#Rutger Bregman

[luxe-pauvre]

And second, my advice is to cultivate a thicker skin. Don’t let anyone tell you what’s what. If we want to change the world, we need to be unrealistic, unreasonable, and impossible. Remember: those who called for the abolition of slavery, for suffrage for women, and for same-sex marriage were also once branded lunatics. Until history proved them right.

Rutger Bregman, Utopia For Realists: And How We Can Get There

#Rutger Bregman #Utopia For Realists: And How We Can Get There

[ilthit]

Ei tartte lukea juttua kun otsikko kertoi jo kaiken.

#suomi #finnish #worklife #rutger bregman #capitalism

[raineydaywrites]

How Empathy Blinds

I have been reading Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman (amazing book, I highly recommend it for everyone, but I digress), and I came across a section where he talks about the downside to empathy. It really impacted me, as an autistic person who has hypoempathy, and I thought I'd share a little bit about it for other people who experience hypoempathy, whether autistic or not, because it's really interesting!

So Bregman explains that empathy, while perceived as this kind, moral thing can actually be a drawback in our ability to be good, moral people. There's this chapter "How Empathy Blinds" where he explains that some psychologists (He refers to Professor Paul Bloom specifically) now feel that empathy serves as a sort of spotlight. Empathy singles out a specific person or group of people, and while you're focusing on them and their emotions and struggles, the rest of the world fades away.

He cites a study where volunteers were told the story of a young girl, Sheri Summers, who is ten years old and dying. She is on the waiting list for a life-saving treatment, but time is running out. The volunteers are told that they can move her up the list but asked to be objective in their decision.

In this scenario, most volunteers refuse to move her. They understand that the list is full of children needing treatment, and that all of them are running out of time. The list was made as it was by people who know the needs of every sick kid they need to treat.

But when a different group of volunteers were given the same scenario and instead asked to imagine how Sheri must feel, the majority wanted to move her up. The small change of framing Sheri in a light that lended itself to empathy changed the outcome. Just because the volunteers felt like they knew Sheri better than the rest of the sick children.

Bloom and Bregman argue that empathy is, in practical terms, a limited skill. We simply cannot hold enough empathy in ourselves to cover everyone. If you try to put yourself in everyone's shoes, you are going to get overwhelmed and be incapable of truly feeling empathy for them all.

We simply can't feel total empathy. And that's a problem, because it means that when we base moral decisions around empathy, we are going to make biased decisions.

That's why it's a good thing that empathy is not the same as sympathy or compassion. We can feel those much more broadly, because they don't require as much emotional weight. We aren't borrowing the struggle of everyone else when we feel compassion the way we do when we feel empathy.

Individual humans primarily feel empathy for those closest to us- our friends and families, our favorite bands or celebrities, the homeless person we see every day. And for people we see on TV, whether fictional or real. And "the more we identify with victims, the more we generalize about our enemies." When we feel empathy for someone's suffering, we lose sight of the suffering of anyone we perceive as 'at fault.' This mentality is the same one that leads to xenophobia and nationalism and exclusion. In this way, empathy can actually prevent us from seeing other people as human.

Of course there are cases where people have done truly heinous things, and I'm not arguing that their actions are just as valid as their victims or anything of the sort. But in lesser cases, where the fault is not so consuming, or where there truly is fault on both sides, empathy can impede our ability to be objective and fair. Further, feeling sympathy for our enemies doesn't mean having to forgive them- it can also just be useful to remember that they are human, because that gives us an insight into their thought process and helps with the process of preparing for any negative actions they may take. In the best situations, understanding their feelings might even help us to deradicalize and defuse people who otherwise might have gone on to hurt others.

Sympathy doesn't require us to forgive our enemies or let them off without punishment, but it helps us understand them. It's even more important to utilize this in situations were our adversaries are not truly evil, so that we can learn how to function together better.

Bregman didn't talk about how this impacts low- or no-empathy people, but I think it's a hopeful reminder. When people accuse you of being unfeeling or evil for not feeling empathy, you can remember that empathy isn't the net-positive value that a lot of people assume it is. In some ways, for some people, having hypoempathy can actually help you be a better person than someone who is empathetic but refuses to give anyone outside of their in-group the time of day.

#empathy #hypoempathetic #actuallyautistic #star wars #humankind #humankind a hopeful history #rutger bregman #long post #mine #aspd #npd safe #aspd safe

[whats-in-a-sentence]

For a long time, the Christmas truce of 1914 was treated as a myth.

