I had the same reaction after reading the article. I have a feeling we're in for more and more of this sort of "meta" research, which leads to more and more meaninglessness.
It feels like something out of a Kafka or Orwell or PK Dick novel.
My comment was a joke based on mass requirement through social pressure of people to self-oppress as presented in novels such as "1984."
Phillip K. Dick also described a machine in "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep," which injected the right chemicals to emulate emotional predispositions, such as compassion.
That said, I'm certain your one-on-one training is very helpful to those with an open heart and mind. My brother had to go to AA after drinking and beating his son. The whole time he complained, and I couldn't help thinking to myself, who beats their child and cannot muster up enough compassion to admit they were wrong. He was later diagnosed as manic, and I've noticed he also demonstrates a predilection for self-cruelty (per your comment).
He works at Oracle (for example). No disrespect meant to people who work at Oracle, but I've heard it's not a very easy-going place to work.
Thank you for the clarification, I did miss the reference.
Your brother’s story brings me sadness. I see a lot of suffering, both for him and for the ones around him. I hope he is able to find a way toward healing. Introspection can be an important step of this process.
Labeling is a violent process as it replaces the person in our relationship with the label we project onto them, thus confining them to that projection, taking away from their humanity. It is easy to recognize it when applied with the explicit purpose of dehumanization (Jews as “vermin”, immigrants/refuges as “illegals”).
Mental health diagnoses do a bit or a lot of this, too, unless one is able to intentionally look at the diagnosed as a human being, especially in difficult situations.
The mention of Oracle makes me think that Pieter Hintjens’ book, Psychopath Code, may be of interest for you — it looks into the mental health of organizations. https://legacy.gitbook.com/@hintjens
This site is about gratifying intellectual curiosity, not gratifying the part that derives pleasure from seeing that someone else had the same utterly predictable thought.
I didn't think of that particular joke, and I never mentioned up voting (in your words, gratifying). My mind was considering the topic at hand, and I felt the stark change of tone was nice. I like seeing some humour every now and then interspersed in threads. Some get up votes some get down votes, and your reasoning doesn't really explain why, since a common sense of humour surely indicates that lots of people would have thought of the same joke, and thus every funny joke on HN would be down voted?
I am a certified nonviolent parenting educator. Through the years my practice has expanded beyond parenting. I work mainly one on one, with one’s current situation and challenges.
Ironic that the first step in making someone more honest is, apparently, to lie to them. I guess we need to keep at least one liar around to make the rest of us more virtuous.
It feels like something out of a Kafka or Orwell or PK Dick novel.
Next up: compassion training!