Do you think that EMPATHY is the creation of SOCIETY and not NATURAL SELECTION?

Question

Do you think that humans are not naturally empathic (caring, compassionate to other humans) and that it is the training of childhood that makes us compassionate?

ie: If we were taught from childhood to be malicious to others, do you think that people would do so with no regret or doubts, even as they are about to commit cold blooded murder?

Please elaborate on your reasoning.

Answer 1

Definitely, natural selection only accounts for some behaviors and actions that we have taken in our ancestral path through evolution. The fact that we can think and reason is imperative as to why we are able to be conditioned to think one certain way or brainwashed to believe something we otherwise wouldn't. I believe that we are all born blank slates, as the theory goes, and that our environment and sociology help shape who we become and what we consider good, bad and everything else in between. Natural selection only provides us with those basic instincts that we need to survive as soon as we are born, like knowing how to suck as soon as you're born (baby's sucking reaction to anything that is put in his/her mouth, as a reaction to eating) etc... The fact that we depend so much on our parents when we are born is also another adaptation from natural selection, which is why we can't go looking for food as soon as we are born, compared to some animals in the wild which can hunt practically as soon as they are born and their parents leave them to be. So yes, Our environment and everything that functions within it means everything to us, because through that is how we grow and will keep evolving into the future, therefore natural selection is only a derivative of our involvement and survival in our own environment.

Answer 2

I think our capacity for reason is what separates us from the animal kingdom and that that capacity can be manipulated.
If a persons is programmed so to speak, from an early age, so he can rationalize violence, then it may appear to be a logical choice for him.
Maybe not even from an early age. Look at how Hitler was able to influence a whole nation (or at least most of it) into actions we now call the holocaust.
The big stink last year over Ward Churchill caused me to research the book "Eichmann in Jerusalem" In that book, the Author discusses how Eichmann, who at the start was an ordinary man with a wife & kids working at the railroad, became oblivious to the fact that his actions were causing so much death.
In his defense he said he didn't like what he was doing but that 'everybody else was doing it'.
So I guesss to answer your question, I think that how we develop our capacity for reasoning is what makes the difference in whether we are compassionate or malicious or somewhere in between.

Answer 3

I saw a clip on a news show or PBS showing a child of about 9 months begin to cry, and a child nearby, the same age, heard him and looked (worried?) and after a few seconds, he began to cry, too. I don't think that was empathy as we know it. I think he identified with him and sensed some danger in the environment.

Later, our role models, I'd think, play a major part in developing how widely we will identify with others and extend this shared feeling of empathy. But the source is probably our own survival.

How many times have you heard someone say something like: 'I feel terrible for her; I know how I'd feel if I lost my (family member).' How many people join or support charitable organizations only as a direct result of a family member or friend being diagnosed with that particular affliction.

Unfortunately, I've heard the opposite effect does take place, ex: viewpoints espoused by young Neo-Nazis youth, who have been influenced in that direction by role models who have a warped view of their groups' 'survival'; I believe that may have happened with the domestic terrorist in the Oklahoma bombing, on 911, and with other horrific events.

Answer 4

False dichotomy. Without a basic level of empathy (i.e. the ability for us to understand the feelings and experiences of others) society most likely wouldn't have developed beyond small tribal bands. Once proto-societies began to form, the ability to empathize became better refined.

Answer 5

There is no mechanistic explanation for something like empathy, kindness, honesty, morality, etc. The reason these qualities exist is because we are ultimately spiritual in nature. We are part of the spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord who has all good qualities in full. As His parts and parcels, we have a fraction of His qualities, just as a drop of ocean water has the same qualities as the whole ocean.

Answer 6

I go with natural selection. Even animals are empathetic and altruistic as animal experts know, so its built in tocreatures for a reason. Probably a buddy-buddy system, I help you, so when I need it, you'll help me - it is a good investment in survival, like an investment in the future in case something goes wrong; like a safety net.

Answer 7

society created empathy in the early 60's and it was renamed ecstacy in the 90's...

Answer 8

No Empathy => Mom kills/eats Baby => no Society..

:-)

Answer 9

society' it is taught, it's about the mvp's the morals, values and, principals. how can you care about your own and not about another. if it does'nt have a direct affect it will have an indirect effect.