Did people lost their empathy lately?

[SilentEagle]

I recently saw a conversation in a Discord group. They posted a photo of a truck overturned in the storm and people laughed at it. I said that the man may lose his job or there may be loss of lives and property. They continued to laugh and make fun of the truck's shape. I got angry and left. Why are people really so unsympathetic?

 

[Max|Payne]

Lately?

Lost?

 

[scare_crow]

This is not new.

 

[TheWooniestWoona]

It does feel like it's been getting worse over the last several years.

 

[entremet]

I feel like internet troll culture became an IRL thing since everyone got on the internet.

Schadenfreude is in.

 

[Vommy]

It feels to me that it is going downhill for quite some time now

 

[mbpm]

Well, I haven't at least. I think.

 

[balohna]

On a site like Era people will call you out for being an asshole, on random Discords a lot of people just ignore it... and then the people being assholes just keep being assholes. Ultimately I think it probably is the right move to just leave if people are being terrible, but a community and/or moderation team COULD work harder to cultivate a space that doesn't foster that kind of thing.

 

[Doggg]

I feel like internet troll culture became an IRL thing since everyone got on the internet.

Schadenfreude is in.

Click to shrink...

I think you can see this in the way people drive, this bleeding of internet culture into everyday life.

 

[entremet]

I think you can see this in the way people drive, this bleeding of internet culture into everyday life.

Click to shrink...

We had a troll President. And he basically came to power with that act.

 

[samoscratch]

I think a lot of people in general aren't very empathetic but it does feel like things have been cranked to 11 for the last few years.

 

[KarmaCow]

It wasn't that long ago that people went to lynchings like they were going out to see a movie.

 

[Tbm24]

People suck, have sucked, and will continue to suck. Others misery is peak comedy for many and has always been that way. Hence all the rampant suffering and destruction throughout history.

 

[Hellwarden]

People feel the world is going to hell, and in some regards, it absolutely is.

That breeds misery and contempt.

 

[Dust]

It's the internet, my man. What did you expect?

 

[Jibberhack]

Many of our societies are built upon a lack of empathy. On a macro scale, we do nothing about the suffering of the poor, treat immigrants like filth, allow people to die en mass from preventable conditions, etc. That's going to manifest itself eventually on the micro level, in the interactions between everyday people.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Even people who think they're empathetic selectively apply it.

 

[xir]

i honestly believe within 15 years a major political party will down cry the very idea of empathy. guess which one

 

[julia crawford]

Hmm. That's not too bad. Lots of things are not funny in the moment but you call tell they'll be funny eventually. Bad things have happened to me that were quite frankly HILARIOUS but at the time i just felt bad. However a truck turned over in a storm is kind of scary and i maybe wouldn't laugh. But my point is that finding something funny isn't the same as having no empathy, you can do both at the same time and often finding the funny in something is a help to all parties involved. Like if someone trips and falls flat on the ground that's pretty funny. But i would still go and help and check if they're ok.

 

[pioneer]

You don't have to look any further than COVID killing 7 million+ and disabling millions more while people convince themselves it isn't real to find a recent example of this

 

[scottbeowulf]

People laughing at other's misfortune to make them feel superior isn't new and isn't going anywhere. It's just more in your face now.

 

[Sai]

It's getting worse, but it's not new.

 

[John Rabbit]

2024 does seem to have gotten off to a particularly edgy start.

 

[jotun?]

They're just optimists, looking on the bright side, finding the silver lining

 

[DevilPuncher]

It can potentially be a coping mechanism I guess?

I dunno. I feel myself growing colder as time goes on too, tbh. I'm not trying to be edgy or anything; I've lost a lot of family these past few years and I feel myself dissociating more and more as time goes on. Since COVID things have been a blur—and not in a good way. I think a lot of people are feeling it too and just trying to cope. Shit sucks and we're all just trying to get by.

Just my two cents, anyway.

 

[Kensation]

Lately? LOL

 

[Galkinator]

Empathy is slowly being gone from this world since social media exploded. Feels like it's especially true post COVID, online talk and overall random people seem a lot colder or something

 

[OhSatan]

Lately?

 

[I am a Bird]

No, people were psychotic in the past. The reason everyone seems more more un-empathetic is because were are becoming more empathetic to a greater number of people than just those close to us.

 

[andymoogle]

Many of our societies are built upon a lack of empathy. On a macro scale, we do nothing about the suffering of the poor, treat immigrants like filth, allow people to die en mass from preventable conditions, etc. That's going to manifest itself eventually on the micro level, in the interactions between everyday people.

Click to shrink...

This. Empathy has no place in a capitalist society where workers are meant to fight each other while the capitalists are stealing their money.

 

[DarkJ]

I think we are the most empathetic we have ever been. People did this kind of stuff in the past you just weren't at their house to see it. The internet allows it to be put out there.

You got to remember in the grand scheme of human history it's only fairly recently a lot of bad things fell out of fashion. Obviously we are still striving.

 

[medli]

People have been like that on the internet since it existed so I don't think your example is indicative of anything. But in general society and everyday life I would say yes.

 

[Zip]

I'm reasonably sure that a decent amount of the total population do not ever fully develop empathy, and what appears as such may just be what social pressures push people into saying or doing.

Have those pressures shift away from empathy and there you go.