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" - Rutger Bregman

#book quotes #humankind #rutger bregman #nonfiction #christmas truce #1910s #10s #20th century #ww1 #wwi #world war 1 #world war i #world war one #first world war #myth #urban myth

[handlewithcare-delicate]

Ik lees de meeste mensen deugen

#Converted another one boys >:) #rutger bregmancore #rutger bregman #de meeste mensen deugen #en. is je hele leven al verbeterd #heb je weer geloof in de mensheid #in de toekomst #in de wereld #sta je positiever in het leven #lach je meer #hou je weer van mensen #ik wel namelijk :) #allemaal dankzij de meeste mensen deugen :)

[delusionalinsecurewreckpiningphd]

SOO I have feelings about Liu Cixin's Dark Forest - not that I have read it page to page, mostly just the wikipedia page because it is such an interesting premise, but goddamn this premise.

I guess the title is sort of based on the same game theory "dark forest hypothesis" in which alien civilizations exist but are paranoid that if they make themselves known, more advanced civilizations will come and colonize or eliminate them. It is a dark forest because whoever light a fire in that forest make themselves a target by others in the dark.

Cool hypothesis and all, but I think I'm just so wary of the mountains of media basing off the premise that we're all in a zero-sum game and the operative is always "Destroy each other". *picking up Humankind the book again while reminding myself we scientists sent probe into space to both study and to share a bit of humanity to the rest of space*

#humankind a hopeful history #rutger bregman #liu cixin #the three body problem #the dark forest #dark forest hypothesis #space #alien #voyager golden record

[tenth-sentence]

And when it comes down to it, the presence of bystanders has precisely the opposite effect of what science has long insisted.

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" - Rutger Bregman

#book quote #humankind #rutger bregman #nonfiction #bystander effect #science

[thoughtfulfangirling]

"... it's easier to be a cynic. The pessimistic professor who preaches of human depravity can predict anything he wants, for if his prophecies don't come true now, just wait: failure could always be just around the corner, or else his voice of reason has prevented the worst...

The reasons for hope, by contrast, are always provisional. Nothing has gone wrong — yet. You haven't been cheated — yet. An idealist can be right her whole life and still be dismissed as naive."

— Humankind: A Hopeful History, Rutger Bregman

#quotes #books #reading #humankind: a hopeful history #rutger bregman #q #nonfiction

[dear-black]

''Her şey hikaye anlatmak ve diğer insanları o hikayeye ikna etmekle alakalı.''

#Rutger Bregman

[darklingichor]

Humankind: A Hopeful History, by Rutger Bregman

I learned about this book from a tumblr post analyzing Lord of the Flies. I was going to link it, but I can't find it. I thought I reblogged it, or st least liked it, but evidently not.

Anyway, I hate Lord of the Flies. I wasn't made to read it in high school, I went to a small Christian school (better structure for me, and fewer bullies) I was made to read books about real missionaries who didn't listen to the people they converted when they told them not to go bug a certain group people in the jungle because they *would* kill them. And then they did, and were killed. And this, for some reason, wasn't seen as stupid.

No, I read it because I saw a show talking about it and got curious.

I hated for much the same reasons I hated Orwell. Less for the plot than the feeling. This very high handed feel of an author trying to be a prophet, or "telling the truth" about human nature. Of course the full reason I hated 1984 was because the idea of losing control of my own mind freaks the fuck out of me, but that's a seperate issue.

Anyway, many people contributed to this post and one person mentioned a story in this book, the real lord of the flies, where a group of boys were stranded on an island for over a year, but didn't go mad and kill each other, and in fact worked together to survive and get rescued

The author of this book wanted to really look at human nature and examine if we are prone to evil, and if not, why do we think we are?

Generally speaking the answer is, no, we are more prone to kindness. Again and again studies have shown that people, as a whole, if given a choice, will help each other. So why do we think we are evil?

Negativity bias.

I mean this in two ways.

Scientifically, we are more likely to remember the negative. It's an ancient survival mechanism. Remember when you stuck your hand in a fire? That hurt, right? Be careful of fire.

Remeber when that one person beat the shit out of that other person for no reason? Be careful of people.

There is slso a negativity bias in media. It's not just "If it bleeds it leads" it's "If it's cruel, it's copy."

Why? Because, it ties into that built in mechanism in our brains. And if it's memorable, it's profitable.

The old chestnuts that have been cited over and over to show the inate cruelty of people, were either the product of media spin, or media combined with people manipulating data to get the results they want.

