guys I just love talking about economics let me tell you why

[loftar]

we all enjoy suffering of our fellow man

Most people don't, though. ;)

[Potjeh]

Are you telling me you don't laugh when someone trips and hurts himself?

[loftar]

Are you telling me you don't laugh when someone trips and hurts himself?

Hm, that's an interesting point that I never really reflected upon before; not because you're right, though. I'd argue it is precisely when people don't seem to actually be suffering from such an event that I would laugh at them -- if they were to rise and brush it off, I'd laugh; if they were to start crying, I'd certainly take pity on them. But then, why do I laugh? That's a good and interesting question.

[Potjeh]

Well, laughter isn't exactly the socially appropriate response when somebody is seriously injured, so we don't do it. But I think pretty much everyone feels satisfaction when somebody who did something wrong gets punished, even if he didn't harm you personally. I read an article about a recent study which discovered that men get as much satisfaction from this as they do from sex, but I can't find the link now

[loftar]

Well, it's obviously not just because it's "socially inappropriate". I can't speak for you, of course, but I'd certainly feel no impulse whatsoever to laugh in that situation -- it's not that I "repress" it. And also, I didn't mean specifically that anyone got "seriously injured", but rather that the person in question would actually seem to suffer, whether or not the injury actually was physically serious or not.

[Gauteamus]

somebody did something wrong gets punished == somebody trips and hurt themselves??

That is some literal jurisdiction system.

[loftar]

It should probably be mentioned in this context that trolling (Internet or RL) also generally seems different from making people want to explicitly suffer. Most trolling seems to be an attempt at challenging people, rather. Especially at challenging fix ideas or other kinds of preconceptions. In that way, I'd argue much trolling, despite appearances, actually works to make society a better place.

Of course, it must also be said that not all trolling is like that, and there certainly are people who take delight in other people's suffering. My point is just that not all people are like that (and that it's probably the deviation, rather than the norm).

[Potjeh]

You don't need to consciously repress it, since you've been thought to feel guilty about it, and the unpleasantness of the feeling of guilt outweighs any pleasure.

But any time we can rationalize the guilt away, we enjoy suffering. Take tabloids for example. People feel that the rich and famous don't really deserve to be better off than they are, so they feel it's fair when misfortune befalls them. Divorce, drug addiction, bankruptcy, all sorts of horrible things that cause deep emotional pain, and we get a deep sense of satisfaction from it.

[loftar]

People feel that the rich and famous don't really deserve to be better off than they are, so they feel it's fair when misfortune befalls them.

I've never cared much for tabloids or any such thing at all, so I can't really speak from my own experience; but when you put it like that, it sounds more like a sense of justice than enjoying their suffering for the sake of seeing them suffer.

[Potjeh]

Sense of justice is just a tool for rationalizing the guilt away. It's why when we can't find appropriate crimes for someone we invent them, and make their religion or skin colour a crime.