Humans Are Nicer Than We Think 372
derekmead writes "While everyone's always waxing like Lord Tennyson about nature being 'red in tooth and claw,' neuroscience and psychology are quietly telling us that we may be innately nicer than we think. Sure, we're not cuddly little bunny rabbits, but many lines of evidence over the past few decades have pointed toward some distinctly physical underpinning of basic morality and aversion to violence, implying that humans (and probably many other animals to) have a strong built-in 'try-not-to-punch-that-dude' mechanism. A recent study published in the journal Emotion, by psychologists Fiery Cushman, Allison Gaffey, Kurt Gray, and Wendy Mendes, provides some further evidence for the link, as the authors put it, 'between the body and moral decision-making processes.'"
A whole Journal on Emotion? (Score:4, Funny)
I would guess this journal doesn't have many subscriptions on the planet Vulcan.
Fiery Cushman? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Perhaps.... (Score:5, Funny)
Also when your environment forces you to take violence as a form of communication, where punching means "it was nice meeting you" and stabbing to death means "I didn't know how to express my issues so that we could solve them together".
So, I take it you're from The Bronx?
Re:A whole Journal on Emotion? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I know (Score:4, Funny)
Have a nice day :)
Stop tellin' me what to do! You ain't the boss of me!
Re:Bunnies ain't cuddly (Score:4, Funny)
They can rip each other to shreds if the mood takes them.
Not to mention the Rabbit of Caerbannog [wikipedia.org] which has a vicious streak a mile wide.
Re:In other news (Score:4, Funny)
- You know, in the Soviet union, they had crops like telephone poles!
- What, about that size?
- Nyet!
- Maybe about the same strength?
- Nyet!
- How then?
- About the same distance between each other!
Re:I'm an exception to the rule (Score:5, Funny)
We're gonna love and tolerate the shit outta you!
Re:I know (Score:2, Funny)
Actually the modern world has removed the selective pressures for this behavior, allowing those without such willingness to contribute to the common good to thrive. We call them libertarians.