 

[SpeedyBlueDude]

A very depressing thing I've recently heard (from a YouTube video, so I pray it's not true) is that apparently according to science people actually lose empathy as they get older, which is why you see so many older folks being the way they are.

I'm only 27 and I get genuinely sad half the time I scroll twitter and I see other real human beings reactions to various things. Like people just want to be mean to be mean and actively go out of their way to try to hurt others to feel better about themselves.

If I'm destined to just grow up to be uncaring and cold towards strangers when I'm older, that makes me want to cry. 😔

 

[Rizific]

this your first time seeing something like that on the internet?

 

[Blackbird]

i don't think this is anyrhing new to talk about nor truly insightful, but still...

the more i spent time with people around my age (early to late 20's), the more i realize how strong and effective that cultural portrayal which "growing wiser", equals becoming more cynical and cold, is, essentially.

somehow being open about your emotions and displaying them, talking about your feelings, it's all often seen as a weakness, something childish and/or unprofessional.

so i'm seeing a lot of friends and mutuals becoming distant, focusing on themselves above anything else and such.

part of this is obviously the consequence of living more, as that translates to getting hurt, distrustful and way too protective over, well, experiencing things in ways that might considered naive, although sincere nonetheless.

like i said above this is nothing special or unique, i know it has been said a thousand of times already since it's not breakthrough of any kind.

it's just sad, since i consider my biggest personal growth was avoiding this kind of behavior, realizing that was a miserable life i was living.

 

[Tagyhag]

Do you not remember the Internet of the early 2000's?

If you were too young at that time, just note that as shit as it is now, it was worse back then.

 

[RoaminRonin]

Elon turned the one of the biggest social media platform into 4chan, so yea loss of empathy has been accelerated.

 

[RichardHawk]

People pointed and laughed at hung black folks in the 1920s'

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

I've still got mine, but I do feel like I get bombarded with more people (read: Rich wealthy people) telling me I should feel more for people (read: Rich wealthy people) who are struggling. Or feeling bad for people who are absolute assholes and such.

Or I'm just burnt out from everything.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I feel like internet troll culture became an IRL thing since everyone got on the internet.

Click to shrink...

The Internet definitely plays a big part in this. Whether that's due to changes in attitude, a false or real sense of anonymity, or a combination of the two. People have become so accustomed to anonymous asshole behavior online over the years that it is second nature, and you're even seeing it spill over into their real-life interactions because they can no longer make a distinction. The Internet may as well be "real-life" for some people, and real-life may as well be the Internet because 95% of their human interactions take place there. There's a disconnect in the sense that there are real, three-dimensional human beings behind these things that's completely lost, and as a result there's no empathy. They treat those they don't know with indifference, or worse, hatred and malice.

 

[Psychotext]

I have regarding people who continually vote against their own self interest. I used to care that they were being screwed over, but given they're dragging everyone else down with them, my sympathy has run out.

I don't laugh at people getting hurt in vids etc though, that's just shitty.

 

[onpoint]

It was always bad but 2020 and the pandemic kicked it into high gear

 

[supernormal]

People pointed and laughed at hung black folks in the 1920s'

Click to shrink...

This. Literal children at lynchings like it was a recreational family event. You're just more in contact with this behavior now by an exponential factor because of the internet and social media. But humans literally suck and have always done absolutely horrendous things for "fun" since the beginning of time.

 

[Lost Lemurian]

Public executions used to be a fun day out for the whole family, where you could buy concessions and souvenirs.

People are fucked and always have been.

 

[SilentEagle]

this your first time seeing something like that on the internet?

Click to shrink...

No I've seen worse but when I see that in a group with thousands of people.

Discord has extremely toxic servers btw. Even some of the official gaming servers have very toxic members and mods. Looks like I should do a social media detox for some time.

 

[BWoog]

Have you met a Boomer?

 

[Messofanego]

Social media like discord and other platforms are designed to keep engagement high, and not showing empathy will do you well in the attention economy. Obviously it also depends on what kind of people you surround yourself with on social media.

A very depressing thing I've recently heard (from a YouTube video, so I pray it's not true) is that apparently according to science people actually lose empathy as they get older, which is why you see so many older folks being the way they are.

I'm only 27 and I get genuinely sad half the time I scroll twitter and I see other real human beings reactions to various things. Like people just want to be mean to be mean and actively go out of their way to try to hurt others to feel better about themselves.

If I'm destined to just grow up to be uncaring and cold towards strangers when I'm older, that makes me want to cry. 😔

Click to shrink...

The Key Role of Empathy in the Relationship between Age and Social Support

Aging involves several changes depending on genetic and behavioral factors, such as lifestyle and the number and quality of social relationships, which in turn can be influenced by empathy. Here, the change in the perceived social support across the lifespan as a function of empathy was...

www.mdpi.com

It's true or at least corroborated by scientific research that empathy lessens as you get older. At least towards new people. Old people can still have empathy to their closest ones. But the important message is to keep that social cognition alive. Basically keep meeting new people and be open and curious. Keep empathising, keep training that muscle, and you won't have a problem.

 

[loco]

Even on LinkedIn you have all of these assholes applauding and laughing at the tech layoffs. Never seen that kind of venom on such a mild mannered and boring social network

 

[take_marsh]

Empathy doesn't make you richer.