Is it part of the human condition to demonize our opponents?

[LeftCoast]

It seems like just about every issue gets boiled down to my team/tribe/nation/group is perfect and the other is evil. The question may be over sports teams, politics, world events or whatever, but it just seems like rational discussion is overwhelmed with brain-dead, black and white thinking.

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Yes - scientific studies have shown this.

Just another reason why science is so important - we can't begin to overcome our own biology until we understand it.

[LeftCoast]

2. Really? I didn't realize there had been work done on this.

Wish I still had access to a research library database.

Actually, check that. No I don't, because that would mean I was still a grad student! LOL

[sam sarrha]

10. at about 15 the brain develops enough to begin to see beyond tribe, thats why they have Jesus Camps

[NightWatcher]

3. yep, demonize the enemy before you attack them. makes it easier to kill them

"monsters" are easier to kill then "people"

[lonestarnot]

8. One of the steps to genocide.

[Echo In Light]

4. People tend to respond in kind, and our social climate is conditioned toward this level of discourse

...quite strategically, although it's not always overtly conspiratorial ... but yes, it's a key component to the Divide and Rule scheme. The best way to ensure division is by promoting unchecked competitiveness. If you and I are busy arguing over social views, the elites can keep going to the bank over our backs that much easier. The problem is the media, and how it's served to promote anti-intellectualism in America. The result is an uninformed/disinformed, brainwashed populace that approaches complex problems within the mode of watching a sports match. It's not about moral truths, or facts, it's about one oneupmanship and "smack down" debate.

[TwilightZone]

5. I think it's laziness.

It's much easier to spout simplistic nonsense about one's opponents than to spend the time and effort required to have a rational, logical discussion.

[dkf]

6. I don't know about "demonize", but in politics my dislike

tends to pop up a lot faster than who I decide on.

[JohnnyLib2]

7. "Part of the...condition" perhaps, but

that can be maximized or minimized according to motivation and strategy IMO.

We do-not-have to think and operate like Karl Rove.....

[dkf]

9. And I don't think my side is perfect and I will call out

anyone when I think they are messing up.

But maybe I'm odd that way.

[LeftCoast]

11. That battle can get very tiring after a while

:toast:

[dkf]

27. Yeah criticizing our guys for the IWR doesn't seem to do much

The don't care anyway.

[KittyWampus]

12. IMO, it goes beyond a tendency to demonize and points to our Reptilian Brain.

Some people are dominated by that rudimentary part of our hardwiring at the base of our brain/spine.

The part that's sole focus is self-survival and responds to percieved threats via two modes of behavior- flight or fight.

We can cultivate the higher brain and mitigate and control the Reptilian Brain.

It is the rare human who has truly managed to completely harness that energy though.

[LeftCoast]

13. I think we need a fast-track on evolution

Our reptile brain is killing us.

It's funny, as I was reading your post I was reminded of two SciFi books. Dune and Protector. Both of them address this point in one way or another.

[LeftCoast]

14. I wonder if people would recognize demonization of opponents on DU?

Anyone want to hazard a guess?

[Echo In Light]

15. The division is simple: right leaning dems disavow liberal philosophy, and the idea of conspiracies

So if you're not in that camp, you're attacked for being a troller, a freeper, a tinfoiler, etc

[LeftCoast]

16. I've seen that.

I was thinking more in terms of how various factions have attempted to demonize our main three candidates.

[slackmaster]

17. Sometimes the other team/tribe/nation/group really is evil

Evil exists. I reject absolute moral relativism.

[LeftCoast]

18. Sometimes? I can't think of too many examples compared to how often opponents are demonized.

Additionally, simply writing someone off as 'evil' ignores their motivations and obscures their intentions. Unless you really understand your opponent (and not some silly caricature) they are that much more difficult to defeat.

[slackmaster]

19. I guess you're right, we should always try to understand our opponents' feelings and motivations

[LeftCoast]

20. Perfect example of my point!

Writing off Hitler as evil or insane ignores the possibility that another Hitler could come at any time given the right circumstances. If we say he was simply evil then we ignore the very real circumstances that allowed for him to rise to power and then to use that power the way he did.

[slackmaster]

21. I see it quite differently - The fact that an evil and insane person could rise to Hitler's position

Is proof that it can and probably WILL happen again.

If we say he was simply evil then we ignore the very real circumstances that allowed for him to rise to power and then to use that power the way he did.

It sounds like you are arguing FOR preemptive action in some cases. Maybe you and Mr. Chamberlain would have disagreed.

[LeftCoast]

22. The big issue though, is that it seems all of our opponents are demonized as 'evil'

Clearly not everyone is a potential Hitler.

[slackmaster]

25. Thus my choice of the word "sometimes" in my original reply

Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. I make no attempt to quantify the ratio.

[LeftishBrit]

26. I have to admit...

that it's a bit difficult NOT to demonize the current leading Republicans.

There *are* posts on this board that include the phrase 'plague-carrying rats' - but I wouldn't use such an expression, would I???

I am not very keen on people who advocate either directly murdering people by bombing them, or indirectly murdering them by denying them healthcare and advocating policies that lead to increased poverty.

However, I wouldn't apply such opinions to all Republican voters, or even necessarily all Republican politicians. But those who are currently in power, or seek power, seem to be very dangerous people.

[LeftishBrit]

23. Both.

It probably is a part of human nature, probably due to the fact that our ancestors lived in small groups, and rarely met outsiders; when they did, the outsiders often probably did have bad intentions toward them. In those days, our ancestors did not have the weapons they do now, and 'demonizing' outsiders could be protective, and at any rate did not usually result in large-scale deaths. Therefore, the tendency to demonize outsiders was not 'bred out of us' through evolution, and may actually have been bred into us to some degree. It has led to all sort of nasty things, from racism to religious bigotry to gangsterism to war.

However, like many primitive aspects of human nature, it is IMO possible to overcome through education, and through exposure to other groups and cultures.

[txwhitedove]

24. No, not a part of our human condition. Babies are born trusting...

and dependent. We learn mistrust, fear and hatred. I have seen big changes towards this “demonization” in various aspects of life, not just political, but in the workplace and, yes, even here on DU. It is one thing to debate an issue, a candidate, a pseudo-funny dilemma. It is another to work into the conversation a subtle slight, a joke that makes it seem okay to laugh at - oh, say, homeless people totally uprooted and displaced by a storm, or “aliens” in our neighborhoods searching for a better life. Belief in God, Allah, faith, christianity, religion has supposedly always been about love, patience, guidance from above, a higher being showing us the "right" way to live. What has happened that even christian love has been perverted to intolerance and demonization of anyone who does not "believe" in the same ideals?