“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.
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.