Why is the human species so intolerant to its own kind?

[Heather Shay]

Why is the human species so intolerant to its own kind?

[Davie]

 Criticism and intolerance grow from fear and insecurity. Bigotry is a form of cowardice.

[KayC]

People are centered on their own self-identity (Id/ego) - They cannot perceive that we are actually all inter-connected and dependent on each other. 

 

As @Davie said ... it comes from fear and insecurity ... and people like that are not happy so they have to project that unhappiness on somebody else.

 

Its part of the human condition and we all have the potential for intolerance.  Only when we can embrace compassion for others can we overcome that dark nature within us.  So when we are the target of intolerance we have to also meet it with compassion.  (Easier said than done, for sure ...)

 

[KimmieElise]

3 hours ago, Heather Shay said:

Why is the human species so intolerant to its own kind?

 

Ask a deeply philosophical question, and totally get a deeply philosophical answer.

 

Note: I am bringing up my faith, just illustrate.  This does not, by any means, mean I want to have a religious debate.  Please, don't take anything below personally.  There is no judgement in my observations.

 

I think there are a number of reasons why people are intolerant of others, and they are universally tied to self-centeredness.  From my faith perspective, I believe everyone is trying to be their own god, and in such a way as they are god.  If you prefer a more evolution/secular explanation, everyone is trying to be the top of the food chain, and effectively god.  I have identified a few ways this all plays out:

 

Sovereignty:  Sovereignty in this sense means having control over anything and everything.  The Bible describes God as sovereign, having the power and authority to do whatever he wants with creation.  It really is no different if you reject there being a God.  People still want to possess, control, and own everything and everyone.  Whether this is a reflection of the creator or simply the drive of survival of the fittest taken into the realm of superior intelligence and complex psychological composition is irrelevant to my point.  We want it all, and we want it our way.

 

Justice:  We all seem to have some sense of justice.  I believe that comes from being created in God's image, as the Bible describes God as just.  The way this seems to play out is that everyone seems to know what everyone else deserves for any real or perceived crime or sin.  Think about the high profile crimes of the last decade and how many times you heard someone say, "You know what they ought to do to that guy?  They ought to..."

 

Ascendance:  Ascendance is what I call the desire within humans to transcend the current natural laws of the universe.  We want to be above effect and consequences of the world around us.  We want to be able to do what we want when we want without ever having to fear the unexpected nor having to deal with any other perspective of justice.  Further, there can only be one.  That is to say we don't want to share the position of transcendant being with others.  You see these propensities in statements like: "If i could just hit the lottery my problems would be over."

 

Fear:  Fear is what keeps us from openly preying on each other and destroying ourselves.  You may know a number of people who seem well behaved, but often it is fear of consequences who keep the meek quiet and the more sanguine souls appearing to do all the right things.  I suspect there are a number of LGBT allies who are not really allies at all, but feel that pretending to be gives them certain social advantages.  Likewise, I think a certain amount of intolerance is because we are forced to choose what social group, based on what ideology we prefer and we weigh the risks.  If a person who is culturally Christian (that doesn't really have any faith, but fears be ostracized by family and friends for not being Christian) may choose to reject LGBT people based on the attitudes of friends and family.

 

Cooperation:  We need to cooperate with each other, even though most of us really, in our deepest heart of hearts don't want to.  Open warfare between us prevents us from gathering resources and creates a whole range of situations in which we don't survive.  The thing is most people don't really want to cooperate if they don't have to.  I think this points back to the whole ascendant thing.  We are simultaneously in competition with everyone else, and have to compromise to survive and have something of a descent life.  This is frustrating to us in many ways, and often responsible for the way we react or respond to others.  Our tolerance and willingness to cooperate may vary from hour to hour depending on our physical and mental conditon.  Stress, exhaustion, fatigue, pain and other factors can play a role.  A person whom you meet in a moment in time and whom you find intolerant might be more tolerant if in a better state of mind.

 

Why are people intolerant?  I think everyone has their own personal mix of the factors I outlined above.  You're either part of their solution or part of their problem, so to speak.  For some fear of what they don't understand plays a huge role.  For others they need to feel superior (closer to transcendence than others) and criticizing or being mean to others satisfies this need.  For some their own personal sense of justice, warped by their own minds, means that someone different needs to be punished for being different.  We all want to conform others to our own personalities.  The thing is there is no one thing  you can point to explain what makes people intolerant, because there are many reasons working in combination in individuals.  Unfortunately, too often individuals band together based on portions of their commonly held world view..  It is natural to do this, by the way.

 

It is a sad reality that everyone in this world can't be like me.  LOL.  Or better yet, be like God.

 

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Ever taken a look at the rest of nature?  While I believe we were created in the image of God, I think people act like animals a lot of the time.  Most animal species can be pretty vicious toward their own kind, and they are very good at picking up on differences.  Technology is often the only difference between humans and the other creatures of our planet.  

[Colleen Henderson]

33 minutes ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

 Most animal species can be pretty vicious toward their own kind, and they are very good at picking up on differences.  

