tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post7182826535882430649..comments2024-03-22T15:55:34.030-04:00Comments on Evo and Proud: The evolution of empathyPeter Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04303172060029254340noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-2512151195933586922019-11-22T04:39:29.011-05:002019-11-22T04:39:29.011-05:00The blog is really very well and keep nice collect...The blog is really very well and keep nice collection of data. You are doing a great job, good luck for the upcoming blogs. <br /><b><a href="https://blog.mindvalley.com/cognitive-empathy/" rel="nofollow">https://blog.mindvalley.com/cognitive-empathy/</a></b>Mindvalleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07258228697025638864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-2098473652768060992019-06-29T01:25:10.071-04:002019-06-29T01:25:10.071-04:00Cognitive empathy would be more from inherited inf...Cognitive empathy would be more from inherited info in the genes (unconsciousness) as well as being taught by parents or other adults educators or caregivers (part of progress of being socialized), in this case people understand WHAT other people feel however mostly in concept instead of HOW. To understand HOW other people feel one is required to be able to experience that kind of feeling physically (somatic feeling) which means in most cases he/she had similar real experiences in the past.<br /><br />Frank Spiral Dynamics for Chinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08832368885178181721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-40010318430467444702019-01-24T10:09:59.738-05:002019-01-24T10:09:59.738-05:00https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-blockchain-is-...<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-blockchain-is-redefining-trust/" rel="nofollow">https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-blockchain-is-redefining-trust/</a>.<br /><br />Nowak says big groups undermine cooperation and so does the ability to migrate between groups.Seannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-7674077611356016222019-01-23T21:36:39.211-05:002019-01-23T21:36:39.211-05:00Thank you, Peter. I have a pre-existing interest i...Thank you, Peter. I have a pre-existing interest in the world-denying or anti-biological ideological connections between gnostic sects like the Cathars and modern political movements like communism or some expressions of the social justice movement. Your answer will be quite helpful to me. ChristopherDThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863010997777849581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-6814221997660556692019-01-23T09:33:19.329-05:002019-01-23T09:33:19.329-05:00Christopher.
Post-Christianity encompasses a numb...Christopher.<br /><br />Post-Christianity encompasses a number of overlapping belief-systems that exploit the thought patterns of Christian faith: martyrology, a linear view of history that ends in a climax and denouement, possibility of redemption and salvation, polarization between good and evil, moral universalism, and moral absolutism. Marxism became a form of post-Christianity, although that wasn't the original intention. A lot has been written on that theme, for example:<br />https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14690760500099788<br /><br />The same kind of analysis could be done on contemporary political movements, like Antifa. Unfortunately, these movements are too close in time and space to be an easy target for analysis.<br /><br />Anon,<br /><br />The sex difference in affective empathy seems to be larger in East Asians than in Europeans, particularly northwest Europeans. I say "seem" because the evidence is mostly based on self-report. We need fMRIs to find out whether the sex difference and its apparent geographic distribution are real. There is also evidence that affective empathy declines after the age of childbearing.<br /><br />I'm mystified by your criticism because everything you say is consistent with what I wrote. Your "wife" is a woman, am I correct? Do your male in-laws act the same way?Peter Frosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04303172060029254340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-57739024052772513422019-01-23T05:44:25.550-05:002019-01-23T05:44:25.550-05:00My wife, who is Chinese, both expresses affective ...My wife, who is Chinese, both expresses affective empathy ("Oh, I feel so sorry for ) and acts on it (By inviting her into our apartment to warm up, bringing her tea and something to read, etc). She is certainly much higher on affective empathy than Western European me. <br /><br />So if you are gearing up to claim that affective empathy outside of mother-child relationships is a uniquely European trait, I won't buy it. That doesn't mean that the bell curves aren't significantly shifted compared to each other. But that is a question of hard data.<br /><br />PhilleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-35894803527064641682019-01-22T20:16:58.498-05:002019-01-22T20:16:58.498-05:00To Peter Frost: At your discretion I would be inte...To Peter Frost: At your discretion I would be interested in your thoughts on what you called "post-Christianity" in this comment section. Perhaps this topic would digress from your usually scholarly postings, but I would be interested in your thoughts, be they personal or academic. Instead of going into detail yourself, a reference to someone who represents your thoughts would be welcome as well.