The ENTIRE human race is sadistic

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Sand
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25 May 2010, 6:24 am

Wombat wrote:

Are we sadistic?

Several generations ago our ancestors would flock to see a good public flogging or hanging. They would torment some person in the stocks in the public square.
The Romans paid money to see people eaten by lions.

Why don't boxers wear helmets? Because we don't want to see a display of skill, we want to see someone beaten to a bloody pulp.

Car racing is boring unless there is a damn good crash every now and then.

I don.t doubt that some people enjoy seeing misery in others but it's not that simple. People enjoy seeing the unexpected and are interested in seeing how it is handled. Humor is not about cruelty, it is about false fright. It is about seeing something that looks horrible revealed as something unexpected and not menacing at all. That's why roller coasters are fun and not terrifying. It is mock terror.

AngelRho
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25 May 2010, 6:29 am

Wombat wrote:

ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! !

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25 May 2010, 6:34 am

Personally I do not enjoy seeing people in pain, emotional or physical. I find it very distressing. It's true if I am very angry I have the usual thoughts of murder and mayhem, but that is different than a sadist, who specifically chooses to inflict pain for pleasure. My thoughts are fleeting while a sadist will plan his actions. I don't have a Pollyanna view of the world. I think we are a mixture. How could we have survived as a species if altruism didn't come into play? There's another term for it in social biology but I can't think of it. I don't enjoy watching any of those things people used as examples and I think the Stanford experiment is more about people's fear of going against authority than a real desire to inflict pain. That's not to say there aren't plenty of sadists out there but I don't think you can categorize the entire human race that way as a whole.

Sand
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25 May 2010, 6:46 am

AngelRho wrote:

Wombat wrote:

ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! ! ROCKY!! !

It's not about the punishment he takes but that he overcomes it.

gemstone123
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25 May 2010, 11:37 am

Why the entire human race? Isn't that just a generalisation? Not everyone likes "slapstick" humour or enjoys seeing others hurt/in pain. It's true that some people do of course and get a kick out of it but I don't think it's correct to call the entire human race sadistic...

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Asp-Z
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25 May 2010, 11:49 am

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

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25 May 2010, 11:53 am

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

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Asp-Z
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25 May 2010, 11:57 am

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

So you can honestly tell me that you have never thought about doing harm to someone you hate? Or laughed at someone falling over or having an accident? Or never, ever, in any way whatsoever, derived pleasure from the pain of another? I doubt anyone can claim that.

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25 May 2010, 12:20 pm

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

Having those feelings sometimes is not the same thing. A cat eats grass sometimes, but that doesn't make it a herbivore.

Asp-Z
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25 May 2010, 12:22 pm

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

Having those feelings sometimes is not the same thing. A cat eats grass sometimes, but that doesn't make it a herbivore.

Again, sadism is pleasure from the pain of others. If imagining pain being done to someone else elicits positive emotions in you, it's the same concept isn't it?

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25 May 2010, 12:28 pm

Asp-Z wrote:

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

Having those feelings sometimes is not the same thing. A cat eats grass sometimes, but that doesn't make it a herbivore.

Again, sadism is pleasure from the pain of others. If imagining pain being done to someone else elicits positive emotions in you, it's the same concept isn't it?

I'm not saying it doesn't exist. It does exist. In all of us. I'm saying that to say the entire human race is sadistic implies that people are that way all the time. People are sometimes altruistic too. That is not to say the entire human race is altruistic. People are walking contradictions. You can't pick just one thing and slap a label on it.

Asp-Z
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25 May 2010, 12:34 pm

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

Having those feelings sometimes is not the same thing. A cat eats grass sometimes, but that doesn't make it a herbivore.

Again, sadism is pleasure from the pain of others. If imagining pain being done to someone else elicits positive emotions in you, it's the same concept isn't it?

They certainly don't show that behaviour all the time, I never claimed that to be true, I simply said it exists within us and shows in day-to-day life more than we'd expect. I also said that the type that happens more frequently is certainly on a lower level to the more extreme cases like the Stanford Prison Experiment.

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25 May 2010, 12:41 pm

Asp-Z wrote:

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

Aimless wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

gemstone123 wrote:

They were mere examples. In different societies and groups I'm sure it shows in different ways, but I do believe it's innate in human nature.

Yeah I think it is in certain people's nature but not everyone's.

Having those feelings sometimes is not the same thing. A cat eats grass sometimes, but that doesn't make it a herbivore.

Again, sadism is pleasure from the pain of others. If imagining pain being done to someone else elicits positive emotions in you, it's the same concept isn't it?

Then I guess it's a matter of semantics. Yes, all people are capable of sadistic thoughts and behaviors. Thankfully that's not the only thing they are capable of.

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25 May 2010, 12:45 pm

I agree with the Original Poster. Feeling better because someone is less fortunate is rather common.

ruveyn
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25 May 2010, 12:52 pm

LiendaBalla wrote:

I agree with the Original Poster. Feeling better because someone is less fortunate is rather common.

Better knows as Schadenfreude.

ruveyn

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27 May 2010, 1:42 pm

Asp-Z wrote:

Science shows this with the Stanford Prison Experiment.

I guess that could be one interpretation of the results, but an alternative and more well-known interpretation is that the desire to obey orders overrides the natural human aversion to pain.

And in response to your points about humour: whether pain is funny depends on the sort of pain. Nobody would laugh if they saw a child being punched until they bled; I interpret that as meaning something else supplies the humour when violent things happen that are funny. The humour taken from slapstick comedy could be due to all sorts of things, e.g.:
- Unexpectedness, e.g. when you see women having a fight, because in our culture women aren't supposed to do that.
- Arbitrary cultural values. I hear appreciation of slapstick humour varies a lot by country.
- The violence not being very serious, so the concern for the person doesn't override the funny aspects of it.

So I wouldn't leap to the conclusion that the entire human race is sadistic.

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