Why are some people so cruel to others?

Harming or causing pain to someone, both physically and mentally, is unacceptable cruelty. But it still happens every day in life.

Why do people treat each other cruelly?

An article published on BBC Future by Simon McCarthy-Jones, associate professor of clinical psychology and neuropsychology at Trinity College Dublin explains this phenomenon. 

French philosopher Blaise Pascal concluded in 1658: "Human beings are both the glory and the dregs of the universe." We love and we hate. We know how to help and yet we also harm. We extend our hands but we also dabble in others.

We understand if someone attacks in retaliation or self-defense. But when someone harms innocent people, we can't help but ask, "Why would they do that?"

People often do things to get pleasure or to avoid pain. For most of us, unintentionally hurting others hurts us no less because we feel their pain. This shows two reasons why someone might harm innocent people - they don't feel the pain of others or they enjoy feeling the pain of others.

Another reason why a person would harm an innocent person is because he or she thinks there is a threat. Someone who doesn't violate your body or wallet can still threaten your social status. This helps explain other puzzling actions, such as when people harm those who help them financially.

The notion that making others suffer means we have harmed them has been popular since ancient times. But at the same time, the question also arises in the 21st century, can we conceive of being cruel to become kind?

Most people would flinch at having to torment others, mainly because when we cause harm to others, we share some of that pain. (Source: Alamy).

Sadists and psychopaths

A person who derives pleasure, sometimes sexual gratification, from hurting or humiliating another person is called a sadist . Sadists feel the pain of others more than normal. And that guy likes this.

Popular beliefs often associate sadism with torturers and murderers. However, the reality of everyday sadism is less extreme but more common.

Everyday sadists derive pleasure from hurting others or witnessing their suffering. They are likely to like bloody movies, find fights or torture scenes interesting. According to BBC Future, about 6% of university students admit to getting pleasure from hurting others.

The everyday sadist could be an internet troll or a school bully. In online role-playing games, it can be a "griefer " who harasses other players. Sadists are drawn to violent computer games every day. The more they play, the more brutal they become.

Unlike sadists, psychopaths ( also called psychopaths or psychopaths) do not harm harmless people simply because they get pleasure from it (although this may be true). So). Psychopaths want everything. If harming others helps them get what they want, then so be it.

They may act cruelly because they are less able to feel pity, remorse, or fear. They can also know what other people are feeling but are not affected by those emotions.

This is a seriously dangerous skill set. Over millennia, humans have domesticated themselves, making it difficult for most of us to harm others. Many who harm, torture or kill will be haunted by this experience. However, psychopathy is a strong predictor of someone perpetrating unprovoked violence.

We can accurately infer a psychopath just by looking at their face or briefly interacting with them. Unfortunately, psychopaths know we know this. They fight back by diligently dressing and grooming themselves to try to make a good first impression.

Thankfully, most people do not have this psychopathic trait. Only 0.5% of people can be considered psychopaths. It should also be noted that approximately 8% of male and 2% of female prisoners are psychopaths.

And not all psychopaths are dangerous . Antisocial psychopaths may seek thrills from drugs or dangerous activities. There are also psychopaths who seek the thrill of pursuing new ideas despite everything. As innovations shape our society, social psychopaths can change the world for all of us.

Where do these psychopathic traits come from?

No one really knows why some people are sadistic. Some speculate that sadism is an adaptation that helps us slaughter animals when hunting. Others argue that it helps people gain power.

Italian philosopher and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli once suggested that "ages, not people, create disorder" . In agreement with this view, neuroscience suggests that sadism may be a survival tactic activated when times get tough. When certain foods become scarce, our levels of the neurotransmitter, serotonin, decrease. Fall makes us more willing to harm others because harm becomes more enjoyable.

Psychopathy can also be an adaptation. Some studies have linked higher levels of psychopathy with higher fertility. However, other studies have found the opposite. The reason for this may be that psychopaths have a special reproductive advantage in harsh environments.

Indeed, psychopathy can thrive in competitive and unstable worlds. The abilities of psychopaths make them manipulators. Their impulsivity and fearlessness help them take risks and gain short-term profits. In the movie Wall Street, psychopath Gordon Gekko makes millions of dollars. However, while psychopathy can be an advantage in the corporate world, it only gives men a slim leadership advantage.

