Schadenfreude

Religion is the attempt to shed all things human in order to become a god. By this I refer to the fact that by nature, humans do not have the propensity to be anything but human. It would take tremendous effort on the part of any person to overcome what is natural (human), in order to become un(super)natural.
I find it funny when I hear "The good old days, when there was less crime, and more love, and people were more communal!".  The only thing good or different about then and now is climate change. Human behavior has evolved in the last twelve thousand years as much as human physiology. So it is safe to say - we are as bad or good as we have always been.The only reason why we notice it more is because of better record keeping and the media.
What is really on my mind today is schadenfreude. Its a German word that means "Joy in others pain.". I know it's funny to see someone get wet in the rain, or fall down flat in the mud, or fall into any other silly misfortune, but where do we draw the line. Anyone with a sense of humor would laugh at themselves in such silly situations. The closer we draw the line to situations we would laugh about if it happened to us, the closer we get to becoming gods.

Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch. It is human to feel envy, but it is diabolic to enjoy Schadenfreude. (Arthur Schopenhauer)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Short or Long

HOW HUMANISTS CAN HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE - A beginner’s guide from a beginner

My Father’s Sun