“The fundamental weakness is empathy,” Musk recently told radio podcast host Joe Rogan. “There is a bug, which is the empathy response.”
As Musk has established himself as at least the second most powerful person in an administration seeking a wholesale remaking of institutions, rules and norms, what he said matters, because it encapsulates a political plan. What the Project 2025 report set out in over 900 turgid pages, Musk’s remark captures in a simple pithy mantra for the social media age.
Well, that’s the only thing I agree with him! Empathy IS a weakness!
it says a lot about the alt right wing of society… they demand empathy when they feel slighted, but don’t feel an ounce of empathy towards others.
This is also the reason why the alt right wing only balks at problems when it directly affects them personally. If it doesn’t affect them, it’s not a problem, because other people’s experiences don’t matter/count/exist. And there’s no need to learn from other people’s mistakes.
I would argue that empathy is one of the most critical advantages we have, as humans. It is fundamental to the super tribe effect. That allowed us to bypass the Dunbar limit and form societies larger than a tribe.
It’s also not soft. Endurance hunting relies on it. When your prey flees into cover, you need to follow. You need to put yourself into its head, to figure out where it went. That is empathic.
Your life must be cold and distant without empathy.
What allowed us to grow larger than a tribe was our will to kill those who are weak and empathetic.
That happened, until 10+ tribes got pissed off, got together, and wiped them out. Eventually those tribal groups grew into villages, towns and city states. Many tribes, united in a common purpose.
So, you agree that empathy doesn’t work.
Soldiers fight together out of empathy, as much as orders.
The super tribe effect allows for nations and fandoms. If you’ve ever seen a hyped up group of football fans, you’ve seen super tribe empathy in action.
It also allows for mutual support. We support the weak because we know what it feels like to be weak. I have been helped by the empathy of others. I have chosen to let my empathy help others in turn.
Empathy ties us together. It allows us to reach FAR beyond what we could alone. Empathy is both the glue that holds society together and the oil that stops the whole construction seizing up.
atrophied empathy will doom our species as surely as any other existential crisis we currently face.
that is all.
Not all weaknesses make us weak; and not all weakness is to be feared, mocked, ridiculed, or scorned. Admitting weakness can provide you with help from others; admitting weakness can free you from unrealistic expectations you’ve placed upon yourself; and being weak is a natural state of affairs in reality, in comparison to the titanic forces of nature under which we all strive to thrive.
Weak cannot survive.
“Weak” regularly survives, and thrives. Do you expect everyone on Earth to always be “strong” at all times in all situations? Are all moments of weakness to be shamed and scorned, even if they follow many days, weeks, or months of strength?