The answer is empathy

[ck4829]

It's not about being a loner, it's not about being quiet all the time, it's not about being different, it's not about video games, and this isn't about guns or prayer in school.

Mass shootings and a lot of individual killings that never make the national news, I think a major cause of this is solipsism, the killer sees himself as the only real human around and everyone else is just a machine.

This is the tragedy though, our nation's history is filled with acts that see the 'other' as less human; slavery, segregation, wars, and more. These random criminals have history on their side, we need to confront that.

It needs to stop today.

We don't need to ban this solipsist thinking, we can't and we shouldn't try to either. But we can and we must make it a cultural norm that the whole "I am more of a real human than everyone else" mindset be opposed alongside racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry... and they are linked in that regard, as with those other 'isms', the target is almost always seen as less human and less capable of having agency than the person holding those beliefs.

* This solipsism needs to be considered a social bad
* It needs to be seen that instances where our nation enshrined dehumanization shouldn't be justified or debated, they are bad... period
* And just to throw it out there, maybe being to affect and convey empathy should be a requirement for high school graduation, the mindsets of Adam Lanza and Elliot Rodger can be seen as lacking emotional maturity if we do something like that. Being able to connect with the other in some way is emotional maturity and should be seen as something to be desired.

[Anansi1171]

1. One rec, when you are precisely right.

The zombie fetish in mainstream culture, fulfills the fantasy of "we" being human while those "others" are simply zombies(ie, liberals, blacks, etc.)

It's like the ironic fantasy of the Purge movies... If only they would let us kill people we don't like, why we can make the world Texas, with Ted Cruz as President, Kim Davis as VP, buy the world a Koch and keep it company.

[treestar]

2. Interesting thanks

We need to encourage kids to try to draw in those who are on the edges rather than make fun of them and feel superior to them.

Show more concern for those who don't seem to be fitting in anywhere.

Growing up, my dad had a "little brother" in the big/little brother program. That kid was nerdy and mercilessly teased. Somehow the people doing the teasing need to learn to grow up a bit. It's just been considered a norm and left to be.

I do see it improving. Special ed kids are treated with more kindness by regular kids, so it is starting to take hold that there is no reason to make marginalized people feel even worse.

[vanlassie]

3. It's my understanding that empathy is developed or not in the first three years

of life. Failing to meet the needs of babies and very young children affects hormonal conditions which get in the way of normal development. After a point it is not reversible. High school is way too late.