https://dai.ly/x7xm9h3

(Summarizing) "There's this very old idea called, Veneer theory, which says that Civilization is very thin. In a pandemic, humans show who they really are (think empty shelves at the grocery store). It's a theory that goes back to ancient Greeks. Think about "original sin". It has come back again and again.
The problem is it's clearly wrong.
In the last 20-25 years in anthropology, biology, sociology, we've seen so much evidence coming back to us, that Deep down, most people are pretty decent. Humans have evolved to cooperate. If you asked the question, what makes us so special, are we so smart? what is the reason we conquered the globe and not bonobos or chimpanzees. Probably because we have evolved to cooperate on a scale no other species is capable of cooperating. We are both the friendlies, most cooperative species and the the most cruel. I've never seen a penguin say, 'lets exterminate all the other penguins'.
If you study genocide, it's not like there are a lot of satists. Most participants in genocide are motivated by duty and social ties to friends. They didn't want to let their friends down. It's very rare that people just enjoy being cruel. Most what we call 'evil' people think they're on the right side of history. This is the most disturbing thing.
There's a real connection between empathy and xenophoboia.
We often feel empathy for people who are like us.
on the other hand we feel the least amount of empathy for those who are not like us. So you get this in group and out group phenomenon. Even with babies as young as 9 months old, they've done these studies there's this natural tendency to prefer your own kind and to be xenophobic. That's not all nurture. It's something in our brains. I think we need to be realistic about that and understand that. It's not like we have to go all the way and assume people are naturally evil or anything. Once you decide people are naturally evil, then you kind of create a self fulfilling prophecy. You design your society and institutions to reflect that. But if you assume people are naturally good, or altruistic, then you can design your society to reflect that, and fulfill that potential."

I think humans are both, good and evil. Like John Lennon said, "We all have the potential to be like Hitler or Gandhi and it's up to each of us to decide which potential we're going to realize."
It's like the American Indians said, "Everybody has within them two wolves, one is the nurturer and the other is a hunter. Which one wins is the one we feed."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2020 07:57PM by schrodingerscat.

I think we're conflicted. On one hand we have self-interest. Me first. But on the other hand, human survival is rather dependent upon the family, the group, the tribe, the society (with some very rare exceptions). We try to have it both ways. A group of self-serving individuals will have conflicts, and some of them will be ugly and cruel. But group interest can also lead to cruelty when it's group against group.