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Old 12-28-2005, 02:02 AM
imported_luckyme imported_luckyme is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Default Re: Tossing this question up

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Why do humans feel sympathy for the pain and suffering of other life forms?

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Are you referring to before we chop off their head, or drop them alive into boiling water, or hot wire their genitals or strap them in the electric chair or .. ?

I recently read they found the related empathy module in chimps. It serves lots of evolutionary purposes, the easiest to understand is that we evolved in complex social groups and one of the major skills it takes to be successful is understanding what the other person is feeling. A module that puts you somewhat inside their head is +EV.

That's not all, but that alone is enough for it to evolve.

luckyme
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