This is my first thread so be gentle with me!
This rambling post is not written by a psychologist or scientist of any kind, I’m just someone trying to express personal views and curiosity. I'm not even sure philosophy is the right place for this.
Hatred is not only an intense and almost enjoyable emotion but also quite personal. Imagining harming someone you dislike enough to hate makes you imagine doing things that would usually disgust you as a reasonable person. When the emotion subsides, this feeling of disgust that you could even think about doing such things often prevents you from sharing your feelings with anyone.
At the time of imagining it however, the idea of justifying your violent imagination never even crosses your mind. It is this inability to justify your imaginary actions to others that prevents almost everyone from carrying out their violent and abhorrent desires. Which is very good for the crime rate and society as a whole. The news is filled with the tales of those who give in to their darker side and shock us with the visceral reality of hatred. This is also part of my problem with religions claiming morals that are centuries old are the best; by supporting prejudices that should have died during the rights revolutions I think they are giving people this very justification for their hatred through confirmation bias.
But whether it is hatred of a person or a certain type of person we will never be rid of this emotion.
Hatred will always have its attraction once experienced personally because it is often felt to be a very ‘pure’ emotion. In the sense that Love is also a ‘pure’ emotion. Such emotions are barely affected by reason and usually result in a list of excuses to justify themselves. I’m not saying that people can avoid hatred, but they should certainly admit to themselves that what they are feeling is an intense but nonetheless disproportionate response to someone’s nationality or their beliefs or talking with their mouth full (Although if you talk with your mouth full I hope you get crushed by a massive piece of masonry).
The attraction to hateful desires is usually their uncomplicated nature combined with the fact that they can be enjoyable. They’re enjoyable because of the sheer selfishness of the fantasy; you may disagree with your president or prime minister’s policies but that really isn’t a good enough reason to throw them off a high building. Although I admit, that’s an enjoyable one, try it (The daydream, not an actual assassination). It’s selfish because you don’t need to justify something that’s just in your head.
Hatred is extreme (although rarely amusing) fantasies and it is the emotion that stirs witch-hunts and encourages prejudice across whole nations. But it also bears thinking about that if you couldn’t feel so strongly as to be roused to hate could you miss out on the heights of love as well? Again, they aren’t so different. Totally irrational, very enjoyable.
Please post your personal opinions and if you think I've missed something point it out!
I'll be back to read posts on Tuesday
This rambling post is not written by a psychologist or scientist of any kind, I’m just someone trying to express personal views and curiosity. I'm not even sure philosophy is the right place for this.
Hatred is not only an intense and almost enjoyable emotion but also quite personal. Imagining harming someone you dislike enough to hate makes you imagine doing things that would usually disgust you as a reasonable person. When the emotion subsides, this feeling of disgust that you could even think about doing such things often prevents you from sharing your feelings with anyone.
At the time of imagining it however, the idea of justifying your violent imagination never even crosses your mind. It is this inability to justify your imaginary actions to others that prevents almost everyone from carrying out their violent and abhorrent desires. Which is very good for the crime rate and society as a whole. The news is filled with the tales of those who give in to their darker side and shock us with the visceral reality of hatred. This is also part of my problem with religions claiming morals that are centuries old are the best; by supporting prejudices that should have died during the rights revolutions I think they are giving people this very justification for their hatred through confirmation bias.
But whether it is hatred of a person or a certain type of person we will never be rid of this emotion.
Hatred will always have its attraction once experienced personally because it is often felt to be a very ‘pure’ emotion. In the sense that Love is also a ‘pure’ emotion. Such emotions are barely affected by reason and usually result in a list of excuses to justify themselves. I’m not saying that people can avoid hatred, but they should certainly admit to themselves that what they are feeling is an intense but nonetheless disproportionate response to someone’s nationality or their beliefs or talking with their mouth full (Although if you talk with your mouth full I hope you get crushed by a massive piece of masonry).
The attraction to hateful desires is usually their uncomplicated nature combined with the fact that they can be enjoyable. They’re enjoyable because of the sheer selfishness of the fantasy; you may disagree with your president or prime minister’s policies but that really isn’t a good enough reason to throw them off a high building. Although I admit, that’s an enjoyable one, try it (The daydream, not an actual assassination). It’s selfish because you don’t need to justify something that’s just in your head.
Hatred is extreme (although rarely amusing) fantasies and it is the emotion that stirs witch-hunts and encourages prejudice across whole nations. But it also bears thinking about that if you couldn’t feel so strongly as to be roused to hate could you miss out on the heights of love as well? Again, they aren’t so different. Totally irrational, very enjoyable.
Please post your personal opinions and if you think I've missed something point it out!
I'll be back to read posts on Tuesday
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. ~ George Bernard Shaw