The Stanford Prison Experiment? Where certain college students were instructed to act like gaurds and others to act like prisoners and it desolved into mayhem after a few days? This book dug into it and found that originally, the gaurds and the prisoners got along, that the drama that was documented was a play act because the professor running the experiment didn't like how it was going. The media saw that this got people to pay attention and ran with it.

The Bystander Effect? Where, in the early 60's a woman was murdered and 38 people witnessed it and did nothing?

Not true.

Several people tried to get the police involved. They were slow to act because it was thought to be a domestic issue, and they didn't like to get involved in those.

The reporters who covered the story thought that having no one want to get involved made a better story. So, they lied, the scientific community latched on and that was it.

And that's just two stories like this.

Don't get me wrong, this book doesn’t say that everyone is kind and the suffering in the world is illusion. We do have the capability to do horrible things. The point that it tries to make is that as a whole, we would rather be kind, if given the opportunity.

This spoke to me, like a lot of people I witness a lot more kindness than anything else. I am also aware that it only takes one time to meet a Ted Bundy.

This book does address that, and still makes a strong case for the overall goodness of the human race.

The thing of it is, we all have the ability to be jerks. The right environment, the right circumstance, a bad day and anyone can act like a jackass. That doesn't make the person evil or unable to care for others.

The one thing I disagree with is the author's view on empathy.

He sights a few scientists who think that empathy causes more damage than good. After all, the author says, if your kid is afraid of the dark, crying and rocking back and forth with them won't help.

Instead, he says, compassion is key. Compassion allows for feeling to combine with action to really help someone.

I feel like the author is taking the word empathy too literally.

In the studies I have read, empathy has to do with neural pathways, ability to put yourself in another's shoes. These pathways need to be trained, empathy needs to be taught. The result is that if someone tells me that they had a horrible day, that they had a headache, work was hard, they had an argument with a friend, I can understand how they feel and comfort them. Empathy is a mecinism that can lead to compassion.

It doesn't mean that I take on their feelings and literally feel them.

That, I think, is an entirely different phenomenon.

Some people are empaths and feel what others feel as they are feeling it. I think some people have this all the time, and some people have it happen when the environment is right.

And yes, I think that actively feeling the same thing someone else is feeling at the same time can make action difficult. But I think that empaths work hard to hone their gift and protect themselves so that action is possible.

I also think that is it possible for someone to be agood person if nature and or nurture leaves one with limited capacity for empathy.

Other than that, I thought this book was very insightful and uplifting!

#books #book #book blogging 2023 #Humankind: A Hopeful History #rutger bregman

[liliedfashion]

Tranquil Fall Challenge day 16

Thursday 3rd November

Featuring the before and after of my desk, cause keeping tidy with unmedicated ADD really is a struggle. I thought I'd post both the before as well cause I always feel less bad about myself when other ppl show how messy their spaces can get

Q: what is your favourite book right now? Find a song that matches and explain your choice

Hmm that's a difficult question. I think I'll go with Humankind by Rutger Bregman, it's one of my go to reads. I think a song that would match is Arrow of Love by Electric Callboy, cause both encourage you to be kind and see the good in people. One with hard facts and statistics, the other with good vibes overall

Today, I'm grateful for the weather being colder so I can cozy up with some tea and a soft sweater

Today, I choose to be mindful

Today, my goal is to finish my tasks without stressing and being hard on myself

#tranquilfallbuddies #study motivation #studyspo #studyblr #electric callboy #rutger bregman #humankind

[luxe-pauvre]

We live in an era of wealth and overabundance, but how bleak it is. There is “neither art nor philosophy,” Fukuyama says. All that’s left is the “perpetual care-taking of the museum of human history.” According to the Irish writer Oscar Wilde, upon reaching the Land of Plenty, we should once more fix our gaze on the farthest horizon and rehoist the sails. “Progress is the realisation of Utopias,” he wrote. But the far horizon remains blank. The Land of Plenty is shrouded in fog. Precisely when we should be shouldering the historic task of investing this rich, safe, and healthy existence with meaning, we’ve buried utopia instead. There’s no new dream to replace it because we can’t imagine a better world than the one we’ve got. In fact, most people in wealthy countries believe children will actually be worse off than their parents. But the real crises of our times, of my generation, is not that we don’t have it good, or even that we might be worse off later on. No, the real crisis is that we can’t come up with anything better.

Rutger Bregman, Utopia For Realists: And How We Can Get There

#Rutger Bregman #Utopia For Realists: And How We Can Get There

[comfortable-hobbit-hole]

I have just finished reading Human Kind by Rutger Bregman and it was BRILLIANT.

