this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2024
285 points (90.6% liked)
Showerthoughts
30023 readers
613 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- Avoid politics
- 3.1) NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
- 3.2) Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
- 3.3) Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I'm not sure that's true. One side has empathy. The other does not. I don't want to be friends with someone who doesn't have empathy.
The world is not binary like that. Your side is not all good and the other side is not all bad.
I didn't say they were "all bad." I said they lacked empathy and I wasn't interested in being friends with them.
Conservative and progressive brains are different.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conservative-and-liberal-brains-might-have-some-real-differences/
And one of those differences is empathy. https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/18/1/nsad029/7175525
You generalized as if everyone on the left has empathy and no one on the right does. That’s simply not true. Group differences like this are often larger within the group than between them. While it might be true that, on average, people on the right are less empathetic than those on the left, it’s neither fair nor accurate to imply that one side has empathy and the other doesn’t.
Eh. Fits with what I see in politics, the folks voting for right winger, and my own experiences conversing with them IRL. I see no issue with making that assumption and then being pleasantly surprised the odd time it isn't true.
Maybe it's a North America thing, tho. It's quite possible that the euro flavor of right wing is a more empathetic group.
Ive been down both sides of the indoctrination rabbit hole both the alt left and the alt right pipelines lead to the same place.
Ya, I'm not talking about extremists. I'm talking about just normal everyday people.
Exactly. So therefore ur side who contains its own extremists cant be all good can it. Therefore ur binary view us fundamentally flawed. The more u try and stick to it claim ur side is all righteous and the other side is all evil the the more u become the extremist u claim to denounce.
Never said my side was righteous. I said that one of the main differences between the left and right is empathy. This isn't an opinion, it's peer reviewed fact.
It's bleeding obvious, even without the science.
Every single facist ideology has claimed moral superiority to justify their actions. What makes ur ideology any different from that?
Also pls show me said peer reviewed journals u claim to have.
I'm not putting a value judgemental on empathy, I'm just restating that those on the left have more, and those on the right have less. (Which, again, just looking at behaviour, surprises nobody. )
Though, too be fair, I do prefer to hang out with empathetic people.
I reference 2 articles higher up in the thread. Feel free to scroll up and read.
One would need empathy to see it that way ;)
Empathy is something that can be learned like any ability, it isn't always a binary you have it or you don't.
I kind of see your point there. My hope though is that maybe people could gain more empathy for each other by understanding that we are all human and I hope that one day people can understand each other's struggles.
They see the world as a zero sum game. They can't imagine being happy unless someone else is unhappy.