Animal Instinct

I have always found it odd that humans have the ability to hate someone without ever having met them. 

Happens all the time. We hear stories about celebs, sports stars, musicians, politicians and allow our personal "truth" to evolve via confirmation bias. We have no concrete evidence of reported behaviors from aforementioned celebrities, but no matter, we accept the offered tales as "truth" and affirm our dislike for that individual with a fierce and loathsome prejudice.

I've had it happen in my personal life, having discovered (usually after the fact) that someone I had never spoken to (much less personally harmed) harbored a deep disdain for me. This person didn't just dislike me, they despised me and actively dragged my name through the mud. They had been influenced by a third-party who held a grudge and decided to pick up the torch of hatred and carry it into battle against someone they didn't know, regarding an issue that didn't involve them.

Not just the one person. Many people. Many times.

INSANE.

Why? What is behind such stupidity?

Turns out the answer is fairly simple: People are animals.

Have you ever noticed how a flock of birds moves with one mind? If one of them senses danger and takes to flight, the entire flock will follow suit, without question. The birds don't require personal contact with the predator, or even visual confirmation, they just "take their buddy's word for it" and fly away.

It's a survival technique.

In the same way, humans are pack animals.

In 10,000 BC, if a fellow villager ran out of the jungle a yelled, "Look out! There's a sabertooth tiger in the bushes!" you didn't go investigate to see if the danger was real; you took his word for it and RAN! It's how our species survived.

Nowadays, there are no man-eating lions in the bushes (at least not in my neighborhood), but the "instinct" still survives. Many humans (let's be honest, typically the "lower evolved" and "less intelligent" ones) have yet to differentiate between a predatory sabertooth and the person who may be competing for a job promotion against their pal. When their buddy says, "That guy doesn't deserve the promotion, he's a big jerk that cheats on his wife!" - that's all it takes. There will be no investigation, no questioning... he'll just assume his buddy is telling the truth and ring the alarm to notify the rest of the village.

9 of 10 times, his buddy is bending the truth (if not outright lying) in order to spread disinformation that will (hopefully) get back to the employer and discredit the competition. He's willing to manipulate people around him and ruin his rival's reputation in order to get what he wants. 

He's not a good person. If you fall for his manipulations and do his bidding, you're not a good person, either.

This approach worked well for our ancestors, but in the modern age it lacks empathy and kindness. In order to better ourselves as human beings and make the world a better place, it's high time we learn to manage our instincts and opt for intelligence, fair play, and benevolence.

It's a big ask, but I'm pretty sure we're a bit more evolved than a flock of pigeons.