RSA ANIMATE: The Empathic Civilisation

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1. obviously extending our empathy globally is nothing new.... the real problem is the limitation of resource. if we have exact same level of empathy for every human being in the world, let alone creatures other than humans, can we provide equally good conditions to every one of those human beings? if not, who gets the priority? that's the tough question
2. And there it is!
3. One major problem: even in a "utopia", it's feasible that we would empathize with the positive experiences of others in a way that created additional beauty, despite having no basis of "unhappiness" against which to compare that beauty. We could at least conceive of a world wherein beauty would simply be infinite, and feedback loops that demonstrate its diversity would be valuable to people as experience, without creating any resentment or envy or jealousy or what-have-you. I'm not saying that such an ideal is possibly achievable, but I am suggesting that it is at least conceivable within the imagination. In other words, empathy is not necessarily dependent on an understanding of death. Positive empathy has been observed in very young toddlers who don't yet realize that creatures die.
4. It's funny how religion got into this. Presented clearly by an atheist who rejects religion on the surface, but also acknowledges that the golden rule is paramount and that there were an actual Adam and Eve. Still he takes time to point out that there is no empathy in haven. How does that even make sense? Why wouldn't there be empathy in haven? It's the one place you'd expect there to loads of it, if haven were real.
   
   I can't help but think that it's this sort of convoluted thinking that creates conflict where there is none, that made him an atheist in the first place. Good video though.
5. Is there a transcript of this video?
6. Great video! Can AI/Robots develop mirror neurons?
   Reminds me of the "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
7. Every human on the planet should see this. Thank you for posting. I am so grateful for RSA! Keep up the good work!
8. To much maleness to be proper.
9. May be I am wrong but is this view very linear?
10. 5:43
    Human race? Alright I'm off.
11. 2:38
    This is bullshit. And there is evidence.
12. *inserts Adam*, "the Bible was right"
    This was a good and informative video, but please leave religion out of this.
13. also just as human being image of God angels being image of God angels have a freewill and beliefs a conscience creatures indignation and compassion are righteousness are a judgment of conscience.
14. heavenly are angels are perfect image of what humanity was supposed to be perfect human beings perfect angels are empathetic beings.
15. make it more artistic please say nothing of heaven it is perfect leave the angels alone!
16. thank you goe science!
17. I am not sure if empathy is so inbound. One thing that is said in the video, the need to belong (or as I say the need to be appreciated, to be liked, and also the avoidance of acts that will make you be disliked) is something I really believe is very primary and can explain a lot of things about the human condition. Now, empathy I think can be selective. It's hard to imagine it universal. I for example can't feel any empathy for poor people in the street, not that I believe they deserve it (that would be a lazy rationalization) but because I haven't been in that condition, no matter if logically I wouldn't want to be. At the same time, I am very empathic for other kinds of people because they mirror my own experience, like I would get angry and annoyed or sad when people getting bullied, if I had the same experiences at school. Or other experiences which are in my list of fears, would make me feel bad about some people's misfortunes. In the same way, I wouldn't blink about the Haiti earthquakes, it's far away, I haven't been in an earthquake, it's not the kind of misfortunes I am afraid or makes me sad. But here is the thing, many people twitted hopeful messages and such about the victims? I believe, a lot of them did under social mirroring because everyone else does and why am I out? Or the thought that "If I show I care about these people, I will be appreciated". I think there is a social current that feeds our need to be appreciated or be liked, or our fear of being disliked (for example the thought "if I don't send a tweet like my friends, people will think I am not caring, maybe a psycho or egoist"). I have this theory that liking/disliking urges really push humans, and not all behaviours can be explained as empathic, but a lot of things are more egoistic (without this being necessary bad, it's just our nature) than we would like them to be, because if we accept that fact it's gonna paint our selves as more egoistic people than we'd like to imagine ourselves. I also believe people will get mean when they get the green light from society, if society tells them that one person deserves to be treated badly, they switch and do or say nasty stuff. Because then the majority won't dislike them but may even say they did the right thing. I could write examples, but youtube these days doesn't keep carriage return, and this is a big paragraph so I'll stop here for now.
18. Just fluff. Speculative, aspirational, neither here nor there. Fluff.
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    Here's a better idea: The tribes, the religions, the nations, shall struggle to dominate our world; and through struggle, through competition, we get stronger, smarter, more advanced. Either there is an ultimate and eternal winner, and we have the unity you describe (not through obliteration of the self but through obliteration of all others), or else we can compete forever and improve forever.
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    When you are running in a race, you have empathy for the other runners. That's no reason to ignore the starting gun. He who doesn't run, loses. In this world struggle, we can appreciate that our rivals are in the same position as are we, without seeing fit to throw down arms or to kneel.
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    Empathy is very real. But it's a tool to be used so that we can more effectively compete, not a guiding principle or an end in itself. If we are to succeed as a species, we must rationally limit our empathy's effect on our actions to the level of the appropriate group for whatever concern is at hand. This should be the smallest group practicable, because then our share of the spoils is greater.
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    The point is this: Universal empathy is a losing strategy. If we adopt it, then we will be destroyed by those who don't.
19. Just close your eyes and feel your connection to everything around you. Then you can forget all the anger and depression because you realize it is all meaningless. We are all connected. This is not religious bullshit. We are all literally stardust. Earth is a single living organism. We used to be part of nature. Now we are destroying it and if we create a insanity scale to describe that it would be well over 9000
20. Rothschild should watch this video