Fair play: Monkeys share our sense of injustice
source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427341.100-fair-play-monkeys-share-our-sense-of-inju...
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- retro_Syl
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HOW often have you seen rich people take to the streets, shouting that they're earning too much? No, I thought not. Protesters are typically blue-collar workers yelling that the minimum wage has to go up, or that their jobs shouldn't go overseas. Lately, however, we have been hearing a new chorus, exclaiming that none of those fat cats on Wall Street or the City should be compensated for bad behaviour. No golden parachutes for those greedy bloodsuckers!
Concern about fairness is always asymmetrical (stronger in the poor than the rich), and the underlying emotions aren't half as lofty as the ideal itself. It is true to say that our sense of fairness seldom transcends self-interest, that it is seldom concerned with something larger than ourselves. Look at how it starts in life. Children react to the slightest discrepancy in the size of their slice of pizza compared to their sibling's. Their shouts of "That's not fair!" never transcend their own desires...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427341.100-fair-play-monkeys-share-our-s...
Concern about fairness is always asymmetrical (stronger in the poor than the rich), and the underlying emotions aren't half as lofty as the ideal itself. It is true to say that our sense of fairness seldom transcends self-interest, that it is seldom concerned with something larger than ourselves. Look at how it starts in life. Children react to the slightest discrepancy in the size of their slice of pizza compared to their sibling's. Their shouts of "That's not fair!" never transcend their own desires...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427341.100-fair-play-monkeys-share-our-s...
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sirpaulmcdarkney
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'Humanity's deepest wish is to spread the wealth.'
Unless they work as on-air personalities at Fox News!
lol
Just kidding (sort of). - 2 years ago
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sirpaulmcdarkney
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hack26
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You would think that we would be better than apes at regulating inequality.
- 2 years ago
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hack26
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SleepDirt
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Interesting. I believe their are plenty of exceptions with respect to wealthy advocates for the poor in the world, though I'd generally agree with the premise.
- 2 years ago
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SleepDirt
