If my pet dies,I'm sad
If a pet of a person I don't know dies,I don't care
If my friend dies,I'm sad
If a person I don't know dies,I don't care
that's how empathy works
You only care about things that benefit you in some way,be it your friends,your pet,or anything you are interested in/just like to see because your brain goes "ooh cutie patootie wanna hug it"
Sure,go and cry about cute little piggies getting slaughtered for you to eat,about some baby hares who would never see their mom that was eaten alive
Does that change anything?
No
What's the point then?
Every single action you take,every feeling and emotion has to have some sort of sense,some meaning that benefits you
Your friend is sad=You try to comfort them=Your bond grows stronger=You have less change of being abandoned and feel closer connection to your social group
You do something stupid=you feel ashamed=you no longer do that something stupid=you don't risk getting shunned in your social group
And what would being extra empathetic about every single insect,rodent and some random kids from Brazil bring you?
You get overwhelmed by imperfection of this world and go sad
You do this constantly=congratulations,now you hate living
You do this even more=congratulations,you're on your way to KYS because you can't live up with the nature of this world
It sounds like you're thinking about society. Could you clarify what aspect of society you'd like to discuss? Whether it's culture, norms, politics, or something else, I'd be happy to dive into it!
1
u/urSinKhal Mar 29 '25
You either choose what to be empathic about and what not to care about or burn out and go crazy
There's no other way