Causes of the lack of empathy

[Tres]

I have read that empathy is a natural human instinct. In other words, people naturally feel empathy when they see others in trouble or suffering. They might be not able to help but at least they feel sorry for others.

 

IRL I have noticed that people sometimes feel satisfaction when others in trouble or suffering. My guess that it is because of competition between people. Also, it is understandable when the troubled people are very malicious.

But, It feels sometimes that some humans experience pleasure when regular, not really malicious people are suffering. For example, a person was fired in a cruel, unfair way, but others experience satisfaction with no empathy at all.

There may be more examples of that in all area of life such as work, family, friendships, relationships.

 

What are the typical reasons and causes why people lack empathy when their friends/co-workers/GF/BF in trouble or suffering?

[2sure]

Jealousy, insecurity, small mindedness, and narcissist behavior. Bigotry, prejudices, hate.

[Tres]

Jealousy, insecurity, small mindedness, and narcissist behavior. Bigotry, prejudices, hate.

 

Thank you. It is a lot of things. Some of them are very common such as insecurity, small mindedness and prejudices.

[Disillusioned]

A sense of competition drives us to want to succeed while we want everyone else to fail.

 

That's why I turned my back on the art world a decade ago and got into a line of work where there's much less competition.

[sugarmomma]

psycho/sociopaths have an inability to feel empathy.

[wierdmunky]

negativity, greed, short-sightedness, black&white thinking. "If they win, I lose" not "maybe I can get it next time" or even "good for them!"

[jean-luc sisko]

human life is not that of absolutes.

 

No one really is 100% empathetic. We can choose not to feel empathy for any reason, if it's an enemy, or a rival.

[0hpenelope]

What are the typical reasons and causes why people lack empathy when their friends/co-workers/GF/BF in trouble or suffering?

 

Misery loves company.

[deux ex machina]

...

 

What are the typical reasons and causes why people lack empathy when their friends/co-workers/GF/BF in trouble or suffering?

 

In trying to think of typical reasons, I'd say one of them is when people dehumanize other people.

[Green]

My guess is people feel no sense of responsibility. Personaly if I was looking out my window and saw police and a man threatning to jump off a building I would probably call out for my gf "you gotta see this a man is threatening to jump I wonder if he is going to do it."

 

Not at all the way I would react if family or friend was up there. I think people these days all feel like unconected strangers.

 

I also think you may expect to much from the emotion you call empathy. To me empathy is not physically or mentaly attacking some one in the many ways and degrees it can be done.

 

I don't necesarily think hoping for some one to fail or enjoying a good acident has to do with empathy unless you actively caused it.

[gfunknown]

Narcissist is all I can say. Not showing of any emotions of love or compassion. Normal human beings all have empathy. Narcs are notorious of showing anything unless they get something out of it that makes them look grand.

[Feelin Frisky]

First and foremost human beings are animals. There are millions of years of animal territorialism, dominance and submission in the life forms which preceded us. Civilization is a veneer and not an absolute. Thus there is always a range for some persons to develop dysfunctional social traits which often involve dominance and submission rather than compassion.

 

I see compassion and empathy as the basic building blocks of "spirituality"--the ability to reason outside of animal territorialism, hierarchy, dominance and submission--where we can temper our our value for our fellow human beings and act with compassion and indeed empathy if we make that an ethic. Since neither education or religion leads young minds to reconcile with the truth of our animal origins and tend to push artificial constructs on to us without negotiated contract, many persons default to "animality" and thrive on defacto dominance and submission as the only way to live. Thus I believe we create our own monsters through neglect, misapplication of authority and perpetuation of mythology which is hollow. Unfortunately society continues to throw up its hands in resignation to failure and we keep just reactively building prisons and costly systems of so-called "correction" rather than reforming our basic human development paradigms.

[Eve]

.. Probably a mixture of internalised notions of what it means to be a 'winner' within a capitalist society and or not liking the person whom empathy is not given to.

 

Also allegiance to peers on varying levels; the event is just something to be talked about, not felt.

 

.. but mainly I go with the capitalist indoctrination viewpoint..

 

Take care,

Eve xx

[DavidWhite]

I think Jealousy and Insecurity are the main culprits.

[Nikki Sahagin]

I think everyone feels empathy (except for sociopaths) but I do not believe we feel empathy for everybody; we choose who we empathise with.

 

I have taken psychology in the past and I remember my teacher explaining that we dehumanise people if there's just too much going on. Basically if you live in a small community, you pull together and feel more connected but if you live in a city or a predominantly alienated, isolated, competitive community, your empathy levels will be restricted to family and close friends - you won't really feel much for the average person you feel in the street. There would be too much emotional investment all of the time. I don't think mass amounts of human beings in a confined space works well in any way. I say this as a city-liver myself. Its amazing...but you do tend to dehumanise people because there's just too much going on.

[Arbitrariness]

I agree that we chose who to empathise with or more likely are told who to empathise with. A great example is a television show called 'cheaters'. The entire premise of the show is that the person will get cheated on and the audience will see them suffer. Now I found the show to be quite entertaining, partly due to the format which allows me to detach myself from the events.

[Feelin Frisky]

Territorialism and the valuation of ownership over fellowship. Most fundamental IMO.