 

You've touched on something about which I've long wondered. For those among us who function at or close to the most basic human level, is the kneejerk negative response to LGBTQ individuals akin to a herd's or pack's reaction to and sometimes abandonment of those deemed to be less likely and/or able to produce offspring and propagate the species?

[Charlize]

We are creatures with family allegiances and that instinct becomes one of antagonism toward others who present differently.

Getting past those differences requires a growing familiarity with an open and generous mind.  

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[awkward-yet-sweet]

5 hours ago, Colleen Henderson said:

 

You've touched on something about which I've long wondered. For those among us who function at or close to the most basic human level, is the kneejerk negative response to LGBTQ individuals akin to a herd's or pack's reaction to and sometimes abandonment of those deemed to be less likely and/or able to produce offspring and propagate the species?

 

Exactly that.  I believe in Creation rather than Evolution.  But if you look at things from a perspective of the "survival of the fittest,"  LGBTQ+ folks are an evolutionary dead end.  What always puzzles me about modern society is how people can accept the Theory of Evolution and not come to the perspective of Social Darwinism as well.  If I'm a product of evolution, my value is only in my ability to benefit my family or tribe's survival.  Since I can't reproduce and my practical skillset is pretty minimal, I'm not a valuable member.  WW2 showed the ultimate conclusion of that line of thinking. 

 

Thankfully, my faith tells me otherwise...that I have value simply for existing and being in God's image, and that value isn't dependent on my inability to reproduce. 

 

 

[Mx.Drago]

2 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

 

 LGBTQ+ folks are an evolutionary dead end. 

 

I'd have to disagree. Believe what you want, but just because your personal and instinctual preferences aren't going to end with a fully natural exhilarating reproductive experience, doesn't mean "that's all," throw in the towel. Evolution granted us brains and opposable thumbs, so we can at least attempt to find a solution with a good scholarly try. Thank God, if you want to.

 

Presently, yeah reproduction isn't a cheap venture, but if you want to pass them genes you can with the modern achievements of science and money. Scientist aren't that far from making the dream reality for everybody, literally. It's not easy, but the key is with the x chromosome. Don't argue against Science, because it's through the proven methods of observation and experimentation that reveals and brings light to the divine miracle and treasure that is our lives and the universe.

 

13 hours ago, Heather Shay said:

Why is the human species so intolerant to its own kind?

Simple answer, I think it's mostly straight stubbornness and seven sins levels of silliness, why many if not most in humanity show a particular level of intolerance towards its own people. Our beast we failed to tame.

Sadly, I found every human needs to be convinced to some degree that the bodies around them are friendly. No surprise that there be a sizable number of humans in need of extra convincing that other bodies around them, that are very much like themselves, are actually people(human beings) to be respected with equal care and intergrity.

Humans have brains built for recognizing patterns and puzzles, and it takes a lot to figure out how to walk, let alone breath next to another person. Tolerance is a skill, it takes time, will, and is completely optional because "freedom."

The universe is a big mysterious place, and not everybody is on the same page when it comes to understanding it or having skills to deal with things around them. 

"To err is human, to forgive divine." -Alexander Pope 1711 treatise An Essay on Criticism to the US Institutes of Medicine's report on patient safety.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

@Mx.Drago Interesting...but is technology a part of natural evolution?  (I suppose that could be a whole new thread.)  I definitely don't argue against Science...but I see science in light of faith (again, that could be a thread.)  It will be interesting to see what reproductive methods they come up with.  I've heard they are trying to create sperm artificially, so that lesbians can reproduce. 

 

Yes, I'm thankful to God for my life...and that my value doesn't depend on my ability to reproduce or my willingness to spend money on an attempt.  Doctors have told me that I could possibly get pregnant, but that my unique body might make an attempt difficult and risky.  I'm content to be a step-parent, and since my husband already has lots of kids, my efforts at making more aren't needed. 

 

Funny, my GF and I were talking about this tonight, and she argues that my evolutionary value is in my willingness to take care of HER "superior" offspring.  My GF is only a recent convert to the Christian worldview, and is still largely a little heathen savage.  😂  For her, everything is reproduction and conquest.  That seems like such struggle and stress!  

--------

On a separate but related thought - I marvel at cognitive dissonance.  There are many people who follow a relatively Judeo-Christian moral code...yet have a non-Christian or even atheistic worldview and believe in evolution.  If evolution/natural selection was followed to its logical conclusion, you end up with Social Darwinism, intolerance, and even genocide.  Eliminate the weak, honor the strong.  You don't end up with morality, tolerance, or compassion.  Why would life have value without being made in the image of God?

 

On the other hand, those who are often labeled as the "Right Wing Christians" and who claim to uphold freedom and have a Christian worldview end up acting with intolerance.  They don't have compassion for the widows, the fatherless, and the migrant.  They are threatened by the existence of LGBTQ+ people and others, in the way you would expect Social Darwinists to act.  It blows my mind.  They seem unable to notice the image of God.

 

I suppose the source of hatred is illogical.  You can logically disagree...you can even fight vigorously or physically over logic, while still recognizing the intrinsic worth of those you oppose.  But hatred and intolerance require an absence of logic and a denial of value.  It is hormonal, emotional, primal.  Ugly, vicious, and animal.  

