causes people to wish uneccesary harm. It is especially absurd given that there is no such thing as free will.

 

[Thallium]

Must not forget that hate is human. It is an emotion and must not be suppressed as with other feelings. The opposite of love. Like yin yang. There is a balance in this that is a part of our function and we need both the negative and the positive to have some kind of moral, values and opinions at all.

 

[jammieg]

Assuming hate is of some beneficial use and is an emotion or a basic driving neurological function common to everyone, what purpose does hate serve? What is hate called when used to do good?
Of the things that get you boiling, what do they have in common?
What is the most common response of someone receiving hate from another? What is the least common response?

I hold this to be true, that when people truly understand each other they can't harm each other.

 

[Pseudonym]

Originally posted by jammieg
I hold this to be true, that when people truly understand each other they can't harm each other.

This is not true. Education does not eliminate evil. There are plenty of smart, educated criminals in high corporate positions. Man has an innate sense of basic right and wrong, but he suppresses it for his own selfish gain.

 

[Dissident Dan]

I say yin-yang, schming-shang. We must strive to understand how irrational and dangerous hate really is. Now, I'm not saying to suppress your emotions to the point that you explode, but we must learn to reduce hate as much as we can.

 

[olde drunk]

the best definition i ever heard was that it was the other side of the coin. it is love gone awry.

if someone does what you wanted you love them. if they disappoint you or fail to do as you wanted, it stimulates hate. you could not hate if you didn't want to love.

if a person, community, society does something that has no meaing, you feel neither. love and hate are two sides of the same emotion.

peace,

 

[crystal cascade]

Hate is a human emotion and is totally irrational, as with many human emotions. It tends to blind people from rational thought and prevents us from thinking clearly.

 

[Thallium]

Originally posted by Dissident Dan
I say yin-yang, schming-shang. We must strive to understand how irrational and dangerous hate really is. Now, I'm not saying to suppress your emotions to the point that you explode, but we must learn to reduce hate as much as we can.

Yes. We can reduce hate, and lvove for that matter, if it is no good, by using our sense. So I think.

 

[String Theorist]

I think hate is bad.

 

[Elledan]

'Hate', like all other 'negative' emotions, is a side-effect of the failure to understand something.

It requires energy to visualize the cause-effect process as well as similar relations between things. Failing to accomplish this, this energy instead is converted into what is commonly referred to as 'negative emotions'.

 

[Thallium]

Originally posted by Elledan
'Hate', like all other 'negative' emotions, is a side-effect of the failure to understand something.

It requires energy to visualize the cause-effect process as well as similar relations between things. Failing to accomplish this, this energy instead is converted into what is commonly referred to as 'negative emotions'.

That depends on what you hate. If your hate is a fight towards something evil, then the hate should not be made into anything else than hate. Loving and understanding the value in everything is impossible, and to do this you must have multiple personalities and not make any stands against something. Antagonism is a part of us, we fight for something we love and whatever fights against this, we deject and oppose against with hate. Not always of course.

Hate is absolutely not a consequence of ignorance as you imply here.
"The side-effect of the failure to understand something". We may understand Hitler's ferocious attitude towards Jews and his hate for everyone of a non-Aryan origin, but this understanding we have does not mean that we will not hate him for it. (At least those who do not agree with his views)

 

[Dissident Dan]

Originally posted by Thallium

Hate is absolutely not a consequence of ignorance as you imply here.
"The side-effect of the failure to understand something". We may understand Hitler's ferocious attitude towards Jews and his hate for everyone of a non-Aryan origin, but this understanding we have does not mean that we will not hate him for it. (At least those who do not agree with his views)

Hate of hitler is also irrational, although it can lead to overall positive effects. I do not hate hitler, although I have great negative feelings for what he did. What I mean by this is that although I despise what he did, I would not wish harm on him for harm's sake. Of course, punishment may have positive effects as a deterrent, but a choice to punish based on that would be a rational one, not one based on hate.

Negative feelings can be good motivators, although those negative feelings do not have to be hate for another.

 

[Elledan]

Originally posted by Thallium
That depends on what you hate.

The thing is that no one 'hates' something. 'Hate' is just the name given to a particular feeling, a feeling which is merely a symptom of another process, namely that of trying to fit that which one sees in one's sense of 'order'.

Emotions are merely symptoms. They've no relevance in themselves.

If your hate is a fight towards something evil, then the hate should not be made into anything else than hate. Loving and understanding the value in everything is impossible, and to do this you must have multiple personalities and not make any stands against something. Antagonism is a part of us, we fight for something we love and whatever fights against this, we deject and oppose against with hate. Not always of course.

One 'fights' to make everything appear consistent with one's sense of 'order'.

"Evil" is just a term given to anything which contradicts one's sense of order in a particular, usually destructive manner.

Hate is absolutely not a consequence of ignorance as you imply here.

