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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 8755238" data-attributes="member: 177">So, I am not a sociologist or psychology professional.&nbsp; Nor do I know Ernie or your family.&nbsp; But, this does remind me of something I've heard from folks who are sociologists and psychologists...Humans are, on the whole, pretty good at what we can call proximal empathy.&nbsp; We can feel empathy for folks who are physically or emotionally close.&nbsp; And that empathy has significant impact on our behavior - we actually care about how those people feel, and we act accordingly.&nbsp; People near us are part of the in-group, one of Us.Many humans aren't so great at extending empathy beyond close range.&nbsp; When that other person is a voice over the internet, or part of a group of faceless others, our empathy drops away.&nbsp; We no longer care about how those people feel, and our behavior is no longer shaped by that caring.&nbsp; Folks who are far away are in the out-group, one of Them, or Those People.Being limited to proximal empathy results in exactly this behavior:&nbsp; &quot;My friend Luis Santiago is my best friend, but Those People, coming over the border, are another matter entirely.&nbsp; Luis is one of the good ones&quot;.&nbsp; And so on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8755238, member: 177"] So, I am not a sociologist or psychology professional. Nor do I know Ernie or your family. But, this does remind me of something I've heard from folks who are sociologists and psychologists... Humans are, on the whole, pretty good at what we can call [i]proximal empathy[/i]. We can feel empathy for folks who are physically or emotionally close. And that empathy has significant impact on our behavior - we actually care about how those people feel, and we act accordingly. People near us are part of the in-group, one of Us. Many humans aren't so great at extending empathy beyond close range. When that other person is a voice over the internet, or part of a group of faceless others, our empathy drops away. We no longer care about how those people feel, and our behavior is no longer shaped by that caring. Folks who are far away are in the out-group, one of Them, or Those People. Being limited to proximal empathy results in [I]exactly[/I] this behavior: "My friend Luis Santiago is my best friend, but Those People, coming over the border, are another matter entirely. Luis is one of the good ones". And so on. [/QUOTE]

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