Do You Think It’s Nature Or Nurture, Feeling Less Sympathy For Other Humans/animals Based On Looks?

1. Krista Says

   I think it’s definitely nurture. I don’t think humans are genetically (nature) inclined to have behavior like this. Think about Buddhists that don’t believe in killing anything including insects, or native Inuits that eat seals as part of their culture.
   I have a degree in Biology and in animal behavior and other similar classes we talked about “charismatic megafauna” which are usually large animals like pandas, tigers, elephants and whales etc that people think are cute and identify with. That’s why these types of animals are used for as spokesmen for companies like the World WIldlife Foundation- a giant panda.
   It drives me crazy when “vegetarians” don’t eat cow or pig because they’re cute, but will eat fish, squid and other “ugly” animals because they don’t feel a connection with them. Lame. A living thing is a living thing and deserves to be treated equally.
   EDIT: I just brought this question up with my boyfriend who is a clinical psychologist and he says both! He says that this has been a question in the psychological world for a while and they have recently found that humans are genetically inclined to like things with big eyes, small noses and big heads [which is why cuteoverload.com does so well, i love all those big eyed animals =) ]
   This is probably in our genetic makeup to make sure we care for our own human infants, that have big eyes, small noses and large heads when they are born. But since humans are self aware, it also correlates to baby bears and bunnies etc. Interesting! I love this type of subject!

2. Jim Says

   Unfortunately nature, we are a virus with shoes, our purpose is to destroy everything we touch, however we are a virus capable of evolving, but few have, I realized some time ago that I’m not separate from nature just because I have a primate brain – an upper brain – because underneath the primate brain, there’s a mammalian brain, and beneath the mammalian brain, there’s a reptilian brain; and it’s those two lower brains that made the upper brain possible in the first place. Here’s the way it works: The primate brain says, “Give peace a chance.” The mammalian brain says, “Give peace a chance, but first let’s kill this ************.” And the reptilian brain says, “Let’s just kill the ************, go to the peace rally and get laid.”

3. Ike Says

   Killing is a statement of the person who does it. The act of killing says more about the killer than it does about nthe victim.

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