Because we've been superstitious for a long time as a species. When we didn't have anything that we do have now, some thousand years ago, all we had to go on was whether it was by God or some other made up reason for why things happened the way they did.
Reality is a team sport, to some people. They only accept or reject claims based on interpersonal trust. They don’t think there’s anything else. Science is just trusting smart guys. Being real smart grants them the power to decide what’s true, this week.
I make lot of decisions on emotions too. The joy of helping people. The pain of seeing others suffer. Admiration of what people create. Fear for someones safety. Anger of hearing about unfairness.
What I don’t get is why so many of these “emotional” people dont seem to have any emotions like that. How is it to live like that? Only living with emotions like fear for oneself and oneself only? This isn’t a fight between logic on one side and emotion on the other. Not science versus beliefs either. It is empathy versus greed. The only emotion these assholes has is a fear of losing whats “theirs”, I’m pretty sure. And if scientific reasoning says its smart to share, of course they disregard it.
We evolved in a climate where that reasoning worked well for our species’ expansion. The amount of time we’ve had written language is only a blink of an eye compared to our species history, so of course we are maladapted to the modern world.
People who don’t use emotional thinking are the exception rather than the rule.
A lot of people are seemingly completely unable or unwilling to take a step back from their own position and look at a situation at least slightly more rationally. Everything is only seen and interpreted as how it affects them.
The cashier is not super friendly? Must be, that he’s an asshole, can’t be that he just had a bad day.
There’s a minor inconvenience to me because of some public good? Well, fuck the public, I want mine.
An argument with a friend, and I’m already angry? Better get even more angry and start screaming, that’ll show him!
The obsession with what other people do with their lives. I like to be left alone, mind my own business, not bother others. But there seems to be some part of the population that is the opposite and just can’t help but poke and pry at others.
Its because there are some that believe that their freedom does not encroach on the freedoms of other, and need a polite reminder that their actions have consequences, and that we’re all part of a larger whole, no matter how much we pretend otherwise.
Like when people keep asking "is so and so gay" (usually a celebrity). I mean, unless you're trying to date that person, what difference does it make. Whatever they do behind closed doors - you're probably not getting an engraved invitation to join in, so give it a rest!!
There are people that destroy things with no benefit to themselves or do things that hurt themselves just because it hurt who they consider to be “the right people.”
It's like shouting into the void expecting an echo. If you can't change the world for the better at least leave a mark. At least that was how I felt trashing a park bench when I was 13. It's probably the same trail of thought.
The primary goal is to show off how much of a team member they are, by picking on some “other”. It strengthens their ties to their group, by having an enemy to unite against.
The way we destroy everything in the long term for short term gains. If our goal is to not die out, we are doing it wrong. Its like we’re speed running extinction.
Harm done to them by other people, and justifiably and rationally looking for answers to how/why/what/where/when/who, so they can make the harm less likely to be repeated in the future by altering their behavior appropriately.
With special emphasis on the “who”, because it’s easier, when they should be focusing on the “how” and “why”. The “why” part is the most important, but also hardest to tackle.
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