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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  3536 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why "Seinfeld" Is The Most Villainous Sitcom In Human History

Elaborating:

I think that most people, when presented with a choice to do good that requires little energy or a choice to do evil that requires little energy, will choose to do good. I think that a choice to do good that requires a lot of energy and a choice to do evil that requires a little is a grayer subject, but my study of society, civilization and psychology lead me to believe and predict that if it costs nothing extra to be kind to your fellow man, people will be kind to their fellow man.

It gets dicey when you re-shape what "fellow man" is and all sorts of evil are committed in the name of country or tribe, but if I recognize you as human and I recognize you as in trouble, my first instinct as a human is to help you out. Without that instinct, there's no cooperative hunting or gathering and we end up wolves in caves.

It's that "fellow man" fallacy that I suspect is the root of most evil in the world. Nobody casts themselves as the bad guy - it's all framing. And while moral compasses can be wrong, and while justifications can be faulty, I think that "normal" human beings have morality and judge themselves to be good. If they judge others as evil it only serves to illustrate their lack of empathy, which - from my perspective - makes them failures as storytellers.

Thus, I hate Chris Nolan.