Never once did I mention "ignorance". I used the term "failure to understand something", referring to the inability of one to 'fit' something in one's perception of one's surroundings.

"The side-effect of the failure to understand something". We may understand Hitler's ferocious attitude towards Jews and his hate for everyone of a non-Aryan origin, but this understanding we have does not mean that we will not hate him for it. (At least those who do not agree with his views)

Once one moves on to a more realistic sense of 'order', one founded on a more solid scientific basis, things like the example you gave are easy to explain.

What one sees every day is the interaction between the different perceptions of 'order' individuals have. Every single one of them considers their perception to be as much a part of themselves as their arm or leg. Their personality originates from this perception as well.

Of course, there's no such thing as a unique personality, and there's only one real perception of everything.

People can not live without a sense of order, and a goal to strive for. Asking them to reconsider their convictions or change it for something which is obviously better is therefore a foolish undertaking without employing suitable methods.

 

[Njorl]

The primitive, beneficial purpose of hate was survivalist - not survival of the self so much as survival of genes. In times of primitive, life and death struggle, establishment of an us-vs-them paradigm was more successful than a rational ordering of prorities. The irrational hatred of others might lead to a massacre, and sole possession of hunting/gathering grounds. This strategy was beneficial even before times of great need.

As we progressed, "us" became a much bigger group. It also became more difficult to distinguish "us" from "them". In the USA, when we go to war, it is inevitable that many of "us" will look like "them". This makes hatred a very poor option now evolutionarily speaking.

On a personal level, hatred does stem from somewhat the same source. We perceive others as alien. If the different nature of another is threatening in some aspect, we will probably tend to feel hatred. I'm not saying that we hate everything that is different, but that we are more likely to hate things that are perceived as strange and threatening. Those who are very insecure may see any difference as a threat to their lifestyle, as a judgement that they are wrong.

Njorl

 

[Thallium]

Nonetheless, hate might not be necessary and it is not rational, but it is a human feeling. Opposing hate is hate towards hate. We are humans and as humans we must accept our emotions and not try to solve them out with scientifical explanations and philosophies.

Instead we should try to find out the origin of hate in a given situation and search for the causes and consequences.

It sounds like some of you want hate to be gone, but no it cannot be gone. It sounds like some of you are not willing to accept the indeniable existence of hate. Hate is in our nature.

It is correct Elledan that feelings have no relevance in them, but that is not supposed to be an implication of us needing to remove hate from our minds? You hate something or someone I know. So do I. Emotions are necessary for us to be able to interact and care for each other. This is at least not irrational.

(I hope this did not digress too much)

 

[Pseudonym]

Hate and anger can be distinct, can they not?

 

[Evo]

Originally posted by jammieg
What is hate?

I think hate is an emotion that stems from a feeling of inadequacy against a particular situation that goes against what you want or need.

You may disagree with someone's opinion, or a statistic, or a policy, but "hate" is a much deeper "emotion". It doesn't have to be rational.

I'm not talking about flipant comments like "I hate my hair" or "I hate this outfit", but true "hatred".

If you stop and think about something that evokes a sense of "hatred", why is that? Hatred is a "passion". It involves the supplanting of something that is near and dear to you, right? Can you feel real hatred for something that you do not care deeply about, either real or imaginary?

 

[NIT14]

This is my philosophy of "hate."

There are two different kinds of "hate." First, we have the irrational hate, which accomplishes nothing and is the result of ignorance. This hate is probably a product of anger and/or frustration. And on the other hand, we have the rational version of hate. When we understand something to be malicious to ourselves, or something essential to us, we tend to hate whatever that element may be. But we hate it for good reason. This hate is the product of love, and usually rational and responsible fear.

 

[jammieg]

This is a good start, I'm happy so many contribute, looking over this I think that the main distinction between hate and anger or aggression would be that aggression is the response to a perceived stimulus that seems to suggest things are out of one's control and those things are of a threatening or destructive nature, or upset one's sense of order, or in general aggression's effect would be to take control of things and so perceived vulnerabilities stimulate anger and controlling things feeds aggression and so feels good and when one can't find anything to get angry about they make things up and pick fights. Hate is more likely the intense form of this in which the perceived threat is of a very destructive nature toward oneself and the way of hate is like kill or be killed and so once a person is dead set on "them" being the enemy it's very difficult for that person to try and help someone they are supposed to seek destroying let alone try to understand them since whatever they say is likely to be a lie in order that they can get the upper hand over their enemy.
I only care to change myself though what I want to know is how to use hate better, because it seems to me that the most motivated times I've ever been was when someone hated me and I changed myself instead of them, so how best to receive hate and how best to dispense it I think are fundamental questions in life.
Mystically, fire is one of the most destructive forces of nature and yet humans learned to control it and do many neat things with it so what if hate were like fire that when destructively constructively used could be the most motivational emotion?

