Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by vekker 2461 days ago
> We're basically a cruel species lacking empathy.

I don't think that's the case. It's just ignorance that can lead to cruel behavior, which is just amplified the bigger our society is. That's more actionable than simply judging our species as cruel (call me naive, but I honestly think most of us want to be good).

2 comments

Ignorance plays a large role, but even when people are overwhelmed with (accurate) information, I'd say over 90% of people still take the cruel but easier path.
IMHO there's different kinds of ignorance. There's a difference between the absence of knowledge and misperception of reality. The first is an intellectual type of ignorance: the lack of information. The latter is the lack of wisdom/insight and leads to superimposing a view of reality onto reality itself, which leads to cruel behavior and suffering.
Most people already think they're good.