5 ms·

Not really, kindness also exists. It is the escape hatch from the evolutionary zero sum game and let's you pick a better equilibrium (bargaining vs pure Nash).

Not really, kindness also exists. It is the escape hatch from the evolutionary zero sum game and let's you pick a better equilibrium (bargaining vs pure Nash). We can just not fight. There is enough room and resources,we can get more of them and build more efficient tech, and we are all more alike than different.

WarmWash 2mo ago
Kindness is an unstable equilibrium unfortunately. Mother nature is totally uninterested in it. Otherwise we would still all be protolife quasi-cells, because consuming other cells and not sharing resources isn't kind. Maybe you argue that we are human and intelligent, so we can override this inconvenience with a system of our own design. My response would be "Sure, put your guns down and burn them, I won't stop you." Again, it's an unstable equilibrium. Power on the other hand is dramatically more stable.
- kakacik 2mo ago
  Thats your take, I tend to not agree. Nature, with all its balance by destruction, has one approach but we humans can and do things differently in some cases, for our greater benefit. We don't kill weak links in our population just like mother nature intended and keeps doing left and right everywhere all the time, a good chunk of this forum would not pass those harsh and often random tests yet its/ours added value is non-trivial and surpasses any additional effort by society (at least I like to think that). 'Everything good in this world is kindness'. I have yet to meet a person, situation or story where this would not apply.
- igorkraw 2mo ago
  Are humans without agency then? There's more ways of neutralizing power than meeting it with equivalent threat. You can also make it not worth exerting the power, or introduce enough friction to let it evaporate itself. And so far, the highest historical power concentrations have always been un-stable, while the polities that put checks on that power and embed themselves in cooperative trade networks lasted for much longer
- watwut 2mo ago
  Meh, that "empathy is weakness" is just an ideology, not the historical thing. Nazi lost the war after all. Fascists in general tend to start wars and then loose them, precisely because their arrogance and lack of empathy makes them unable win long term. The constant war of all against all with no kindness kind of societies don't do all that well, actually. Human societies do best when the kind people assert themselves against sociopaths. And human societies do worst when the sociopaths get free reign.

WarmWash 2mo ago

Kindness is an unstable equilibrium unfortunately. Mother nature is totally uninterested in it. Otherwise we would still all be protolife quasi-cells, because consuming other cells and not sharing resources isn't kind. Maybe you argue that we are human and intelligent, so we can override this inconvenience with a system of our own design. My response would be "Sure, put your guns down and burn them, I won't stop you." Again, it's an unstable equilibrium. Power on the other hand is dramatically more stable.

kakacik 2mo ago
Thats your take, I tend to not agree. Nature, with all its balance by destruction, has one approach but we humans can and do things differently in some cases, for our greater benefit. We don't kill weak links in our population just like mother nature intended and keeps doing left and right everywhere all the time, a good chunk of this forum would not pass those harsh and often random tests yet its/ours added value is non-trivial and surpasses any additional effort by society (at least I like to think that). 'Everything good in this world is kindness'. I have yet to meet a person, situation or story where this would not apply.
igorkraw 2mo ago
Are humans without agency then? There's more ways of neutralizing power than meeting it with equivalent threat. You can also make it not worth exerting the power, or introduce enough friction to let it evaporate itself. And so far, the highest historical power concentrations have always been un-stable, while the polities that put checks on that power and embed themselves in cooperative trade networks lasted for much longer
watwut 2mo ago
Meh, that "empathy is weakness" is just an ideology, not the historical thing. Nazi lost the war after all. Fascists in general tend to start wars and then loose them, precisely because their arrogance and lack of empathy makes them unable win long term. The constant war of all against all with no kindness kind of societies don't do all that well, actually. Human societies do best when the kind people assert themselves against sociopaths. And human societies do worst when the sociopaths get free reign.