Why We Hate

A look at the psychology of hatred

The Anatomy of Hate

The Amygdala

• Part of the LimbicSystem (motivation,emotion, survival &reproduction)

• Size of grape• 1” under each temple• ‘oldest’ part of brain

The Anatomy of Hate

• Scans for threat/pain

(physical & emotional)• Triggers ‘automatic’

response (ducking, flinching, screaming)

• When ‘on’ in humans and animals, it causes violent outbursts

The Anatomy of Hate

• People with rage disorders (IED) have over-active amygs

• If removed, aggression STOPS . . . . . but animals lose the ability to send or receive emotion (not completely true in humans)*cat & dog experiment

The Anatomy of Hate

Amygdala wired to:• hypothalamus = regs

the body’s systems &

controls aggressive

and defensive

behaviors• Pituitary gland =

controls hormones (like adrenaline)

The Anatomy of Hate

• speech centers (crap!)

• Cerebral cortex = responsible for self-awareness and advanced thought *This connection joins primal hate/fear with our highest thought process = meaning

What does ‘meaning’ do?

• Other than basic ‘survival drives’, humans lack animal like instincts for a sense of daily purpose

• Humans devote emotional commitment in our ‘meaning’ to life

What does ‘meaning’ do?

• To us, meaning = survival

• This dedication to ‘meaning’ is so intense that we are vulnerable to interpreting those with different cultures, religions, and politics as ‘enemies’

Hate and History

• Holocaust of 1940s

• Yugoslavia

• Israel & Palestine

• September 11, 2001

• Rwanda

So, Why Do We Hate?

• A PRIME DIRECTIVE for survival

• We attack things/people we view as a threat to our survival

• FEAR is a LEARNED tool that values stereotyping (fear of spiders . . . avoid ALL spiders)

What Does Hate Look Like?

• Fight or flight response

• Connection between hate and perceived power of the hated

• Lack of ‘sympathy’ for victims because of learned fear and stereotyping (Tim McVey ‘collateral damage’ = 19 dead children in OK City)

• Is not selective, like anger can be (angry with one person . . . not an entire group)

• The more powerful the threat, the more powerful the hate response

• Closer proximity increases hate intensity (Israel/Palestine)

Environmental Contributors

• Some cultures RARELY activate the physiological hate response (Semai)

• When the Semai move to other places, they demonstrate hate and violence as is normal in the new place

• Drug-addicted mothers more likely to have children with a damaged threat-response system (over or under aroused)

More Environmental Factors

• The LEAST violent societies are those in which men and women live, eat, and sleep together in a relatively equal setting

• The MOST violent societies are those in which men and women live separately, and in which boys are taken from their mothers at an early age for indoctrination

(inner-city gangs, Al Queda, etc)

Can Hate Be Eliminated?

• BE SPECIFIC. Help others identify ‘why’ they are angry. This keeps the cortex activated and minimizes limbic work

• DEVELOP EMPATHY

Try to understand others. (30 Days)

Can Hate Be Eliminated?

• COMMUNICATE, specifically, why anger is felt

• Work on CONSTRUCTIVE NEGOTIATIONS . . . focusing on positive solutions to problems keeps cortex working!

Can Hate Be Eliminated?

• EDUCATION that is accurate, specific, & empathetic (PreWWII Germany was ‘most educated’ nation of its time

Can Hate Be Eliminated?• COOPERATE WITH

OTHERS in mutually beneficial ways

• Put things into PERSPECTIVE!

• AVOID FEELING TRAPPED

• IMMERSE YOURSELF in a positive way with the source of your fear/hate

One Final Strategy . . .

• Seek Justice,

not

Revenge!(p. 248 of Dozier)

Shining Example of Possibilities

• 2001 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for ‘Families Forum’

• Believe that motherhood, fatherhood, and the wish to save living children are the only common denominators that overcome race, religion, and nationality

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2819