 

[Elledan]

Originally posted by Evo
I think hate is an emotion that stems from a feeling of inadequacy against a particular situation that goes against what you want or need.

Exactly.

"Inadequacy", or "failure to understand" :)

 

[Elledan]

Originally posted by NIT14
This is my philosophy of "hate."

There are two different kinds of "hate." First, we have the irrational hate, which accomplishes nothing and is the result of ignorance. This hate is probably a product of anger and/or frustration. And on the other hand, we have the rational version of hate. When we understand something to be malicious to ourselves, or something essential to us, we tend to hate whatever that element may be. But we hate it for good reason. This hate is the product of love, and usually rational and responsible fear.

I disagree. There's no rational version of 'hate'.

What you call a 'rational' version of hate is in fact no different from the hate of people during the Middle Ages when confronted with a 'witch', or 'possessed' individual.

Only science is completely rational. What place do emotions have in science, other than as a research object?

 

[olde drunk]

one additional consideration. hate is anger that has not been addressed and allowed to infect the individual.

when love, affection and/or expectation have been disappointed there is anger. if the anger is not exercised it becomes hate.

from this perspective hate can be damaging. tis better to be motived by anger; actions based on hatred tend to be unreasonable.

peace,

 

[Pseudonym]

Originally posted by Elledan
What you call a 'rational' version of hate is in fact no different from the hate of people during the Middle Ages when confronted with a 'witch', or 'possessed' individual.

I think what NIT14 was trying to say was that hate might be justified if it was directed against an actual evil or threat, not a 'witch,' or some unreasonable scapegoat for all of life's problems.

Would you say it's okay to hate child predators?- or maybe if not the person, the act?

 

[NIT14]

What I meant was that "rational hate" is something that occurs when one is confronted with an issue that is critical to his survival, or something to that extent. For example, if insects were rational entities, with the ability to feel emotion, it would be rational for them to hate snakes because the snake is what eats them. Their hate would kind of be a defense mechanism, in a sense. I'm not sure if you can understand what I'm saying through that strange example, but my point was that I believe "hate" isn't always irrational, and is at times necessary.

Would you say it's okay to hate child predators?

Well, I hate them. I don't see how one couldn't. Our hatred for them is precisely what prevents them. I suppose it's just a matter of what you believe we are and aren't allowed to prevent.

 

[Elledan]

Originally posted by NIT14
What I meant was that "rational hate" is something that occurs when one is confronted with an issue that is critical to his survival, or something to that extent. For example, if insects were rational entities, with the ability to feel emotion, it would be rational for them to hate snakes because the snake is what eats them. Their hate would kind of be a defense mechanism, in a sense. I'm not sure if you can understand what I'm saying through that strange example, but my point was that I believe "hate" isn't always irrational, and is at times necessary.

However, one can only hate what one doesn't understand. As long as one perceives the snake (to use your example) as a threat without attemping to grok the snake's nature and motives, that snake remains a bogeyman: the subject of irrational fear and hatred.

My own experiences support this. With my understanding of the world improving at an ever increasing pace, I have noticed that since a couple of months I can no longer feel hate, or at least not for more than mere seconds. The same counts for other 'negative' emotions, like anger and grief.

 

[NIT14]

However, one can only hate what one doesn't understand. As long as one perceives the snake (to use your example) as a threat without attemping to grok the snake's nature and motives, that snake remains a bogeyman: the subject of irrational fear and hatred.

No, one can definitely hate what he understands. The insect realizes the snake is not his friend. He understands that the snake must eat him to survive, but he is not interested in the snakes interests. Therefore, he hates him, because the snake is a detriment to his agenda and survival. How can it be irrational to hate something that you clearly understand and when you know exactly where the hatred arises from? I understand exactly what "child predators" are, and I hate them for good reason.

 

[Elledan]

Originally posted by NIT14
How can it be irrational to hate something that you clearly understand and when you know exactly where the hatred arises from? I understand exactly what "child predators" are, and I hate them for good reason.

This is where you are wrong.

You do not understand "child predators", just like you aren't capable of explaining and predicting human behaviour.

You're probably still struggling to define that which defines you as a unique individual, meanwhile pursuing goals which are utterly pointless. Lacking even a basic understanding of logic, everything you see around you is covered by pretence: your family, friends, the career you're dreaming of, the person you love, all of your preferences, ad nauseam. It's all pretence.

Humans are living organisms, with a neural network (brain) which is advanced enough for a level of conscious sufficiently high to make it concern itself with more abstract things. Yet all humans still desire two things: order and a goal. This regardless of whether their sense of order (understanding of the world) is realistic and their goal(s) are merely futile.
From this all human behaviour arises, including the concept of a unique identity (one's 'self').

Everyone fears the unknown. One hates that which one fears. Hence one only hates things that are unfamiliar.