Why are some people so cruel? What causes bullying?

Question

What is it about human nature that makes certain people want to pick on someone vulnerable? Is it to hide their own fears & insecurities or is it just pure evil...?

Answer 1

Ignorance is the root of fear. Fear is the root of anger. Anger is the root of violence.
The truly strong can afford to be compassionate and gentle. The weak, in denial of their own weakness, lash out against those weaker to assuage their own fear of the truth of their weakness. It is ignorance at the root of it. For such people to be a positive part of civilized society, they need to learn the truth about themselves. If they won't learn, we have to teach them.
It isn't personal, but this is the way of the human world. Learn to defend yourself, learn to stop violence quickly, with and without weapons. Now you know it isn't directed towards you personally, so you should be able to let insults and taunts go in one ear and out the other. But when an ignorant person gets violent with you, you can give them an education.
God bless you, we're not all bad out here.

Answer 2

I don't think anyone is pure evil. Even if you believe that people lean towards evil, pure evil would be a stretch. I would say that they feel bad about themselves and like being the center of attention. Perhaps in another situation they were picked on.

Answer 3

Hi, Amp,
Despite the facade that such people put up, bullies have low self-confidence and low self-esteem, and thus feel insecure... Low self-esteem is a factor highlighted...
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Where the stress of "the moment", causes behavior to deteriorate... the person becomes short-tempered, irritable and may shout or swear at others... Everybody does this from time to time, but when the pressure is removed, behavior returns to normal, the person recognizes the inappropriateness of their behavior, makes amends, and may apologize, and ..crucially learns from the experience, so that next time "the situation arises".. they are better able to deal with it... !
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Thanks, for the question!;)
The best of luck!

My regards!

Answer 4

I don't think we should search for one theory covers all violence explanation theory, but, one possible context is the bullies mind, that it operates on a theory of superstition, superstited relation of personal strength and enduring abuse, i.e. the bully abuses to 'teach' the victim, to give the victim 'character' or some other name they use for whatever mysterious quality for personhood they are trying to create. This conceptual form is at the core of their sadism. As it is incomplete, it is infinite, 'infinite' used as a synonym for 'incomplete', it goes unfinished, and as such it goes on ad infinitum as the bully fails to identify the contradiction in the superstition needed to start the change process.

Here is a symbolic comparison/contrast for four basic emotional conditions.

Here in summary form: Legend of symbols:

'+' = 'a joining', 'a physical contact', 'will to communicate', generally positive, not negating but positing, positioning, proposing...

'-' = a negation, taking a part, destruction, removal, exclusion, ....

Love without specifying relationship nor act specification: + + + +

Sexual activity: - + + + (the reason for the minus "-" is the breaking down for resistence in the form anxiety (drugs, alcohol, ideology), loveless sex has this uncertainty whereas love filled sexual activity has no such uncertainty or resistence)

Sadism: - - + + (this form of aggression has a psychological component that may described spiritual, superstitious, ideological. One '+' is for this 'spiritual component' and the other '+' the will or urge to get at the victim)

Aggression in the form hostility, anger: - - - + (the pure will to destroy, uncluttered with ideology, higher ideal, the unreality of superstition or supernaturality, no abstraction is possible, it is negated. The last '+' is the physical excertion upon the object, the sole but very limited contact with reality, the victim)

defense: - - - - (the will to escape danger, there is no component for contact, the negation desired is total and instantaneous, immediate, to flee, to avert the senses from the threat, ...)

Answer 5

Some people just have a warped sense of humor and they get off on frightening others. It's also a power surge they are feeding when they instill fear in others. Many times these people are abused themselves. Instead of confronting their own abuser, they transfer that same thing onto others who can't or won't fight back.

Answer 6

People say that bulling comes from insecurity, to boost one's self confidence. Everyone bullies. Even you have. Even the person reading this right now.

Answer 7

another perspective

"you grieve and yet spout words of wisdom. Neither for the dead nor for the living the wise men grieve. "

Then Lord Krishna said to Arjuna: "I am really surprised by what you propose to do in the midst of war. You call yourself clever, but you are not conscious of your ignorance. Well, if I wish to enlighten you, you raise various moral issues. When a person blind from birth becomes mad, he runs helter-skelter; your cleverness seems to me like that. You are ignorant of your Self and grieve for the Kauravas. This is what amazes me over and over again. Tell me, 0 Arjuna, do you support these three worlds? Do you think that this beginningless creation of the world is untrue (91-95)? When we talk of God as the originator of all creatures in the world, is it a mere empty talk? 4s it the case that you have created birth and death and the Kauravas will meet death only if you kill them? Or tell me, if you, deluded by egoism, refuse to slay them, will they live in eternity? Do not delude yourself that you are the one who kills, and they are the ones to get killed. All these things happen as ordained from time without beginning. Why should you then grieve over it without reason (96-100)? Not knowing this, you think the unthinkable out of folly and on the top of it profess to give us lessons in morality. The discriminating do not grieve over birth and death, as all our thinking about them is due to delusion."

Answer 8

I think it´s insecurity, but most of the people who bully do it because they are ignorants. Its in our nature to do it but it is our reason that stops our destructive nature, or so it should be

Answer 9

this people don't know what there saying,
its dominance over another
its like i bring a new dog to the yard and my dog shows who's the boss around the yard
it has not has to do with insecurity

Answer 10

I don't think that they have all been having a bad time at home. A lot of it is the "popular" girls that just think they are better than everyone and that it doesn't even matter if they hurt someones feelings because they have their "perfect" circle of friends and they are just b*tchy like that.