<br /><br />Take care,ChristopherDThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01863010997777849581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-22580462595654128312019-01-22T17:39:20.162-05:002019-01-22T17:39:20.162-05:00"data showing that the more educated countrie..."data showing that the more educated countries have higher levels of non belief and there are strong correlations between atheism and intelligence"<br />"secular societies have lower rates of violence and teenage pregnancy than societies where many people profess belief in God"<br /><br />You're talking about the European world, especially Western Europe, and East Asia, especially Japan. Yes, today those societies are very secular, but that hasn't always been the case.<br /><br />A hundred years ago, those societies were just as intelligent as they are today (probably more so, given the data presented in earlier posts). They also had low levels of personal violence and teenage pregnancy. In fact, illegitimate births were much less frequent. Yet they were much more religious back then than now.<br /><br />If you want to know the "secret of the West," as opposed to scoring debating points, you have to go back in time to the period when these social and economic characteristics fell into place. Low rates of teenage pregnancy? That seems to be a long-running cultural trait that goes back to the earliest historical records. Low rates of personal violence? That came about during the late medieval and early modern eras, probably because violent males were systematically removed from the gene pool. High intelligence? That's partly a long-running trait, although there is evidence that mean IQ rose during late medieval and early modern times.<br /><br />I would also question your view that Western societies are truly secularized today. Christianity has given way to a kind of post-Christianity that is no less intolerant, narrow-minded, and bigoted.<br /><br />Sean,<br /><br />Indirect reciprocity is how things work in most societies, i.e., low-trust societies. It's not very efficient because you have to mistrust anyone you don't fully know, i.e., anyone who isn't a friend or acquaintance is a potential thief, swindler, or killer. It's more efficient to live in a society where you can trust people.<br /><br />Luke,<br /><br />Shame and shaming exist in guilt cultures, but they are exceeded in importance by guilt proneness and empathy. Unlike hbd*chick I don't see outbreeding as being causally important in the creation of high-trust societies.Peter Frosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04303172060029254340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-9927580013300546472019-01-21T23:47:09.157-05:002019-01-21T23:47:09.157-05:00Interesting that both Adam Smith and David Hume pl...Interesting that both Adam Smith and David Hume placed such a big emphasis on wanting to be well thought of by their peers. Is that shame culture or guilt culture or both? How does it relate to outbreeding?Luke Leahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11290760894780619646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-57530588118473024922019-01-21T18:14:21.346-05:002019-01-21T18:14:21.346-05:00"If everyone is emphatic toward each other, t...<b>"If everyone is emphatic toward each other, there is no need to waste energy on self-protection or on double-checking every single transaction. Just as importantly, you can make transactions that would otherwise be uneconomical." </b><br /><br />Wouldn't things have to start from rational self-interest though? Your ideas of empathy as being hardwired seems very different to what Martin Nowak says about the importance of indirect reciprocity or reputation in motivating co-operative behavior. I wonder if freeriders would not run wild amid hardwired effective empathy. A lot of conversation is about others reputation for being trustworthy, or not.Seannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3734925856292601239.post-15252063054913497372019-01-21T16:58:07.714-05:002019-01-21T16:58:07.714-05:00>an internalized conviction of sin.
Of course ...>an internalized conviction of sin.<br /><br />Of course you'd cite something like this, you purposely seek out justifications for religion (or, rather, Christianity). <br /><br />Anthropologist James Fraser proposed that scientific prediction and control of nature supplants religion as a means of controlling uncertainty in our lives. This hunch is supported by data showing that the more educated countries have higher levels of non belief and there are strong correlations between atheism and intelligence (see my earlier post on this). (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion)<br /><br />“If religion is indeed an evolved domain – an instinct – then it will become heightened at times of stress, when people are inclined to act instinctively, and there is clear evidence for this,” [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170517101208.htm]<br /><br />Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. explains: ["As a historian, I confess to a certain amusement when I hear the Judeo-Christian tradition praised as the source of our present-day concern for human rights… "] (https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/r3b2y/as_a_historian_i_confess_to_a_certain_amusement/)<br /><br />[…]a ground-breaking study on religious belief and social well-being was published in the Journal of Religion & Society. Comparing 18 prosperous democracies from the U.S. to New Zealand, author Gregory S Paul quietly demolished the myth that faith strengthens society.<br /><br />Drawing on a wide range of studies to cross-match faith – measured by belief in God and acceptance of evolution – with homicide and intimate behavior, Paul found that secular societies have lower rates of violence and teenage pregnancy than societies where many people profess belief in God. <br />(Re: Predominantly Atheist Countries Have Lowest Crime Rate According To Study by Ibime(m)/ https://www.quora.com/Are-atheists-more-or-less-likely-to-be-criminals-than-theists)tirednoreply@blogger.com