Curious Fox 𓃦 · 7d
Thank you sm for your kind note! Since you mentioned you enjoy questions that require a bit of reflection, I wanted to share a perspective i’ve been turning over lately. This is coming from the most complex mind that that I've come across-
“Human emotions are a gift from our animal ancestors. Cruelty is a gift humanity has given itself.” - Hannibal
We didn't invent emotion, we inherited it from earlier species. This makes emotions primitive, instinctive, and ultimately mundane - not something special or noble.
Unlike basic emotions, cruelty isn't necessary for survival in the wild. Animals kill for food or defense - they don't typically inflict suffering for pleasure, revenge, or entertainment (exceptions are always there , I'm talking in general)
So, ig its not actually the emotions, but a special one - CRUELTY that separates humans from animals. Cruelty requires intelligence, CHOICE, and culture.
What makes us human isn't love or empathy, it's our ability to deliberately harm for reasons beyond survival.
It’s a lil uncomfortable cuz it means cruelty isn’t just “animal instinct” we can blame on evolution. it’s a distinctly human failure.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this-
If cruelty is what makes us human -what does that say about everything else we call "humanity"?
Do you think we've been looking at the wrong thing this whole time? Praising love and empathy as our highest virtues, when maybe our real species defining trait is something we're actually ashamed of?
I realize this is a bit of a heavy topic, I’d be glad to hear your perspective whenever you have a quiet moment to reflect on it. Thank you again for being so open to these kinds of dialogues.
- MirrorCrush
Hey, MC, there are 2 reasons this message took so long: 1, I had to sit with this for a long time... 2, revo went down. Anyways
These questions did not have a simple answer, but I tried my best.
While I didn't agree with everything, I can agree that cruelty does feel distinctly human in the sense that humans can intellectualize it, justify it, ritualize it, and continue it beyond survival. But I don’t think cruelty is what humanity is at its core.
Personally, I think cruelty is habitual. Learned. Reinforced.
People are not born cruel. If you look at infants, their emotions and reactions are forms of communication long before they understand concepts like malice or intentional harm. As we grow, we are constantly taught (directly and indirectly) how to react to pain, fear, insecurity, power, shame, anger, and even love. Society, environment, trauma, conditioning, and experience all shape those responses.
I also think the reasons behind cruelty vary wildly from person to person. Some people are driven by fear, some by control, some by desensitization, revenge, insecurity, addiction, illness, or psychological imbalance. There are even cases where cruelty or harmful behavior is tied to impaired regulation or neurological conditions rather than conscious malice. That distinction matters to me.
So I don’t think cruelty is humanity’s defining trait. I think it’s actually one of humanity’s most dangerous learned behaviors.
What stood out to me most in your message, though, was the question about love and empathy. I really don’t think those are our highest virtues either. I think compassion is.
Love can be conditional. Empathy can be damaged, manipulated, erased, or rewritten by experience. But compassion is different because compassion requires effort. It says: “I will try to understand. I will try to do better. I will try not to let another person’s suffering become meaningless to me.” To me, that’s the most human thing of all, not cruelty itself, but the conscious decision to resist it.
And honestly, I think compassion is one of the things most lacking in people and society right now. Not because humans are naturally monstrous, but because it’s easier to become numb than it is to stay open-hearted.
Thank you for sending this one as well. You're really getting me to think philosophical over here. 😂
~ Mia
