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I'm certainly guilty of this. My two cents on the topic are 1) that people are generally bad at letting other people feel and think on their own, 2) as the arti

I'm certainly guilty of this. My two cents on the topic are 1) that people are generally bad at letting other people feel and think on their own, 2) as the article suggests, tribalism is now manifesting in schools of thinking, and 3) life is so easy, to the point that others' opinions and emotions can appear hostile. Point 1 I realized recently when I discovered my family is especially good at emotional gaslighting, where I would complain about something and the family member (any of them, practically) would argue against what I said, in favor of whatever I was complaining about. It was a mix of the Mr Rogers' documentary and a falling out with the family that made me realize empathy means letting others feel, letting others talk, and truly understanding them. Once you're both on the same page emotionally you can offer suggestions or advice, but if you're not on the same page you're denying that person's personhood. 2 and 3 are an interesting combination that I think has led to society at large condemning not-niceness and leaving us in the newer generation either to not have strong opinions or to have VERY strong opinions, pretty much on any topic. I'm sure this happened in generations before but now it's so easy to see one lunatic on Twitter and subconsciously think "that whole group is just like that." I think social media is a mistake, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out in the future.

skohan 8y ago
> life is so easy, to the point that others' opinions and emotions can appear hostile. I have a different take on this. I think part of the reason people seem more hostile and or threatening to one another is because we have more access to each-other. 30 years ago, you probably didn't have too much of an idea what other people really thought unless you knew them personally or they were some kind of a public figure. Now you can go online and have immediate access to in-group conversations you're not a part of - including the conversations of groups who might consider you their enemy. I think we might need a few more decades to develop the social tools to handle this without being at each other's throats all the time. I suspect another element, at least in the US, is the subtext that the explosive growth in terms of the material well-being of the middle class which was enjoyed in the post-war period through the 90's has slowed. I think in times of scarcity, or perceived scarcity, people tend to emphasize devision and find more reasons to bludgeon the groups they're not a part of.

skohan 8y ago

> life is so easy, to the point that others' opinions and emotions can appear hostile. I have a different take on this. I think part of the reason people seem more hostile and or threatening to one another is because we have more access to each-other. 30 years ago, you probably didn't have too much of an idea what other people really thought unless you knew them personally or they were some kind of a public figure. Now you can go online and have immediate access to in-group conversations you're not a part of - including the conversations of groups who might consider you their enemy. I think we might need a few more decades to develop the social tools to handle this without being at each other's throats all the time. I suspect another element, at least in the US, is the subtext that the explosive growth in terms of the material well-being of the middle class which was enjoyed in the post-war period through the 90's has slowed. I think in times of scarcity, or perceived scarcity, people tend to emphasize devision and find more reasons to bludgeon the groups they're not a part of.