r/misanthropy

Neuroticism is a core personality trait to human kind, incentivizing us to be particular about the order and process of things. This is a way for us to interpret the world and create stories that enable us to effectively communicate with others. The danger here, is in the long-term, that we can share dangerous beliefs which are to the harm of us all. These cults become ever more fervent, demanding increasing sacrifice from their members, and without appropriate regard for long-term risk. Where would we even begin?... Silicon? Oil, coal, silk? Spice? Diamonds? Everything nice?

The pufferfish will draw elaborate patterns in the sand, shimmying and shaking, all as a mating ritual. There isn't practical reason for it, but god damn is it shiny. And the human will do the same, constructing ever more elaborate tributes to... Scientology? Mars? Liberty? The cost we pay for these things yields little return yet the social status for individuals is inordinate, like the business of a golf course, or the rubber stamp of a modern degree. We will bear the human sacrifice for their Great Works. If I said this 5 years ago, I would be called The Insane -- and now we see yet again the boom and bust of an economy which is incapable of regulating its growth.

The Great Filter is an explanation for how we don't observe alien life: because there is some prerequisite skill which is too rare or difficult to cultivate. I believe this skill is empathy, compassion, solidarity. One example of the great filter is when distrust is the default. This causes friction that is added to each interaction, making them become ever more taxing - whether it's an individual ostracized and left to starve or the collective with their paranoid fanatical delusions. Now some of this distrust is fine, in moderation disagreement is healthy and resilient. So to be precise, it's conforming behind a very limited set of practices that forms the foundation of a brittle society and people.

In that same vein, we may not be able to observe alien life because they distrust us. In physics this is known as The Dark Forest which is one answer to The Fermi Paradox. Principally, the only way to protect yourself is to remain shielded forever. So as a society grows, and connections multiply, it becomes healthy to shield oneself from this barrage of noise. Conformity is one mechanism by which they attempt to reduce this noise and to assuage their primal fears. Ironically, this creates a feedback loop that regresses toward more infantilized and dependent behaviors. Neuroticism at scale incentivizes conformity which feeds into tribalism, persecution, genocide, supremacy, pseudo-intellectualism, book burning cutting, witch hunts, and corpses out front ... like in that Castlevania episode where Alucard puts the couple he was dating on pikes outside Dracula's castle as warning. Kinda like that! 🎃

So what are humanity's failures? Where do you think we royally fucked up? The first thing I think of is the Dust Bowl in the 1930s where they planted monocrops so many years in a row the soil up and evaporated 😂

This is why I’m a misanthrope. Every time I say something negative about humanity, someone always comes along and starts reciting the usual list of “good things” we’ve created, as if naming a few inventions is enough to erase everything else.

“Humanity created socialization.” Sure. And it also created bullying, marginalization, and exclusion.

“Humanity created love.” Sure, but let’s not turn it into something magic: it’s rooted in biological and emotional needs. And the same species that talks so much about love has created rape, abuse, and violence.

“Humanity domesticated animals.” Yes, and then we exploited them, mistreated them, and treated them like objects.

“Humanity created technology.” Fantastic. And then we used some of that same ability to devastate the environment and contribute to climate change.

“Humanity created culture.” Yes, along with divisions, discrimination, conflicts, and wars.

That’s the point of people keep failing to understand: I’m not saying human beings have never done anything good. I’m saying that every time someone bring up something positive as if it somehow proves humanity’s innocence, he simply ignoring everything that exists on the other side.

What I find most ridiculous is that humanity has had enormous potential. We’re intelligent, creative, and capable of understanding things that no other species has ever understood. And with all that potential, look at what we’ve chosen to do with it.

Isn’t that exactly what makes me a misanthrope? The fact that a species with so many capabilities could have been so much better, yet continues to waste a huge part of its potential on selfishness, conflict, and destruction.

I don’t care to hear for the thousandth time that “humans do good things too.” I already know. The problem is everything we’re capable of doing despite that.