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Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

gerrymcgovern.com

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Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#11

Post by mostofemlolz »

tombert wrote: post #4

I got my iPhone stolen from me a few months ago in a sort of mugging. I say "sort of", because it wasn't really violent, I wasn't injured, but rather two teenagers (I'd say roughly 17-18) came up to me, one asked if he could call his mom, I tell him that I'll call her on speaker phone, I unlock my phone, then his friend grabs my phone, the first guy shoves me, and they run away. I didn't chase after them because I ha…

If you take a look at this article as a heuristic as to where our new neigbors arrived from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/where-immigrants-come-...

You will notice that since the 1960's the new americans have come from societies where kindness is definitely seen as a weakness because of how corrupt their societies are. So people adapt and view kindness as so.

Just because they have arrived here does not mean they have shed their previous world views.

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#12

Post by KittenInABox »

oatmeal1 wrote: post #10

> Billionaires are Machiavellian, psychopathic, and narcissistic, according to psychological research. They are malevolent self-promoters, emotionally cold, nonstop liars and highly aggressive. Ironic considering the title of the post

What's ironic about it?

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#13

Post by ethanbond »

mostofemlolz wrote: post #11
tombert wrote: post #4

I got my iPhone stolen from me a few months ago in a sort of mugging. I say "sort of", because it wasn't really violent, I wasn't injured, but rather two teenagers (I'd say roughly 17-18) came up to me, one asked if he could call his mom, I tell him that I'll call her on speaker phone, I unlock my phone, then his friend grabs my phone, the first guy shoves me, and they run away. I didn't chase after them because I ha…

If you take a look at this article as a heuristic as to where our new neigbors arrived from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/where-immigrants-come-... You will notice that since the 1960's the new americans have come from societies where kindness is definitely seen as a weakness because of how corrupt their societies are. So people adapt and view kindness as so. Just because they have arrived here does not mean…

And the correct response to that is to show kindness, obviously. The alternative is to degrade to a low-trust society.

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#14

Post by withinboredom »

blablablerg wrote: post #9
tombert wrote: post #4

I got my iPhone stolen from me a few months ago in a sort of mugging. I say "sort of", because it wasn't really violent, I wasn't injured, but rather two teenagers (I'd say roughly 17-18) came up to me, one asked if he could call his mom, I tell him that I'll call her on speaker phone, I unlock my phone, then his friend grabs my phone, the first guy shoves me, and they run away. I didn't chase after them because I ha…

(Too much) empathy can definitely be a weakness. It is situational however, in a safe and peaceful environment it is beneficial and helpful, in less fortunate environments it can make you a target.

Too much of anything can be a weakness. If you blow up whenever someone makes a mom joke at your (mom's) expense ... that can be used against you. It takes a cool head to prevail in these situations and defensive thinking. He could have asked the kids to back up, ensuring he had enough space and time to react if they tried something.

You can still help people and remain wary of them.

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#15

Post by withinboredom »

glcihgnwe wrote: post #3

No, but it's dangerous to grant it to people who don't reciprocate. One of the diversity officers at my company was recently discovered to have been embezzling money from the company, cloaking oneself in noble moral intentions and telling a satisfying moral story is just that: speech. We need to see folks demonstrate good faith before inviting them into a system of trade for mutual benefit.

And if people are waiting for you to replicate, when will there ever be any trust?

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#16

Post by metabagel »

tombert wrote: post #4

I got my iPhone stolen from me a few months ago in a sort of mugging. I say "sort of", because it wasn't really violent, I wasn't injured, but rather two teenagers (I'd say roughly 17-18) came up to me, one asked if he could call his mom, I tell him that I'll call her on speaker phone, I unlock my phone, then his friend grabs my phone, the first guy shoves me, and they run away. I didn't chase after them because I ha…

People occasionally posit how they would deal with situations were they to arise. For example, that they would have fought back if they were on one of the planes which was hijacked on 9/11.

It’s really hard for anyone to say how they would handle themselves in a situation which they have not encountered before.

As a side note, people who continually lecture other people are generally not great people to be around.

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#17

Post by kamikaz1k »

ethanbond wrote: post #13
mostofemlolz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you take a look at this article as a heuristic as to where our new neigbors arrived from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/where-immigrants-come-... You will notice that since the 1960's the new americans have come from societies where kindness is definitely seen as a weakness because of how corrupt their societies are. So people adapt and view kindness as so. Just because they have arrived here does not mean…

And the correct response to that is to show kindness, obviously. The alternative is to degrade to a low-trust society.

Actually, it is not obvious, especially if you’re acting independently.

Once there’s a critical mass of people in society that can’t operate in high trust, you’re basically waiting for the generous people to be fleeced.

~There was a cute simulation web app on HN 6 months ago…I can’t find it.~ Found it!

https://ncase.me/trust/

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#18

Post by nuancebydefault »

tombert wrote: post #4

I got my iPhone stolen from me a few months ago in a sort of mugging. I say "sort of", because it wasn't really violent, I wasn't injured, but rather two teenagers (I'd say roughly 17-18) came up to me, one asked if he could call his mom, I tell him that I'll call her on speaker phone, I unlock my phone, then his friend grabs my phone, the first guy shoves me, and they run away. I didn't chase after them because I ha…

I think it was kind to provide your phone to someone asking. The fact that they robbed it should not be a seen as a lesson, rather should be seen as "shit happens but it could have been worse".

Maybe if you did not offer the phone, they would have taken it forcefully.

Re: Fairness and kindness are not weaknesses

#20

Post by jdietrich »

KittenInABox wrote: post #12
oatmeal1 wrote: post #10

> Billionaires are Machiavellian, psychopathic, and narcissistic, according to psychological research. They are malevolent self-promoters, emotionally cold, nonstop liars and highly aggressive. Ironic considering the title of the post

What's ironic about it?

Narcissism and psychopathy are recognised psychiatric disorders. It is a breach of psychiatric ethics to give a professional opinion on anyone who you have not personally assessed (the Goldwater rule).

Wealthy and successful people are probably slightly more prone to exhibiting the behaviours associated with those disorders, but the evidence base for this is low quality. If there is a difference then it's fairly subtle; there's certainly no clinical evidence to suggest that the ultra-rich are significantly different in their psychological makeup from the ordinarily wealthy.

It's a bit odd to call for fairness and kindness, while in the same breath dismissing a diverse group of people as essentially being irredeemably evil based on little more than speculation. It seems particularly weird to conflate Bill Gates and Roman Abramovich, when the only thing they really have in common is that they're very wealthy.

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