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"What this demonstrates is that rats will go to another rat's aid, and nothing about their internal models for doing so." The notion of aid implies it has a me
by stewbrew 15y ago
"What this demonstrates is that rats will go to another rat's aid, and nothing about their internal models for doing so."
The notion of aid implies it has a mental model of the other rat and that it consideres the other rat as a rat that needs help.
I don't understand why people always think of humans as outstanding and totally different from other species. Or do you think that humans are only exhibiting kin selection too and that empathy is nothing but a ideological concept? How do you prove empathy in humans? (And please apply the same rigor.)
- anateus 15y agoI do mention that humans are capable of sharing their introspections with each other. There are a lot of issues with this, and philosophy is busy figuring that stuff out (from qualia on). This is why I choose to accept the common explanation that empathy plays at least some role in human altruism. I think we should be just as careful ascribing internal models to human actions that we observe, where we might be even more tempted to jump to conclusions because we think we must be familiar what goes on in other humans' minds. So, to summarize, I think humans really do feel empathy (I know I do, and I choose to believe others do too), and I know humans will often engage in altruistic behavior. I'm not certain that without empathy we wouldn't engage in the altruistic behavior, though it's likely we'd engage in less. So yes, I do actively apply the same rigor to this area where ethics, philosophy of mind, and neuroscience are meeting. It's a fascinating topic! But it's an area that's easily politicized (morality takeaways tend to be applied quickly...) so I always err on the side of careful interpretation.