I don’t think I’ve ever linked to the Research Digest of the British Psychological Society before. The link is to a list of the bad traits that psychological studies have found to be parts of human nature. Here’s the list:
- We view minorities and the vulnerable as less than human
- We already experience schadenfreude at the age of four
- We believe in Karma – assuming that the downtrodden of the world must deserve their fate
- We are blinkered and dogmatic
- We would rather electrocute ourselves than spend time in our own thoughts
- We are vain and overconfident
- We are moral hypocrites
- We are all potential trolls
- We favour ineffective leaders with psychopathic traits
- We are sexually attracted to people with dark personality traits
Read the whole thing for supporting evidence. Note that the “we” does not refer to Americans but people in general.
The only solace I can take from that is that psychological studies are routinely awful, unrepeatable, and just plain wrong. And that the follow-up to that post might be a list of our best qualities.
However, one conclusion we might draw from that list is that a worthwhile goal for our institutions would be to restrain our worst impulses.
All of these can be learned and unlearned.
The claim is that they cannot. They can only be expressed or suppressed.
I have to say, they’re just wrong. All of those traits are, as the Stoics taught, the product of unconscious judgement. We can learn to be conscious of those judgements, and in deciding to refrain, not experience the undesirable reaction at all.
We experience schaudenfreude as a result of saying to ourselves, “they get what they deserve.” Being aware of that judgement, declaring it an impression and nothing more, means the feeling ceases to be.
I agree with the psychologist here. I think history shows that those aspects of human nature (and to be sure, it is not a complete list) is enduring.
I don’t see how one could explain, for example, the vicious bloodshed and ethnic cleansing following the collapse of Yugoslavia as learned/unlearned behavior. These were people, neighbors, who lived in peace for 2-3 generations who turned to bloodshed when the stable society they lived in collapsed. Their learned behavior was thrown out the window in favor of instinct and tribalism when central authority collapsed.
One of the key elements of Buddhism (and the secularized versions that pop up as types of modern psychotherapy in the West — CBT, MBSR) is mindfulness — being aware of the actions that you take. You train yourself to put a little gap between experiencing something and acting upon it, so you don’t have to fall into the unhelpful patterns.
So, I don’t know if the list is hardwired into us (and a mindfulness tradition is about suppressing it), or is a result of western culture. But I do know that at the very least it can be minimized.
On the other hand, even Buddhists occasionally go about killing minorities with different beliefs. But, less often.
Are all of these really bad?
– We view minorities and the vulnerable as less than human
Ok, that’s just bad.
– We already experience schadenfreude at the age of four
Do you really oppose more joy in the world? Schadenfreude transforms suffering into joy, and is felt most acutely when someone who has themselves done bad things have a pitfall. Mixed bag.
– We believe in Karma – assuming that the downtrodden of the world must deserve their fate
That’s Social Darwinism, not karma, and it is either a learned trait, or only expressed in about half the population. But negative.
– We are blinkered and dogmatic
If we have a poor upbringing. Also, bad.
– We would rather electrocute ourselves than spend time in our own thoughts
Is that bad? A lot of us have really terrible thoughts, and electrocution to pull up of that cycle of bitterness and recrimination seems like a good thing.
– We are vain and overconfident
We tell ourselves the lies that we need to tell ourselves to function. Good.
– We are moral hypocrites
We aspire to be better than we are, and put on a facade of that better person we wish we were. Good.
– We are all potential trolls
We have limitless potential for good and evil. Neutral.
– We favour ineffective leaders with psychopathic traits
Trump only got 46% of the vote, and only about half of that was from the deplorables. Rejected.
– We are sexually attracted to people with dark personality traits
Is red hair really a dark personality trait? Ok, more seriously, this is true and negative.
I think the study is framing a lot of this in the most negative way possible, where a lot of it is a mixed bag.
Every major human belief system—Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism—teaches that even “impressions” have persistent consequences and need to be opposed continually. They don’t just vanish without consequences. They leave tracks.
First, all soft science papers are suspect. Psychology is one of those soft sciences. That said, I was brought up with the idea that we are born with a sinful nature. I think most of this is either innate or learned so early it is hard to tell the difference.
Andy- In the US 2-3 generations is seen as a long time. In the rest of the world they remember stuff that happened hundreds of years ago and carry grudges over it. The corollary is that takes a long time to change people. A long time to build up human capital.
Steve
Steve — We are still fighting the civil war in the US, except the political parties have changed sides. We aren’t using weapons, again, yet, but it’s all the same divisions. 150 years is what, 6 generations?
One thing that humanity seems to have is a memory many times longer than the human lifespan. It would be amazing if it wasn’t so sad.