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For any situation, the statement "I want X" neatly partitions people in two. Group 1 treats it as a normative statement about the world: "I want X" means they
by bulatb 7y ago
For any situation, the statement "I want X" neatly partitions people in two.
Group 1 treats it as a normative statement about the world: "I want X" means they should have X, and arrangements of the world in which they don't have X are ones in which the world has morally wronged them. This injustice means they're owed redress, which makes it morally and socially acceptable to do whatever necessary to take from the world what it wrongly denied them. Anything they do is justified; they're just reclaiming what's already theirs.
Group 2 treats "I want X" as a positive (non-normative) statement about themselves, like "I had toast for breakfast." It may inform their plans and decisions but doesn't justify behavior that's normally unjustified.
Everyone is in (1) some of the time, many are in (1) most of the time, and some are in (1) all the time.
You can see this every day in common, totally mundane scenarios. I guess including the home and the boardroom.
- electricviolet 7y agoInteresting, is there research on this or is this a personal theory of yours?
- bulatb 7y agoJust a theory. A random example (which doesn't hinge on legal vs. right, although it seems to): It's illegal in some U.S. states to change lanes across a solid white divider when driving, especially if you're about to make a turn. There are intersections where the turn lane's solid section is so long, and the block before the intersection is so short, it's basically impossible to merge where it's legal. Especially with any traffic, there's just no time to cross before the solid. But there's room! Once you're in the solid zone, there's no one blocking you. Merging there would be illegal. There's the fully legal option to wait at the light, then go on straight, then turn at a block down the road where the solid is short. But that's inconvenient. You want to get home. But merging here would be illegal. But you want to. So people partition.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y agoIt's textbook dark triad entitlement. Neurotypicals understand that other people exist as separate individuals. Dark triad types are utterly self=centred and only aware of their own desires and interests. Other people either satisfy their desires or hinder them - sometimes actively, sometimes just because they're randomly in the way. The person who frustrates - or even just distracts - a dark triad individual is considered evil. They must be removed, humiliated, punished, or destroyed in some other way.