RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

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Uploaded by on May 6, 2010

Bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development and our society.

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  • This appears to be one huge-ass whiteboard.

  • Very interesting video.

    This whole "empathy deriving from mortality" might help explain the correlation between Religiosity and Republicans.

    If you think this life is not your one and only, death (and thus empathy for it) means less as a logical result. Especially when you think the afterlife is so much better.

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  • yeah that makes sense

  • Nit pick the bad?

    Yeah, because pointing out the atrocities that have been done IN THE NAME of religion has to be swept under the rug right?

    "Western civ proves it"

    Proves what? That you are incapable of seeing more correlations and only pick the one you want it to be? How about cultural or geological distribution, you know, it's right in the name: WESTERN. There are many countries with a Christian religion that are doing piss poor. You're just looking for proof what you want to believe.

  • The presumption that a human would first have to untie the world to be able to empathize with an alien is false.

    .

    you can make friends with an alien but still not care about someone on the other side of the world In a lot of ways that someone is still more alien to me than an ET being i actually get to meet.

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    This has been recognized so in order to force the World Order either every race, economy and culture has to mix (preposterous) or an external threat has to emerge.

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  • let's say aliens come to visit my town, everyone meets them, talks to them, gets a tour inside the vessels.

    Likely we'll see their side of things and start building a mutually beneficial relationship.

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    But the rest of the country only hears rumors about them. How many of the rest will be willing to accept them into their homes? None.

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    If the city gains bad impressions likely the whole race will be shunned as a defense mechanism. Good impressions- we'll be cautiously curious.

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  • i'm trying to say that Christians are arguably the most emphatic of all, the European civilization proves it (even if some self-critically like to nit pick all the bad and exaggerate still it is incomparable to the rest)

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    but even for us it's hard to empathize with every bad thing that happens around the world. contribute locally.

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    Empathy is very emotionally expensive, if you don't wanna be destabilized and overwhelmed you have to harden- a doctor wont empathize to stay focused.

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  • i believe we can extend our empathy to the whole world. you kinda sound pessimistic. because if in the future we find aliens and empathize with them, that would mean that the world was just another step before that.

  • you. are. amazing. this was very well thought out and great for visual learners

  • This is one of the nicest pieces of philosophy I have had the pleasure to enjoy!

  • "Merely an extension"?

    I see you like to argue about semantics on youtube...

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