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Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

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Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#21

Post by vharuck »

jenxkfjeo0 wrote: post #17

The problem is we’ve exploited our ability to tailor our messaging so specifically that people aren’t getting new information. We’ve seen this before, in a way: when Christianity ruled, no new emotional information or perspective was capable of taking hold. Our media apparatus is essentially doing the same thing by feeding people the same narrative they grew up on their entire lives. We have kept thousands of hours o…

>One can mentally exist in 1995 with the Internet and the new couch that feels just as comfy.

1. 1995 was just 24 years ago. I'm not a historian, but thinking a cultural period lasting 24 years unusual would be ridiculous for any time before the industrial revolution. And I don't think it even applies today.

2. You might be biased about 1995 culture because it's your culture. My mother-in-law watches reruns from the 70s. People tend to stick with what they like, and there have always been other people willing to provide.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#22

Post by fennecfoxen »

tehjoker wrote: post #13
harshreality wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#nondualism The master and slave are part of the same whole; one cannot exist without the other, and more generally, everyone is a flawed or incomplete person in one way or another. Having empathy for one without having empathy for the other is to misunderstand the universe.

Would you seriously argue that in 1864?

Let's do an 1864 argument.

Have empathy for the slave. He is endowed with dignity by the Divine. Jesus Christ paid a price in blood to set him free from the bonds of sin. What God has freed, let no man return into bondage.

Have empathy for the master. Jesus died not only for the upright, not only for the oppressed, but for tax collecting thugs, prostitutes — even the murderer crucified beside him. He raised a saint from Saul of Tarsus. He died for the slave's master. Oh, yes, the master is undeserving, but none of us are deserving. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, how should I stand?

But know what shape this empathy for the master takes. You must fear for his soul. If it is consumed by sin, he will be cast into perdition. He must well and truly repent, and his sin is grave.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#23

Post by rabidrat »

dorkwood wrote: post #14

> Like many past studies, this one gauges people’s level of “empathic concern” by asking them how strongly they agree or disagree with a series of seven statements such as “I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me.” Does this really signify empathy? I consider myself empathetic, but I wouldn't agree with the above statement. If anything, having concerned feelings for someone solely be…

> Does this really signify empathy? I consider myself empathetic, but I wouldn't agree with the above statement.

You are noticing the difference between "compassion" (a divine emotion) and "pity" (its near enemy). Pity grants you a position above the pitied, while compassion positions you alongside/with the sufferer.

These nuances are hard enough to suss out given unlimited information and attention. I agree it's all but impossible to gather equivalent distinctions from a rigid survey.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#24

Post by miedpo »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #9

Maybe the scale at which you love your neighbor comes at the cost proportional to how much you hate your common rival. To put it another way, humans might be incapable of emotional empathy outside of tribal brotherhood. That is, people they can identify with. It'd make sense in a sort of selfish gene way. Emotional actions just seems wholly negative at the scale of our society. This may be the core of our division. W…

Hmm... just two cents I have. While this may be true to a large degree, I do think it's possible to overcome this.

I went on a religious mission for 2 years and one of the things I remember most vividly about it is that I came to a point where I didn't have emnity towards other people. It took a lot of work (quashing emnity can be hard), but it did work. I'm not sure most people are in a place where they are ready to try that, but I do think it's possible.

Anyways, yeah just my two cents :). People do have a tendency to be tribal as you said.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#25

Post by jenxkfjeo0 »

vharuck wrote: post #21
jenxkfjeo0 wrote: post #17

The problem is we’ve exploited our ability to tailor our messaging so specifically that people aren’t getting new information. We’ve seen this before, in a way: when Christianity ruled, no new emotional information or perspective was capable of taking hold. Our media apparatus is essentially doing the same thing by feeding people the same narrative they grew up on their entire lives. We have kept thousands of hours o…

>One can mentally exist in 1995 with the Internet and the new couch that feels just as comfy. 1. 1995 was just 24 years ago. I'm not a historian, but thinking a cultural period lasting 24 years unusual would be ridiculous for any time before the industrial revolution. And I don't think it even applies today. 2. You might be biased about 1995 culture because it's your culture. My mother-in-law watches reruns from the…

The year was an arbitrary choice.

