Bullies are often fundamentally cowardly: if their home, or their country is under attack they rank saving their own life and possessions first and above the group.
A bully will expect any group they target to crumble in a similar manner. The idea that their threats and attacks might cause people to find a common cause, that it might inspire bravery and unification is not something they can anticipate or imagine.
Because were it them? They would shove the child out of the lifeboat and run.
Nothing irritates a bully more than when someone else demonstrates the courage or honor that they lack. They will have an immediate need to prove that any such acts were either a sign that the person was duped, or that the sacrifice was motivated by a desire for public acclaim, not any principles or moral values.
To confront true selflessness is terrifying for the bully. Nothing could be more alien. Nothing more clearly calls into question their own self worth.
No! It's virtue signaling!
There is this cynical and currently popular idea that everything is "virtue signaling" and to some extent it's true. Part of why people do what is right even when it won't benefit them is about making a statement to themselves and others about what we value.
But, it's also ... not that hard, not even that remarkable to really want to be a good person even when you don't personally benefit. I'd even suggest it's normal.
@futurebird “virtue signalling” did start out as a value neutral term just for describing a completely normal social thing literally everyone does; like a generalisation of role modeling.
What was done to it is what happens to a lot of words and phrases: the right wing got hold of it, either misunderstood it or deliberately distorted its meaning, and for some reason everyone else adopted their framing
@sinvega @futurebird it’s a pattern that goals back way prior to the algorithm- the earliest example i know of being “Politically Correct”
i vaguely remember seeing a segment on a guy whose professional job was coming up with these language manipulations- i remember him calling it “neurolinguistic programming” but when i tried to look that up it described some unrelated pseudoscience
@futurebird doing good that doesnt benefit us in some obvious and direct way is normal in that it occurs in other species as well. Not to mention, we often do what's right while actively avoiding recognition for it.
We've just drifted so far from a recognition that what's good for all is of course good for us: we, too, live in the better world we are making with kind, honest, and/or courageous acts. We *are* everybody and everybody is us. It makes me sad -- and it's not a little scary -- all these people who do not see the intricate, interconnected web of all life as it is.
@futurebird I think doing what's right simply rewards you with feeling good.
Which sounds like a good strategy for a social species.
Arguing that helping a person find their way is wrong because one doesn't "profit" from it sounds very capitalism-brained.
I think you are right: it's normal (but not universal) to want to be a good person.
Learning about goodness from our parents or other mentors is very important, but it is not the only source of motivation to be good.
Experiments with chimpanzees, bonobos, other mammals, even birds, have shown that "fairness" is not a concept that is unique to humans.
However, goodness isn't universal. There are evil people, and they love evil societies. Good people must resist them.
@futurebird I am of the opinion that the best response to an accusation of virtue signalling goes something like this:
PERSON A: You're virtue signalling!
PERSON B: (PAUSE) …and?
If you're sincere, then there's nothing wrong with being open about it so others can see. It's the same reason why we resist (excessive) swearing in front of children. It's behavior modeling. You're showing other people the person (or Owlbear) you want to be.
(I am aware that some people are being insincere, but that's a different issue)
I was bullied a lot as a kid because a GI tract issue meant I looked like a famine-relief ad: ribs showing, swollen belly.
Adults, other than my parents shrugged it off. 'kids will be kids'.
Some states seem to act like this, when captured by bully dictators.
No respect for ethics or law.
No "higher authority" to hold them responsible.
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