[miz miranda]

We are a tribal species that has the ability to fool ourselves. I think one must take responsibility for our beliefs and how to choose to communicate. Intolerance is being too arrogant to consider any other viewpoint on a subject.

 

I believe intolerance arises from being able to distance oneself from others. I was raised as a Catholic and distanced my self from church mainly due to the child abuse scandals not that they are limited to Catholic priests and the cover ups. I studied law before I became an engineer and find that almost faiths have similar threads but different deities. I go by the golden rule, do unto others as you wish done to you.

 

In my view tolerance is acknowledging to yourself that your can be wrong and that you decide before you consider.

 

In our current times, I believe that intolerance has become a political goal. We are bombarded with how they are destroying us, no matter what your beliefs are. Our education system is drifting towards teaching children WHAT to think rather than HOW to think. Our leaders (again from the right and left) try to generate crisis and make it a call to action.  So much time is demonizing and silencing those we don't agree with, that we have stopped actually addressing the issues. Between cancel cultures (again both sides now the right has started using the tactic) and 'isms' , phobes, deniers, sinners and evil; we crawl into our cocoons of distrust and hate.

 

How long can one discuss any issue without attacking each other? Things become issues because we as a society haven't the ability to agree on an answer, yet.

[Diana Stone]

We are tribal by nature it seems, so anyone perceived  as other becomes a target. My tribe are mostly Musicians, Artists and Writers. I feel have I often more incommon  with that group of society in the broadest sense than I do with many Trans people in terms of personal philosophy, religion and politics. So to a degree Trans is what we are and that is seen as being other, where as in many ways a lot of trans folk are the most conventional people in terms of how they actually live their lives. So oddly the people that perceive us as threat might well share a lot of views on society that are not really so different from many of our own.    

[Mx.Drago]

On 11/28/2022 at 12:08 AM, awkward-yet-sweet said:

@Mx.Drago Interesting...but is technology a part of natural evolution?

 

 

Actually, yes!

 

On 11/28/2022 at 12:08 AM, awkward-yet-sweet said:

@Mx.Drago

If evolution/natural selection was followed to its logical conclusion, you end up with Social Darwinism, intolerance, and even genocide.  Eliminate the weak, honor the strong.  You don't end up with morality, tolerance, or compassion. 

Why would life have value without being made in the image of God?

 

 

 

I see where the confusion is occurring. It's the"logical conclusion" you're referencing. Social evolution isn't the same as natural evolution and has different factors that don't apply to natural evolution. Nature doesn't have a bank account that it can literally physically hand over to anyone, crowning them next in line as royalty.

Social Darwinists are people who took Darwin's Theory and said well it obviously means social evolution must also apply to this same theory of “survival of the fittest." Then promoted the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately "better." Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality. It's the same thoughts that promote people like Elon Musk, that guy who "had" that crypto empire and other extremely wealthy people, who use it to trick the desperate and unknowing into thinking that they are some how better mortals than everybody else and are therefore more deserving... 😑

 

Life has so much value, and I believe it doesn't need to be in any "image" of an entity that prefers not to be seen.

 

 

[Davie]

A Nightmare that just happened. A Wide-awake fright. Trolls with gross porn images invade my Buddhist meditation group for LGBT folks. Many trolls at once. I leave, come back but they’re still there. I leave for good. Yuck!!!! Such evil cowards they are. Ugh. I'm creeped out.

[Vidanjali]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:35 AM, awkward-yet-sweet said:

Technology is often the only difference between humans and the other creatures of our planet.  

 

There are several species of animals such as some primates, birds, water mammals, and even octopuses who use tools for various purposes. There are even some animals, such as the amazing bowerbirds, who create art and architecture. 

 

The question, what makes humans uniquely human, is an ancient one for which there have been many suggested answers. But, the more we learn about animals, it seems the more elusive that distinction may be. 

[Vidanjali]

14 hours ago, Davie said:

A Nightmare that just happened. A Wide-awake fright. Trolls with gross porn images invade my Buddhist meditation group for LGBT folks. Many trolls at once. I leave, come back but they’re still there. I leave for good. Yuck!!!! Such evil cowards they are. Ugh. I'm creeped out.

 

I can understand why you're creeped out. I'm sorry - that's very upsetting. I hope you can find the strength and focus to practice skills to hopefully sublimate potential negative impressions. Although this event seems like a major violation, see if you can construe it as a cry for help. Is it possible to feel compassion for trolls, especially when it seems so deeply personal? 

[Davie]

That's very acceepting and understanding a thing to suggest, @Vidanjali. I don't think I'm there with it yet. It was a large and organized attack. I go to another of their meditation groups, 400 people avery day for 2.5 years now and never a problem. Clearly it's targeting the LGBT label attached to the anouncement. The vipassana center is right down the street and I know many folks there—so I did find it helpful to write the office there about it. Resources for safety need to be added because we are not just another group—I feel like we're indangered species in a metapphorical way. Anyway, thanks for the support. I feel safe enough here. And not so alone.