People used to have to, except in the political context, move on from such experiences. Being able to recall a few quotes of much different than sitting there importing it all verbatim over and over.

For minute in all-the-minutes: LiterallyWatch(FavoriteShow)

There was no preservation, books wore out, etc etc

They were forced to emotionally process as part of assimilating the info and seek out new info.

I am describing an abstract process and how it’s changed to where we can reconnect instantly to past emotional selves.

We keep certain pathways lubed and hot without generating new ones through exploration of new truly unique sensory input (how many for loops does a programmer write over and over? Oh sure the JSON content changes. Does the value of a for loop?)

Stand still in information stagnation so the social political system can figure out to adapt to maintain control.

This isn’t novel thinking and it’s not even radical, it’s pretty well trodden philosophy backed by modern biology research. So downvote all ya want HN. Disinterest in one posters rhetoric does not delete facts of reality

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#26

Post by garmaine »

StuffedParrot wrote: post #19

Most people’s views don’t neatly align with any party; that’s simply the easiest narrative to follow. I am on the left (technically independent) but I certainly have a mountain of criticism about Democrats. When party loyalty is divorced from values I wouldn’t expect a change in the underlying dynamic that drives people to partisan polarization. To give an example, I can empathize with the problems many Republicans f…

> To give an example, I can empathize with the problems many Republicans face: fear of a loss of quality of life, fear of loss of stability, fear of change, fear of changing classes, fear of losing your culture, fear of being left behind by society.

I’m a republican-leaning independent, and what you write here strikes me more as stereotype of the right than actual concerns of the right. I don’t really worry about any of the things you mention.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#27

Post by [deleted] »

adnzzzzZ wrote: post #10
jdc wrote: post #2

Could this not call into question the empathy scale used in the study?

Likely not. I would assume they use one of the big five traits which is called agreeableness, or something that's close enough it, and this result seems in keeping with how that trait would be described. People who are high in agreeableness are more likely to see the world in prey vs. predator terms - in my speculative opinion because this trait evolved as a maternal trait primarily to deal with the protection of inf…

[deleted]

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#28

Post by sysbin »

kempbellt wrote: post #11

> It gets worse. These high-empathy students were also more likely to be amused by reports that students protesting the speech had injured a bystander sympathetic to the speaker. That’s right: According to this study, people prone to empathy are prone to schadenfreude. I can relate, as I am certainly someone who would probably laugh in this situation, as I also find myself laughing at the idea that people trample one…

> Personally, it doesn't diminish the tragedy of what happens

What's more tragic, an unpleasant reality you don't laugh at or an unpleasant reality where you laugh at as a coping mechanism. I would assume the unpleasant reality where you cannot even laugh at it. So I imagine some diminish of the tragedy does exist.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#29

Post by aleister_777 »

garmaine wrote: post #26
StuffedParrot wrote: post #19

Most people’s views don’t neatly align with any party; that’s simply the easiest narrative to follow. I am on the left (technically independent) but I certainly have a mountain of criticism about Democrats. When party loyalty is divorced from values I wouldn’t expect a change in the underlying dynamic that drives people to partisan polarization. To give an example, I can empathize with the problems many Republicans f…

> To give an example, I can empathize with the problems many Republicans face: fear of a loss of quality of life, fear of loss of stability, fear of change, fear of changing classes, fear of losing your culture, fear of being left behind by society. I’m a republican-leaning independent, and what you write here strikes me more as stereotype of the right than actual concerns of the right. I don’t really worry about any…

Agreed. These are not the values that make me. Many of the values that I represent will lead towards stability, however, it's not fear that I'm defined by.

Re: Empathic concern does not reduce partisan animosity: study

#30

Post by aleister_777 »

kempbellt wrote: post #11

> It gets worse. These high-empathy students were also more likely to be amused by reports that students protesting the speech had injured a bystander sympathetic to the speaker. That’s right: According to this study, people prone to empathy are prone to schadenfreude. I can relate, as I am certainly someone who would probably laugh in this situation, as I also find myself laughing at the idea that people trample one…

And many of these same people will claim a moral superiority over you and cast you out for any disagreement.
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