• unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
    235·
    9 hours ago

    Ants definitely arent complex enough to have empathy but still do things “for the group”. Mice are much smarter, but this behaviour doesnt necessarily require empathy just the understanding that individual survival chance goes up when you cooperate. Definitely cute tho. :)

    • Slowy@lemmy.world
      34·
      9 hours ago

      Rats, not mice, the former being quite a bit smarter :) But is there any reason to assume our human empathy comes from a different base urge than theirs? If so, why can’t both situations share the term empathy?

      • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
        10·
        8 hours ago

        I guess thats true, it still kinda depends on whether its an instinctual behaviour or an actual selfless decision. The outcome might be the same, but the motivation does make a difference when it comes to human relationships imo.

        • Slowy@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 hours ago

          But how do we know humans are acting on an actual selfless decision and not instinctual behaviour? There is some evidence that, in some situations at least, our body/instinct can act first and we just end up rationalizing that we wanted to perform those actions to ourselves, as we are performing them. But that’s a bit of a thought experiment, the truth is, it’s very hard to know. And we can show empathy in very abstracted situations as well, where instinct is probably less of a factor.