Content aside, I loved that it is an informative, thoroughly referenced, instructional(ish) text AND is actually easy to read. The writing is conversational, the arguments are illustrated with historical anecdotes, movie quotes, and personal asides.

The chapters dealing the fundamental assumptions we make about ourselves and each other gave me a chance to reflect on my own behaviour, and the discussions of community behaviours, governance of the commons, and better ways to manage organisations and institutions have already changed the way that I think about relationships with my colleagues and employers.

This is probably making the book sound dry, but - I get travel sick AF and was still making a valiant effort to read this from the back of a bus. It’s un-put-down-able and leaves you with all the warm fuzzy feelings. And, most importantly HOPE.

There’s a lot shit going down but having the hope to actively face it each day and change things makes all the difference.

Anyone involved in advocacy, management, teaching, social work, the justice system, town planning, or even with a passing interest in people and social systems should read this book.

My next task is to compile a to-read list from the 70odd pages of references and suggested materials at the end :D

#hobbit reads #things I’ve read #bookblr #book recs #people being people #people being kind #kindness #compassion #humankind #rutger bregman #beautiful writing

[oh-dear-so-queer]

But that night it's cold outside, and Kitty's in a hurry to get home to her girlfriend. It's their first anniversary, and all Kitty wants to do is cuddle up with Mary Ann.

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" - Rutger Bregman

#book quote #humankind #rutger bregman #nonfiction #catherine susan genovese #catherine genovese #kitty genovese #anniversary #first anniversary #special occasion #same sex relationships #lesbian #girlfriend

[whats-in-a-sentence]

If you want to write about power, there's one name you can't escape.

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" - Rutger Bregman

#book quotes #humankind #rutger bregman #nonfiction #power #niccolo machiavelli #machiavelli

[maaarine]

Nee, je bent niet goed zoals je bent (Rutger Bregman, De Correspondent, Sep 26 2022)

“In sommige kringen lijkt het hoogste ideaal om überhaupt geen impact te hebben. 

Dan wordt een goed leven vooral gedefinieerd aan de hand van wat je niet doet. Niet vliegen. Geen vlees. Geen kinderen. En vooral geen plastic rietje!

Minder, minder, minder. Het streven is zo’n klein mogelijke voetafdruk met je moestuin naast je tiny house. 

In het beste geval is je impact zo klein dat je net zo goed niet had kunnen bestaan. (…)

In de tweede plaats worden Leah, Lucia en William gedreven door pure ambitie. 

Ze zien hun daden niet als een druppel op een gloeiende plaat, maar geloven dat ze het verschil kunnen maken. 

Ze denken dat er veel meer mogelijk is dan we nu doen, en zijn bereid om risico’s te nemen in de zoektocht naar moreel succes. Ze combineren de dadendrang van Coolblue met de doelen van Unicef. 

Ze zeggen niet ‘iemand zou eens…’, maar komen zelf in actie. In hun strijd tegen onrecht vinden ze big beautiful en zien ze winnen als hun morele plicht.

De grote vraag is natuurlijk: waar kun je het beste je tijd, energie en middelen aan besteden? 

Moreel ambitieuze mensen stellen zichzelf drie vragen. Eerst kijken ze hoe groot een probleem is, dan onderzoeken ze of er effectieve oplossingen bestaan en tot slot vragen ze zich af hoe ‘verwaarloosd’ het probleem is.

Neem loodvergiftiging: maar liefst een op de drie kinderen wereldwijd heeft een gevaarlijke loodconcentratie in het bloed. 

Er zijn slimme plannen om daar iets aan te doen en het is ook een verwaarloosd probleem, want bijna niemand houdt zich ermee bezig. 

Een morele ondernemer ziet hier een ‘gat in de markt’: met relatief weinig middelen kun je veel goed doen. 

Als Lucia Coulter dokter was gebleven had ze over haar hele carrière ongeveer twintig levens gered.

Als oprichter van de Lead Exposure Elimination Project worden dat er duizenden. (…)

Uiteindelijk moet eenieder voor zichzelf bepalen wat ‘de grote eer en glorie’ van je leven is. 

‘Een persoon van eer vindt het niet alleen belangrijk om gerespecteerd te worden’, schrijft  de filosoof Kwame Anthony Appiah, ‘maar ook om het respect waard te zijn.’ 

Of anders gezegd: eer gaat over de waardering van mensen die belangrijk voor je zijn. 

Dus zeg het maar: wie is belangrijk voor je? In wiens achting wil je stijgen? Welke carrièreladder wil je beklimmen?”

#rutger bregman #article