Ebe'sWord

[Albino Anti-Hero]

Jul 25, 2013 0:30:58 GMT ebe said:

Empathy:

Empathy can be tricky. Clearly WE'RE reasonable people trying to do our best while other people are "crazy" "thugs" "lazy." In fact when put into similar situations with similar backgrounds many of us might make the same choices as those we decry.

On a day-to-day basis this can come up whenever we're having an argument or whenever teams who don't communicate well run into problems. Eventually people can break off into partisan groups that will use any stretch of imagination to praise their group and demonize the other, seeing everything they say as reasonable or harmless and everything the other side says as hateful and bigoted.

On the flip side, some people try to excuse others' behavior because they feel like "they had a rough past" or such. There's certainly some room for leniency, but don't justify things based solely on the "reasons" someone may have had. There's always the odd psychopath that enjoyed killing people for no reason, but most villains are not masked figures who gloat "Mwahaha" as they kill the protagonist's best friend. They are people who because of *something* have chosen to do harm. We should always strive to understand the causes of evil, but not ignore the fact that those causes can result in people adopting a mindset that cannot be tolerated.

In the end, it's about not jumping to conclusions and trying to see the context behind someone's actions.

It's the only way to change anything.

I missed this update, this is a really good one. also enjoyed the update on restraint.

[ebe]

Inquery:

It's all too common to stop thinking about an issue once someone's told you something, but try not to jump into situations.

Say you have a friend who tells you that someone else did something that seems unfair/wrong. Before you accuse the other person of wrong doing, but you should ask them if they are aware of the situation and what their take on it is. If you go blundering about thinking you are the incarnation of justice...well, you'll probably make trouble for some people that didn't do what you thought they did. Always seek to figure out what is going on, and stop yourself from assuming you know.

The biggest thing here is just that you won't be thinking "I know this guy did it and I won't ask." It's an insidious thing where you never make a decision, you just act on information you were given. Instead take a moment to make sure what your doing as you go about your day, and stop yourself from doing anything you regret.

[xolta]

Huzza its back after a week long ebecaioon.