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Retribution, vengeance and holding grudges isn't how we're going to build a stronger society. On the contrary, spite definitely has a useful purpose in social
by tremon 6y ago
Retribution, vengeance and holding grudges isn't how we're going to build a stronger society.
On the contrary, spite definitely has a useful purpose in social structures. It strengthens the negative effect of unwanted behaviour.
- AYBABTME 6y agoIn a simplistic world, I agree as long as the response is proportional and the other actor is rational. My preferred strategy to deal with unwanted behaviour is usually 'swift proportional reprisal followed by forgiveness'. However I don't think you can apply this nilly-willy in the real world. There's a bunch of nuance at play, and the other actors are usually not very rational, and not every fight is worth the cost of fighting it. And also, none of this works if you don't _forgive_ the other side. "An eye for an eye" is a crap strategy.