Is hatred ever a productive thing to have?

[Angrboda]

I have a fanciful notion which has been languishing in mind for years and never fully developed.

According to my theory, hate is the exteriorization of the need to protect the group. We hate those that do not belong to the group. We distinguish between those that are "like us" and deserving of rights, resources and protection, from "the other" whose existence and actions are a threat to the needs and preservation of the group. A simple example is racial prejudice. White people placed the other in the negro, and viewed the negro as the enemy of the white man. The possibility of blacks being given equal rights, resources and protection resulted in an eruption of violence in the American south. In my view, hatred is the emotion we use for "the other," that group which we see as a threat to our group. (Thus terms like discrimination: we discriminate between those that are like us, and those that are unlike us.) Unfortunately, it's not a very precise or reliable mechanism, and the emotion likely ends up being generalized to cases where it isn't primarily geared at protection of our needs and such.

Anyway. I haven't really developed the idea, but that's my notion.

[jstrodel]

The only compassionate response to injustice is to oppose it. Whether you call that hatred or not I suppose is a matter of semantics.

[Whateverist]

The only compassionate response to injustice is to oppose it. Whether you call that hatred or not I suppose is a matter of semantics.

I guess, but I wouldn't call the bare opposition of injustice "hatred". That doesn't capture the meaning I've acquired for the word. What Apo says captures some of that fight-to-defend-what-is-dear aspect of hatred and the strength of the urge to destroy what is hated. Rage comes close I think to capturing the same range of response but where rage describes what is going on me, hate emphasizes how I feel about the object of my rage.

[festive1]

I would say that anger can be very useful. Hatred… not so much. Why do we hate an individual? I suspect that at least some of the time (and probably closer to most of the time) it is because we recognize parts of ourselves in that individual, normally parts that we try to squash, change, or contain. Therefore, isn't hating an individual a projection of our dissatisfaction with a part or parts of ourself? This is not always the case, but in instances where it is, we should examine the details of why we feel this way. Self-hatred is not good and leads to negative modes of thinking and actions. The most mean, hateful people I know are very unhappy with themselves.

[Mystic]

Hmmm....I am dissatisfied with myself but I don't hate other people with those negative attributes.

[Angrboda]

I would say that anger can be very useful. Hatred… not so much. Why do we hate an individual? I suspect that at least some of the time (and probably closer to most of the time) it is because we recognize parts of ourselves in that individual, normally parts that we try to squash, change, or contain. Therefore, isn't hating an individual a projection of our dissatisfaction with a part or parts of ourself? This is not always the case, but in instances where it is, we should examine the details of why we feel this way. Self-hatred is not good and leads to negative modes of thinking and actions. The most mean, hateful people I know are very unhappy with themselves.

It has been suggested that this is why we have such intense hatred for members of our own family, and especially our parents. In them, we see ourselves, and especially those parts of ourselves that we don't like or are uncomfortable with. There may be other reasons for the intensity among family, but this is certainly an important element. If my experience is any indicator, we focus much of our energies over our lifetimes simply trying to rid ourselves of what we saw as faults in our parents. My mother was a hoarder, my father controlling and distant, and my sisters are always late. Struggles with these issues have defined my life. A friend who had never seen my apartment came over one day and saw the shelves filled with things and casually remarked, "Oh, you're a collector." She didn't mean anything by it of course, but to me it was felt as a deeply wounding remark.

That still leaves the question somewhat threadbare though. Surely this in some small measure it explains what we hate in certain instances, but not why we hate. (And it seems a different breed of hate than say that expressed in bigotry or racism.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahT62n8tcA

[festive1]

Hmmm....I am dissatisfied with myself but I don't hate other people with those negative attributes.

This tells me you are a compassionate person. Perhaps, extending your compassion for faults you see in others (and within you) to yourself would prove helpful, if not easy. I struggle with self-love and self-compassion. I seem to overlook the fact that I'm human, just like everyone else. I hold myself to a higher (perfectionistic) standard, which no saint could ever hope to attain.

[Mystic]

Perhaps, extending your compassion for faults you see in others (and within you) to yourself would prove helpful, if not easy.

This is good advice. Thank you. And thanks for the compliment.

I hope you do learn to do the same. Self-love, self-compassion is important.

[The Grand Nudger]

If they weren't useful, or at least neutral, then one would wonder why creatures that expressed this sort of thing persisted, eh?

[Meylis Delano Lawrence]

I believe that hate and anger, like stress, was a tool to survive as far as evolution is concerned. We needed stress, for instance, to always be on alert and protective. But honeslty, nowadays I don't see any reason why hate and anger could be useful. I believe one who has lots of hate and anger always loses in long term.
I often see this in politics.