Psychopathy's connection to creativity may also explain its existence.

Psychopathy's connection to creativity may also explain its existence. Mathematician Eric Weinstein argues, more generally, that people who disagree drive innovation. However, if your environment supports creative thinking, dissent is less strongly linked to creativity.

Sadism and psychopathy are related to other traits, such as narcissism and Machiavellianism . Such traits, combined together, are called the "dark personality factor" or D-factor for short (In psychology, the dark triad includes narcissistic personality traits. self), Machiavellianism and psychopathy. They are called "dark" because of their evil qualities).

These traits are also likely to be inherited. So some people may be born with such a trait. Additionally, parents with a high D-factor may pass these traits on to their children by being rough with them. Likewise, seeing others behaving cruelly can teach children to act this way. Therefore, we all have a role to play in reducing cruelty.

Fear and loss of humanity

Sadism involves enjoying the humiliation and hurt of another person. However, it is often said that dehumanizing people is what allows them to be cruel. They label potential victims as dogs, lice or cockroaches, making it easier for them to hurt them.

Research shows that if someone breaks a social norm, our brains perceive their face as less human. This makes it easier for us to punish those who violate behavioral norms.

It's a sweet sentiment to think that if we consider someone a human being, we won't hurt them. But it is also a dangerous illusion. Psychologist Paul Bloom argues that our worst atrocities may not depend on not dehumanizing people. People can hurt others precisely because they recognize themselves as human beings who do not want to suffer pain, humiliation, or degradation.

For example, the German Nazi Party dehumanized Jews by calling them pests and lice. However, the Nazis also humiliated, tortured, and murdered Jews precisely because they saw them as human beings doomed to degradation and deserving of such treatment.

Negative Do-gooder person

Sometimes people will even harm helpful people. Imagine you are playing an economic game, with other players investing in a group fund. The more money that is contributed to it, the more money the fund has to pay out. The fund will pay all players, whether they invest or not.

At the end of the game, you can pay to punish other players for the amount they chose to invest. To do so, you give up some of your earnings and the money is taken away from the player you choose. In short, you pay in exchange for being harsh (towards others).

Some players chose to punish others for investing little or nothing in the pool fund. However, there are also cases of accepting payments to punish players who invest more in the group fund than they do. Such actions seem very silly. But generous players give you a bigger payout – why should you bother them?

This phenomenon is called "negation of the better person" . It can happen all over the world. In hunter-gatherer societies, successful hunters are criticized for catching a large animal even though their catch means more meat for everyone. Hillary Clinton may have suffered better electoral outcomes as a result of her rights-based 2016 US Presidential Election campaign.

Do-gooder negation exists because of our tendency to resist domination. A less generous player in the economic game above may feel that a more generous player will be seen by others as a better cooperator. The more generous person is threatening to become the dominant one. As the French writer Voltaire said, "the best is the enemy of the good".

However, there is a downside to denying the person who did better. Once we have defeated the do-gooder, we will be more open to their message. One study found that allowing people to express their dislike of vegetarianism made them less supportive of eating meat.

Cruel to be kind?

In the movie Whiplash, a music teacher uses cruelty to encourage greatness in one of his students. We may be startled by such tactics. However, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that we have become too averse to such cruelty.

For this German philosopher, cruelty allows a teacher to criticize a student harshly for the student's own benefit. People can also be cruel to themselves to help become who they want to be. Nietzsche felt that enduring cruelty could help develop courage, endurance, and creativity.

But should we be willing to make both others and ourselves more miserable in order to develop virtue?

Most of us would answer no. We now know the long-term effects of suffering cruelty from others, including damage to physical and mental health. The benefits of being compassionate toward yourself, rather than being cruel to yourself, are also increasingly recognized.

And the idea that we must suffer to thrive is frowned upon. Positive life events, such as falling in love, having children, and achieving cherished goals can lead to maturity.

Teaching through cruelty invites abuse of power and selfish brutality. That is not the only way to teach and train. As Buddhism offers an alternative solution: use compassion and moderation to overcome anger. Here, we use love to protect others from greed, hatred and fear. Life can be cruel, truth can be cruel, but we do not choose to act cruelly towards others.