RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

darkpal123 Says:

May 15, 2012 - everyone is becoming empathetic due too the internet and its social sites. but what is an empathetic civilisation? what would i promise and what would it bring what does it look like?

sonofsin110 Says:

May 15, 2012 - I agree in a greater since of unity, but I think the individual is still very important. Take for instance the Haiti example, yes if you look at it on a one-dimensional level, people acting in self interest would not give toward Haitian relief. However, it is very possible for humans to be pleasure-seeking, utilitarian, and directed by self interest but still follow these principles of empathy. Empathy gives us pleasure when we give. We can be charitable for completely selfish reasons.

cat1818 Says:

May 17, 2012 - If we think of theological, tribal and nation state ´empathic ties´, the empathy that we feel towards them is based on an idea of ´sameness´- that we share some sort of cultural or ideological history/destiny. But ´sameness´ can only be appreciated when placed in opposition to ´otherness´- those that are not the same as us. The idea of ´belonging´ can only make sense when we consider what, and who, we are NOT rather than who we are. A ´global empathy´ is unlikely unless we discover alien life..

zzolaman Says:

May 18, 2012 - Mostly true. We do not necessarily need to discover alien life, but rather accept the statistical probability that there is alien life. The idea that there are "others" out there, is enough to create the empathetic ties. But you are correct that there is no "us" without "them".

PeterG00000 Says:

May 18, 2012 - Exactly. It's kind of tragic, and makes it hard for me to be mad at them for it. How lonely it must be to convince yourself to hate and fear people one has never met

bamfojm Says:

May 20, 2012 - not entirely. It's true that, genetically, we aren't much different so in terms of the nature of our brains they haven't changed much from those of a hunter/gatherer human. However, the brain develops in the context of it's environment (nurture, if you will), and the experiences of a modern human are very different which certainly changes the way we develop.

dasheiligeheerlager Says:

May 21, 2012 - ...most people in the world believe in god (or gods) that means this knd of empathy must be some kind of western world speciality. than "one world" will be a little hard to create...against the majority of the world, with less empathy...

fullfist Says:

May 22, 2012 - who says Christians believe "think this life is not your one and only"? it is believed that afterlife is merely an extension of one life and that the postmortem recognition you get is based on the effort you put into yourself and the community.The proper civilization to view is the Hindu, read their civilizational texts and you'll understand why even the lower castes can't emphasize with each other and why it was considered a generally sucky and dirty place by the Persians and Chinese..

fullfist Says:

May 22, 2012 - While empathy is important in building a stable community it only extends as far as you can see people, hear people and touch people this was extended by technology and education BUT NOT ENOUGH TO FORGE THIS NEW UNITED NEW WORLD that you're dreaming about..I assure you Europeans didn't give a flying fuck about the Haiti, it was just news worthy..People are even being numbed by the constant flow of dark news, it is best to focus on improving you local community. Less TV, more life..

akalpine Says:

May 22, 2012 - I see a revolution coming, of empathy coming in the future and it will be huge.

Phyrexious Says:

May 22, 2012 - "Merely an extension"?I see you like to argue about semantics on youtube...

bobbyekat Says:

May 22, 2012 - This is one of the nicest pieces of philosophy I have had the pleasure to enjoy!

every1luvzkk Says:

May 22, 2012 - you. are. amazing. this was very well thought out and great for visual learners

every1luvzkk Says:

May 22, 2012 - i believe we can extend our empathy to the whole world. you kinda sound pessimistic. because if in the future we find aliens and empathize with them, that would mean that the world was just another step before that.

fullfist Says:

May 23, 2012 - i'm trying to say that Christians are arguably the most emphatic of all, the European civilization proves it (even if some self-critically like to nit pick all the bad and exaggerate still it is incomparable to the rest).but even for us it's hard to empathize with every bad thing that happens around the world. contribute locally. .Empathy is very emotionally expensive, if you don't wanna be destabilized and overwhelmed you have to harden- a doctor wont empathize to stay focused. .

fullfist Says:

May 23, 2012 - let's say aliens come to visit my town, everyone meets them, talks to them, gets a tour inside the vessels.Likely we'll see their side of things and start building a mutually beneficial relationship..But the rest of the country only hears rumors about them. How many of the rest will be willing to accept them into their homes? None..If the city gains bad impressions likely the whole race will be shunned as a defense mechanism. Good impressions- we'll be cautiously curious. .

fullfist Says:

May 23, 2012 - The presumption that a human would first have to untie the world to be able to empathize with an alien is false..you can make friends with an alien but still not care about someone on the other side of the world In a lot of ways that someone is still more alien to me than an ET being i actually get to meet..This has been recognized so in order to force the World Order either every race, economy and culture has to mix (preposterous) or an external threat has to emerge..

Phyrexious Says:

May 23, 2012 - Nit pick the bad?Yeah, because pointing out the atrocities that have been done IN THE NAME of religion has to be swept under the rug right? "Western civ proves it"Proves what? That you are incapable of seeing more correlations and only pick the one you want it to be? How about cultural or geological distribution, you know, it's right in the name: WESTERN. There are many countries with a Christian religion that are doing piss poor. You're just looking for proof what you want to believe.

every1luvzkk Says:

May 23, 2012 - yeah that makes sense

SmilingDemon22 Says:

May 25, 2012 - "Christians are arguably the most emphatic of all"two words : "Spanish Inquisition":)

chancsy Says:

May 26, 2012 - We will progress when external threat appears. The next question, can/should we unite and show empathy to aliens? The next step, all existence beings? Animate inanimate objects living things etc..

96ace96 Says:

May 28, 2012 - I cared about Haiti, and if did then surely others did as well.

MrAdvancedAtheist Says:

May 28, 2012 - In practice "empathy" has become a socialist code word meaning "submission to coercive wealth redistribution from productive people to the the left's preferred client groups." Progressives feel no "empathy" at all for the people they bully with the threat of force to pay taxes for their utopian schemes.

Inannalu Says:

May 29, 2012 - There is no France? What of French, the language and culture?I am pro-globalism, but only for the more efficient (and yes, somewhat more equitable) production of PLENTY. Cultures ought to be retained in all their variation, insofar as human rights are not infringed upon. (the very short answer)

rationalconduct Says:

May 30, 2012 - What I assume Rifkin to mean when he says there is "no France" is that France is merely an abstraction, a short hand term, for the individuals who share the same geography, culture, language, etc. In that sense, there really is no France, only the individuals who identify as French.