Is dehumanizing bad? I think no, because it keeps our empathy from going out of control.
Imagine always thinking about how many people literally don't have food to eat, that the hunger and resulting irritation and weakness you feel when you go more than a day without food is the helpless reality of so many people for large durations of their lives. Not even children, there are many adults who can't always acquire food to eat in some areas of the world. How do I not let it take over my moral consciousness?
Or when I see an old person working a menial job not because of choice but because of a lack of choice. Imagine being old and having to work in spite of not having the physical and mental strength to do so to keep yourself in clean surroundings and not die. I imagine myself in that place and try to feel it, I imagine my parents in that place and try to feel how I would feel.
There are many things like this, when I see them, my empathy (or something else?) goes into overdrive. It's not a problem, as the things I typed above take 5 to 10 seconds to think and feel in my brain. But to carry on with my life, I try to forget about it and consciously concentrate on the thing at hand.
Is that dehumanization? I feel scared to think about all this.
uoht2 karma
Is dehumanizing bad? I think no, because it keeps our empathy from going out of control.
Imagine always thinking about how many people literally don't have food to eat, that the hunger and resulting irritation and weakness you feel when you go more than a day without food is the helpless reality of so many people for large durations of their lives. Not even children, there are many adults who can't always acquire food to eat in some areas of the world. How do I not let it take over my moral consciousness?
Or when I see an old person working a menial job not because of choice but because of a lack of choice. Imagine being old and having to work in spite of not having the physical and mental strength to do so to keep yourself in clean surroundings and not die. I imagine myself in that place and try to feel it, I imagine my parents in that place and try to feel how I would feel.
There are many things like this, when I see them, my empathy (or something else?) goes into overdrive. It's not a problem, as the things I typed above take 5 to 10 seconds to think and feel in my brain. But to carry on with my life, I try to forget about it and consciously concentrate on the thing at hand.
Is that dehumanization? I feel scared to think about all this.
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